Fire door inspection in Northwood
Just inside London, under a different fire brigade. Same checks.
Get a priceNorthwood is in the London Borough of Hillingdon.
That puts it under London Fire Brigade, not Hertfordshire. The law on fire doors is the same either side of the boundary. Who turns up if there is an audit is different.
What the difference means
London Fire Brigade enforces fire safety in the borough. If it writes to you about a block, the letter will refer to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and may ask about doors.
Send us the letter with your enquiry. It tells us what the officer looked at and what they want to see changed.
Housing is Hillingdon Council's area. If a shared house here needs a licence, the conditions come from the council.
Where we get asked
Blocks of flats, care homes and houses let to several people are the usual ones. Offices too.
The Metropolitan line runs through Northwood and Northwood Hills, and if you own flats near either station, the first thing we ask is whether the building is over 11 metres.
If they are, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 apply. Communal fire doors are checked every three months. Flat entrance doors once a year, with best endeavours to get in.
If they are not, the doors still have to be kept in working order. The checks are just not fixed by those regulations.
Care settings
A care home or a supported living house here has the same worries as one in Hertfordshire. Bedroom doors that have been altered, closers backed off, doors propped open for staff. Our page on care and supported living doors goes into them.
Door entry and magnetic locks
Many blocks have an entry system. Some of the doors on the escape route are held shut by a magnetic lock. That is fine, so long as the lock lets go when the fire alarm sounds and when someone presses the exit button or the green break-glass.
On the day we write down every door that has a magnet and try the release on each one. A door that stays locked when the alarm goes is marked urgent, and we tell whoever looks after the entry system before we leave the building.
The report
For an inspection in Northwood the report is the same as anywhere. A reference, photo and note for each door. Faults marked urgent, soon or tidy up when convenient.
What an officer will want to see is a record, and what you did about it.
Getting here
We come from Luton, usually about 50 minutes. Northwood is a short run from Rickmansworth and Watford, so those often go on the same day.
Doors on a London boundary are still doors. Send the address and we will price it.
Send the postcode and a rough door count. You get a price back the same day.
Get a price