In March 2025, all of the building’s fire doors required inspection. This included flat front doors, which are 30 minute fire doors and must have working seals, closures, fit property and be in good general condition.

In August 2025, without sharing the results of each front/fire-door, a letter was sent on behalf of the Freeholder asking owners to repair their doors.

In September 2025, information was shared about the nature of any fault(s) the level of perceived risk, recommended contractors and a price list.

Not all doors were inspected so not all owners have received a pass/fail report for this reason, but may have received a letter. Owners can obtain a report by emailing firesafety@rendallandrittner.co.uk

The law (and indeed the correspondence to leaseholders) says that the repairs can be made by a “competent person” – that could be you, a joiner, a handyman, or a qualified fire engineer. This is in accordance with the latest fire regulations and the HSE.

A “qualified person” or fire safety engineer is not required to repair domestic doors. The “Responsible Person” is the Freeholder and Managing Agent.

1. Closure. Some doors do not close properly. They may have had parts added, do not fit, require lubrication, added tension in a closure device
2. Loose furniture – such as a loose door handle or hinge
3. Worn Sealant strips. These are intumescent fire-strips designed to provide a seal in the event of a fire. They are the furry lining inside the door frame and must be 4mm and in good condition. We have noted many are worn or wearing and sadly some were painted by the decorators several years ago. This is a cheap part but requires a joiner to chisel out and replace.
4. The door is too small. Some doors have been installed with gaps more than the 4mm required. Whilst some adjustment can be made, remediating this requires making the door larger, or in some cases a new door. Parts that are fire-rated to close the gap are in very short supply/out of stock. This is a more expensive part.

Lumiere Living employ, and subcontract maintenance to, Competent Persons. We are landlords and conduct our own maintenance lettings and management, and maintain over 25% of the flats in Lumiere. We are also an Approved Contractor by R&R for the Building’s common parts, and are insured for our work. We also provide secretarial services to the Residents Association.

We are offering a Door Service to owners. This will not certify a door. Only an inspector acting for the Freeholder can do that. However, we will:

• check all parts for wear and tear (or within an estimated 3 year life)
• realign the door as far as possible
• lubricate and adjust tension in the moving parts

giving the best chance of passing the next/a first test. The more we do, the better value for money it is for owners.

Unfortunately, we cannot make a door bigger requiring either a small part adding in which case we can arrange this (at an extra cost. Note the part is in short supply).

The hope that the next inspector takes a more pragmatic view if all the doors are compliant in other ways.

The RA Chairs will be lobbying for a holistic inspection and that the number of doors that a 1-2mm too small is held in context of the other risks in the building.

An invoice for work completed, evidence of our attendance and a report of our findings will be provided.

Whilst the door is open fully and being services, we are also offering a repaint service that will involve stripping down the hardware, sanding/filling and painting in the correct hardwearing paint.

We offer this service to members of the Residents Association or our clients only, because we want to see the overall compliance, safety and look of the building improve as quickly and cost effectively as possible. An alternative handyman/joiner or the London fire engineers recommended by RR can be used (£300-500 plus VAT).

More info about joining the RA can be found here.

We cannot make doors bigger to fit the frames better. This extra item can be booked in with us or another engineer subject to parts availability, or you can wait for the next inspection.

Pay for the required service and fill in the form.

Once you have completed this you will be sent an online booking link.

This link can be passed to your tenant or agent so they can book a convenient appointment. This also ensures that we are not held up waiting for keys to be passed around and you know the appointment time.

We do not know when the next test or re-test is. However the Freeholder has indicated a 3 month deadline or an extension to this is possible.

A number of flats were not inspected in the March 2025 test, and they do not seem to have been tested since.

This is the most convenient opportunity to do so, and would make a huge difference to the appearance of the building if many doors (which are your responsibility) are painted. Only about 100 ml of paint is needed for a door, so this is a very efficient way of fixing more than one problem.

Unlike the last painters, we will NOT paint the fire strips, and will remove the spy-hole and door handle cover so they are not overpainted!

The door paint we use is a hard wearing washable eggshell from Dulux in the original colour.

Government Website

Health and Safety Executive Website advice on Competent Persons

https://youtu.be/0ds3ieJi6mo?si=9ocwSsgzmvr34nyH

If after a door service it fails again, we would recommend the tester provide evidence of a fair assessment or a second opinion as to why further work is needed. After a service, we are certain that the improvements will reduce the risk of further failure.

The nature of our work on parts that wear and tear means that we cannot guarantee the work, however if a door is not serviced properly, please let us know asap and we will repeat the service or inspection.