What FD30 fire doors in St Albans should include
From the AL1 postcode district outwards, we take on FD30 fire doors across St Albans for homes, blocks and workplaces.
Around St Albans, family homes after loft conversions, high-street shops and houses with integral garages all depend on fire doors that close, latch and seal. We survey each opening and tell you plainly which doors need work and which don't.
For a mixed portfolio in St Albans, we can survey every FD30 opening in one visit and price leaf-only and doorset options side by side. Each FD30 leaf we supply for St Albans is sized for the opening, rather than trimmed beyond what its certification allows.
Leaf only or a full doorset?
If the existing frame is sound, correctly sized, securely fixed and compatible with the new leaf's certification, a new FD30 leaf can be hung in it. Many frames do not pass that test: old softwood linings, frames that have been cut about for previous doors, or frames with no evidence of how they were fixed. In those cases a certified doorset (leaf, frame and ironmongery tested together) is the cleaner answer and usually the quicker one on site.
We tell you which route each opening needs on the survey, door by door, and why.
On a typical job that means:
- Certified FD30 or FD30S leaf, or full doorset
- Frame-to-wall gap sealed with an evidenced material
- Survey of the opening, frame and existing ironmongery
- Intumescent strips and smoke seals to the certification
Rules and responsibilities in St Albans
In St Albans, as elsewhere in England, the starting point is the Fire Safety Order 2005: whoever controls a workplace or the shared parts of a residential block must make sure its fire doors work. When doors are replaced, the Building Regulations and Approved Document B set the standard the new work has to meet.
Blocks above 11 metres have a specific routine under regulation 10 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022: quarterly checks of communal fire doors and annual best-endeavours checks of flat front doors. If your St Albans building is a higher-risk building under the Building Safety Act 2022, we confirm the approval route with the Principal Accountable Person before any work is ordered.
Where FD30 fire doors fit in St Albans
Landlords, managing agents, facilities teams and homeowners in St Albans can all commission FD30 fire doors from us. The usual settings are shops and care homes, though single doors for schools are just as welcome.
From enquiry to handover in St Albans
- Measure the opening, check the frame and confirm the rating needed
- Order a certified leaf or doorset to size, with matching components
- Remove the old door and assess the frame or structural opening
- Fix the frame and hang the leaf to the certified gap tolerances
- Fit seals, hinges, latch, closer and signage, then test close-and-latch
- Seal the frame-to-wall gap, make good and record the evidence
Guide prices in St Albans
Guide pricing for FD30 fire doors: £300–£600 for a leaf into a sound existing frame; £650–£1,300 for a doorset, ex VAT. Volume work across several doors in one St Albans building usually brings the per-door cost down. Your written quote is fixed once we have surveyed.
Covering St Albans and nearby
Neighbouring towns such as Harpenden, Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead and North Watford are covered too, so clients with several buildings can use one installer and one evidence format.
Common questions
Do you cover AL1 and nearby postcodes?
Yes. We cover St Albans including AL1, and nearby towns such as Harpenden and Hatfield. The survey and written quote are free.
How quickly can you survey in St Albans?
It depends on the number of doors and access, but we offer survey dates as soon as we reply to your enquiry. If an inspection has found urgent safety issues, tell us and we'll prioritise.
What is the difference between FD30 and FD30S?
FD30S has been tested for smoke control as well as fire. It adds a smoke seal, usually a brush or blade, and needs a tight threshold gap. Flat entrance doors and doors onto protected escape routes are commonly specified as FD30S.
Can a new FD30 door go into my old frame?
Sometimes. The frame has to be sound, square, securely fixed and compatible with the new leaf's certification. Many older frames are not, especially softwood linings or frames altered for previous doors. We check each frame on the survey and recommend a doorset only where the frame cannot be relied on.