Fire door to part converted garage

oniongirl

The house we have just moved to has a partly converted garage, where half has become a utility room. There's no building regs sign off for this, but it looks well done - floor raised and insulated, stud walls insulated.

We think that the door from the hall to the utility is a fire door, but we don't think the door from the utility to the garage is. We think this because the door from hall to utility is 44mm thick and all the other doors are 34mm thick.

We'd like to install a cat flap in to the utility room for our indoor cats so we can put their litter trays in there. But now we're not so sure.

Could we move the fire door from between hallway and utility to between utility and garage? As the conversion doesn't have BR sign off I suspect not, but just wondering. 

I think my key worry is our house insurance not covering us if we do something wrong. 

Having said that, there's nothing stopping us just not closing the utility room door to let the cats have access (except it's a bit colder in there because no central heating) - which is the same as having no fire door! Would that also invalidate our insurance?

tacpot12

If you have a look at along the top of the 'fire' door for a label or down the hinge side for a colour plug, you might find confirmation that it is indeed a fire door. You can find further details of what the colour plugs mean and some other relevant advice here: Nominal Fire Doors (safelincs.co.uk)

The information here suggests that a 44mm thick door could well have sufficient fire resisting properties to comply, and gives some advice on how to assess the fire door, including weighing it to determine the density of the wood. 

Moving the 'fire' door to the garage would potentially make the entrance to the garage compliant with the building regulations, if the 'fire' door is a fire door. It's not compliant where it is, and as you want to cut a hole in it, it would be better to move it and cut the hole in the thinner door. 

If you think you have a 'nominal' fire door as described in the link, I would call you insurers and check that they are happy with it. If you can describe the door's characteristics accurately, I expect they will be happy with it. 

Ultimately, you need to decide if you are happy with the door. If you keep anything flammable in the garage, or have anything that might be source of ignition for a fire (a car, welding equipment, blow torches, paint), you have a greater risk of fire and potential for the fire to get out of hand more quickly if fuel is available to feed it. 

TadleyBaggie

I have exactly the same setup, when we had the 1/2 garage converted we only had to have a fire door between the new room and the rest of the garage. We also have a cat flap.

FreeBear

tacpot12 said: Moving the 'fire' door to the garage would potentially make the entrance to the garage compliant with the building regulations,

That kinda assumes that the partition in the garage is also fire resistant and there are no paths for fire to spread along the roof or insulated sections of walls.

oniongirl

Thanks all! We have decided that we'll keep the fire door where it is (supposing it is a fire door, I've run out of energy to check it more thoroughly after a day of unpacking) because the utility room also stores our coats and I don't really want our coats to smell of cat pee. 

Nothing flammable is kept in the garage - it's just being used for hubby's bike and tools, and I've made him set up his gym stuff in there because I'm a monster.

We're now thinking we'll do a flap through to the conservatory and...er... Hope it doesn't get too warm. 

Darned cats.

oniongirl

I got some energy to check. No sign of coloured plugs but it does have "certifire" hinges. 

Ajmason42

Just a comment you say the utility walls are stud and insulated you can only put the fire door to the rest of the garage if these walls are also fire rated. The door from the house to garage is a firec door as the house walls are part of the containment. If that make sense. Have issues all t,he time at work with breaches in the containment due to works being done.  

oniongirl

Ajmason42 said:

Just a comment you say the utility walls are stud and insulated you can only put the fire door to the rest of the garage if these walls are also fire rated. The door from the house to garage is a firec door as the house walls are part of the containment. If that make sense. Have issues all t,he time at work with breaches in the containment due to works being done.  

Thanks! That's probably why they've kept the (possible) fire door where it is then. The door was always there from hallway to garage. 

I'd rather have my house covered by insurance in the event of a fire than have a convenient cat litter place, so I'll just leave it well alone. 

Ganga

Do you need Building Control/ Planning Permission to make half a garage into say a half bathroom /toilet ?

oniongirl

From what I gathered during the buying process, you don't need planning permission if you're leaving the front of the garage as-is but you should get building regs sign off. 

Ours had neither. 

Ganga

oniongirl said:

From what I gathered during the buying process, you don't need planning permission if you're leaving the front of the garage as-is but you should get building regs sign off. 

Ours had neither. 

Thanks ,i ask as a house near me has just been bought and before moving in the new owners have had a toilet built in the back of the garage ,if they have planning permission i do not know ,just seems daft converting half a garage ,there is no room for a car in whats left ,might as well blocked it off and made it a full room.