Do I need fire doors with a loft conversion?

Short answer: usually not. When a loft adds a third storey, the new top floor needs a safe way out if there's a fire. Our approach is early warning: mains-wired, interlinked smoke alarms throughout the house, so everyone is woken up and out in time.

What we fit

• Smoke alarms in every habitable room of the house, including the new loft rooms.
• Smoke alarms on every landing and hallway.
• A heat alarm in the kitchen, where a smoke alarm would go off every time you cook.
• All mains-wired and interlinked: if one goes off, they all go off, so the whole house wakes up, wherever the fire starts.

Why we prefer alarms to fire doors

A fire door only works when it's shut. Self-closers are no longer required on fire doors inside a house, so in real life they're often left open, and an open fire door does nothing. Interlinked alarms work whether doors are open or closed, and they get everyone up straight away.

When we do fit fire doors

If your house already has fire doors on the landing, we fit fire doors to the new loft rooms as well, so the whole escape route matches, and we put smoke alarms on each landing.

Open-plan ground floors

If your hallway opens straight into the living room or kitchen, tell us at the survey. We'll agree the right approach with building control before work starts.

Bungalows

Converting a bungalow loft only takes the house to two storeys, so the fire rules are much simpler and fire doors usually aren't needed. We'll confirm what applies to your home at the survey.

Signed off by building control

Building control checks the fire safety of every loft we build before issuing the completion certificate, and the alarms come with an electrical certificate. Without that certificate, you can run into problems with insurance and when you sell.

This is general guidance. Building control agrees the fire safety approach for each house. Get your free quote →