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Fire door regulations

FD30 vs FD60 Fire Doors

FD30 and FD60 fire doors are rated to resist fire for 30 and 60 minutes respectively. The number is not a matter of preference: it comes from the building's fire strategy, based on how long people need to escape and how the building is compartmentalised. Getting the rating wrong in either direction, too low or unnecessarily high, causes real problems.

By Daniel, Director · 4 August 2026 · 5 min read

What FD30 and FD60 mean

Certified lock case being fitted to an FD30 fire door edge
A certified lock case fitted to a fire door edge, part of the tested assembly.

The number refers to the time, in minutes, that a complete doorset (the leaf, frame, seals and ironmongery together) is tested to resist the passage of fire under standard test conditions. FD30 holds for 30 minutes, FD60 for 60. Some doors also carry an "s" suffix, such as FD30s, meaning the doorset additionally resists cold smoke, which matters most on escape routes where smoke inhalation is often the greater danger.

How the rating is decided for a building

The rating comes from the building's fire strategy, not from the door manufacturer's catalogue. A fire risk assessment or a fire engineer's design will specify which rating each door in the building needs, based on factors including how the building is divided into fire compartments, how far people need to travel to escape, and what other fire protection measures, such as sprinklers, are in place.

FD30 is the most common rating for internal doors on escape routes in typical commercial and residential buildings. FD60 is more often specified for doors protecting higher-risk areas, such as plant rooms, or in buildings with a more demanding fire strategy, such as taller residential blocks.

Which internal doors need a rating

Not every internal door in a building needs to be a fire door. Doors that form part of a designated escape route, that separate different fire compartments, or that protect a stairwell almost always do. A cupboard door or a door between two rooms in the same open-plan office, where no compartment line runs through it, typically does not. This is exactly the kind of detail a survey settles, rather than relying on a general assumption either way.

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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.

Read the guide (PDF)

Common questions

You can, but it usually adds unnecessary cost without adding real safety benefit, since the surrounding walls and structure are only ever as fire-resistant as their own rating. Match the door to what the fire strategy requires.

Not necessarily from the outside. The difference lies in the core construction, the seals, and the certified hardware, all of which are largely invisible once the door is fitted. This is why checking for genuine certification matters more than visual inspection alone.

That is common and usually correct, reflecting different risk levels in different parts of the building. A survey confirms whether the existing mix matches what your building needs.

Talk to a fire door specialist

Guides give you the background. A survey gives you the answer for your building.

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