House insurance and anti fire door closes

Sheep Shagger

Not sure whether this should be here or in the accommodation forum.

We've moved into a new build and most of the internal doors have those heavy door closing things on the top of each door. They make the doors very heavy to open and close so we thinking of removing them with an Allen key.

Question is we have been told no insurer will cover us if we had a fire and they identified that we had removed these, does that sound correct?

coylemj

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Question is we have been told no insurer will cover us if we had a fire and they identified that we had removed these, does that sound correct?

I go online to get quotes every year for my house insurance and I've never been asked if my house is fitted with those gadgets.

But they also ask the age of my house and they may assume that if it was built after a certain date that they are fitted.

Sheep Shagger

coylemj wrote: »

I go online to get quotes every year for my house insurance and I've never been asked if my house is fitted with those gadgets.

But they also ask the age of my house and they may assume that if it was built after a certain date that they are fitted.

That's the problem - house was built in 2019 and use of the fittings might be seen as 'standard'

kenmc

I've a new build completed mid 2018, none of these doorclosers. Is it a 3 story house, in which case every door to the stairs has to be firedoor? Strange still though to have the door closers

hanaimai

I also have a house built in 2018 and don't have these doors. You should check the terms of your insurance policy to see if there is any specific mention of the fire doors. If there is, and you remove them, then yes, you could be in trouble in the case of a claim.

silent_spark

I can’t see how these doors are considered practical, even if they do offer additional fire protection. I imagine there would be countless caught fingers/tails etc in any household with small children or pets. I have seen them in a 2019 three-stores build, I wonder if the requirement is common elsewhere in Europe?

Sheep Shagger

Thanks lads, the door closes are a nightmare with little kids, going to check with developer as seems some houses (less bedrooms in same development don't have them?). They are either a anti fire requirement or not?

kenmc

Less bedrooms - is one in the attic on the houses with the closers, and not a converted attic for the ones without?

sydthebeat

i assume the OPs house has 3 storeys?

Fire regs require fire doors to be fitted to the central stairwell where a house has 3 or more storeys. in order for a door to be a proper fire door it should have a self closing mechanism.

Does the self closer have an anti-slam measure?

https://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/BuildingStandards/FileDownLoad%2C1657%2Cen.pdf

look at the diagram here, especially note 5.

Sheep Shagger

Yeah has 3 floors and the doors are self closing with the heavy bloody fittings. What has the number of floors got to do with it re fire safety?

No self closing door on the walk in attic.

Need to call insurers to see if we'll be covered without them but by the sound of it - we won't be

cython

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Yeah has 3 floors and the doors are self closing with the heavy bloody fittings. What has the number of floors got to do with it re fire safety?

No self closing door on the walk in attic.

Need to call insurers to see if we'll be covered without them but by the sound of it - we won't be

I'd imagine the relevance of 3 floors is that escape via the windows from the top floor ceases to be viable, so the exit route via the stairs needs to be isolated by fire doors from other rooms.

sydthebeat

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Yeah has 3 floors and the doors are self closing with the heavy bloody fittings. What has the number of floors got to do with it re fire safety?

No self closing door on the walk in attic.

Need to call insurers to see if we'll be covered without them but by the sound of it - we won't be

Did you read the pdf in the link?