Fire door inspection in Newbury
The single door at the bottom of the stair, and the flats behind it.
Get a priceWalk along a market town high street and look up.
Above the shops there are windows with curtains. Somebody lives there. And the only way in or out is a plain door beside the shopfront, with a stair behind it.
Newbury has a lot of buildings like that, with a town centre that runs along the Kennet and plenty of older property in it.
The door at the foot of the stair
This is the door we look at first.
It separates the flats from the shop. If there is a fire in the shop, it has to hold back flames and smoke so the residents can get down. If there is a fire upstairs, it has to let them out.
Too often it is a thin door with a Yale lock and a letterbox, painted so many times the edges have rounded off. The frame has been replaced. The closer is missing.
The doors behind it
Up the stair, each flat has its own front door. If there are three flats there are three of these, and they open onto the same landing.
If the stair is the only way out, that landing has to stay clear. A bicycle against the wall, a cardboard box, a pile of post.
We check each flat door as an inspection of the whole route.
Period buildings
Older buildings are often altered. A wall moved, a door cut into a new place, a floor added or taken away.
That does not mean the doors are no good. It means we cannot assume.
If a building is listed, changes may need consent. West Berkshire Council is the authority to ask. An inspection does not change anything. We report on what is there.
Small hotels and inns
Newbury has hotels and coaching inns. Bedroom doors, corridor doors and doors to the back of house.
Our page on hotel door surveys says more about how we work in hotels, with guests in the building.
Who is responsible
If you own a building with a shop and flats, you are likely the responsible person for the shared stair. If you let it to someone else, check the lease.
Since 2021, flat entrance doors are covered too in multi-occupied residential buildings.
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service is the fire authority.
Getting to you
We come from Luton, which is a bit over an hour. We often plan Newbury jobs alongside Thatcham, which is close.
Send us the address and the number of flats. A photo of the street door helps.
Questions we get asked
Is a flat over a shop treated differently?
The same rules apply. The door between the shop and the stair is often the key one.
Do you work during shop hours?
Yes. We can work round the shop's opening times.
Send us the postcode and a rough door count and we will come back with a price the same day.
Get a price