Fire door regulations
FD30 Fire Doors
An FD30 fire door is a doorset tested to resist the passage of fire for 30 minutes, certified as a complete assembly of leaf, frame, intumescent seals, hinges and closer. It is the most common fire door rating in flats, HMOs and general commercial openings. An FD30 door is not simply a heavier internal door: the rating belongs to the whole tested system, not the leaf alone.
By Daniel, Director · 20 August 2026 · 5 min read
What does FD30 mean?
FD30 refers to the number of minutes a doorset is tested to resist fire: 30 minutes, tested to BS 476-22 or the European equivalent, BS EN 1634-1. The FD60 rating is the same idea at 60 minutes. The rating is proven by testing the whole doorset as an assembly, so an FD30 door leaf only earns its rating when it is hung in a certified frame, with the intumescent and smoke seals, hinges and self-closing device it was tested with.
That is the single most important thing to understand about FD30: fitting a fire-rated leaf into an ordinary frame, or pairing it with the wrong ironmongery, does not produce a compliant FD30 fire door. It produces a door that will fail its inspection, and fail when it matters.
Where are FD30 fire doors required?
Which openings need an FD30 door, and which need a higher FD60 rating, is set by the building's fire strategy, not by preference. In practice FD30 is the common rating for flat entrance doors, HMO bedroom and communal doors, and many internal doors on escape routes in commercial and education buildings. Higher-risk and certain high-rise locations may call for FD60. Specifying FD60 where the building only needs FD30 adds cost without adding real protection, because the surrounding construction is only ever as strong as its weakest point.
FD30 versus a standard internal door
A standard internal door offers no meaningful fire resistance. An FD30 doorset is built around a denser core and certified components so that, as a whole, it holds back fire and smoke for the rated 30 minutes. This is why a genuine FD30 fire door costs more than an ordinary internal door, and why a cheap door sold as fire-rated, without certification and the correct seals and ironmongery, does not count. If you are choosing between FD30 and FD60 for a specific building, our FD30 vs FD60 guide walks through the decision.
What does an FD30 fire door cost?
A supplied-and-fitted FD30 doorset for a standard opening typically runs into the mid-hundreds of pounds, before any making-good to the existing opening. The price bundles the certified components, delivery, the labour to fit it to the manufacturer's installation guidance, and the handover documentation that proves the set carries its rating. Door count, access and the condition of the existing frame move the figure more than anything else. Our fire door installation cost guide sets out the full picture, and our installation service can quote your specific openings.
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Installation and Remediation of Fire Doors
What BS 8214:2026 requires, and how to tell whether an installation has been done correctly. The same guide applies whichever part of the country your building is in.