External Doors - FD30 Fire proof?

Schwarzwald

I recently bought a split level flat in a period conversion in London.

I am currently in the process of replacing all doors.

I have two external doors, one (lower ground) exiting directly outside, one (upper ground) exits into a small entry hallway, which is shared with the upstairs neighbor.

I understand that at least the upper ground exit door must be FD30 fire proof.

I have trouble finding residential external doors which are fire proof and dont really understand why this is.

There are an abundance of internal FD30 doors, but as soon as it says external, usually 44mm thick, they are typically not fireproof…

What am I missing?

Or shall I just get internal fireproof doors which are also 44mm thick and just use them as external doors?

Thanks

Alderbank

Fire doors are to prevent the spread of fire and smoke to other areas inside the building. No-one makes exterior fire doors because there is never a need to prevent spread of fire and smoke to the open air.
If there is an assessed risk of smoke or flame entering the building e.g. from a wheelie bin set alight, that risk is managed in other ways such as securing bins in a locked compound.
Fire exit doors, which is what you might be thinking of, serve a different purpose. They are designed to be easily opened in an emergency to prevent loss of life by allowing escape to a safe area..

Doozergirl

If it opens into a shared area that is internal, then you don't need an external door? 

You might want it to look like an external door but it doesn't need the same qualities as one.  

There are certainly different styles of fire door.   

Remember that you can't put a letterbox in a fire door either.  

Alderbank

Remember that you can't put a letterbox in a fire door either.  

I wouldn't do it but it is perfectly legal to fit an intumescent letter plate, to use the posh name, to a 30 minute (FD30) fire door.
All the fire safety supply places such as Safelinks sell them. £20 or so. Screwfix do them as well.

You can't make any modifications to a FD60 door.