/// Passive fire protection in Harlow
Harlow was one of the first post-war New Towns, laid out in neighbourhoods with their own shopping centres. A lot of its housing dates from the 1950s and 1960s, including low-rise flats and maisonettes, and the town centre has office blocks that have been converted into flats. Newer areas such as Church Langley and Newhall add modern apartment blocks to the mix.
Converted offices need a close look, because the building was never designed to have homes in it. We cover the whole of Harlow and can survey a single block or a group of buildings for the same freeholder or managing agent.
Fire doors in Harlow
Where offices have been converted to flats, we often find flat doors fitted in partition walls that aren't fire-resisting, or doorsets installed without the right frames or ironmongery. In older council-built blocks, front doors have been replaced over the years with a mix of types. A fire door inspection shows which doors are fit for purpose; we then repair or replace them.
Fire stopping and compartmentation in Harlow
Office buildings have large service routes: raised floors, suspended ceilings and risers that once served open-plan floors. When they're divided into flats, the compartmentation has to be created, and every service through it sealed. We check that walls and ceilings run up to the slab, seal penetrations with tested fire stopping and enclose meters on shared corridors.
What we check in Harlow buildings
- Office-to-flat conversions: do walls and doors actually form compartments?
- Suspended ceilings and raised floors that run across flat boundaries
- Old office risers now carrying services to individual flats
- Mixed front doors in 1950s and 1960s blocks
- Meter cupboards and electrical intakes on shared corridors
Rules that apply to Harlow buildings
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Requires a fire risk assessment for the common parts of blocks of flats and all non-domestic buildings, including flat entrance doors since the Fire Safety Act 2021.
Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022
Over 11 metres: communal fire doors checked every three months, flat entrance doors yearly (best endeavours).
Approved Document B
Requirement B3: compartment walls and floors, with every service opening through them fire-stopped.
Nearby areas we cover: Chelmsford Enfield Redbridge