This is a slightly odd request, but a colleague here has been asked to develop a procedure for ensuring that fire doors in tower blocks (front doors) are suitably maintained and operational. To put this into context, what is being talked about is a process which could untimateley mean that we force entry to a property (possibly including leasehold) and change the door to comply and then charge the customer for the privilidge. I just would like to know if anyone else has developed anything as extreme as this proposal, and what processes were put in place.

What other measures are their in the hallways, is there fire detection or are the hallways subdivided by fire doors are there alternative means of escape (more than one staircase) are the fire doors on the stairwell in good condition and functioning correctly. Even with proper 30 minute fire doors on all the properties you still need a means to detect a fire and allow other to escape so whether the doors are 30 minutes or made of cardboard sooner or later the fire will breaks out of the flat so how will the alarm be raised to alert other residents. Phil

Meden I am intrigued as to the advice your received that the fire authority can issue an improvement notice (Surely an enforcement notice?) to the leaseholder. By this I assume you mean the occupier of the flat and if so I reckon there may be problems in doing so. As Phil Beale has said, the RR(FS)O 2005 does not apply - in the main- to single private dwellings. As a result, it is not possible to serve an enforcement or alteration notice to an individual flat. The only part of the RRO which does apply to a dwelling is Article 31 (prohibition notices) which can apply to any premises regardless of use. Furthermore, the fire authority have powers of entry (short of a forced entry) to all premises when dealing with an Article 31 situation. But would they serve a prohibition notice over a non BS standard front door?? I suppose that depends on the circumstances present and how high risk (in terms of likelihood) the risk was. For instance, if the front door served a rubbish filled ground floor flat (with drug user/alcoholic/mentally ill occupants) and opened directly onto a staircase of a single staircase block of flats - perhaps the fire service would be consider a PN. But unless it was that serious (or followed a fatality or near miss nearby) it's unlikely. Such a notice has to be signed by a very senior officer who - when dragged off the golf course to sign one- are largely reluctant to do so.