/// Passive fire protection in Maidstone
As Kent's county town, Maidstone has a busy centre with offices, shops and civic buildings, and over the last decade a number of town centre office buildings have been converted into flats. Around the centre are Victorian terraces, inter-war and post-war estates such as Shepway and Park Wood, and newer apartment blocks along the Medway.
The mix means very different fire safety questions from one street to the next. We cover the whole of Maidstone borough, from Allington to Lenham, and start every job by understanding how the building was built and how it's used now.
Fire doors in Maidstone
In riverside and town centre apartment blocks, doors on long corridors take a lot of use: closers wear, seals get painted over and leaves get damaged. In converted offices, some flat doors were never part of a tested doorset at all. We inspect each door, carry out repairs and adjustments on site and install replacement fire doors where a door can't be made compliant.
Fire stopping and compartmentation in Maidstone
Converted office blocks and older commercial buildings often have services running through ceiling voids and risers across what are now separate homes. We trace those routes, seal openings with fire stopping tested for the service and construction, and create fire-rated meter cupboards where intakes sit on escape routes.
What we check in Maidstone buildings
- Flat doors in converted town centre office buildings
- Corridor doors in riverside apartment blocks: closers, seals and damage
- Ceiling voids and risers that cross flat boundaries
- Doors and service holes in plant rooms and bin stores
- Meter intakes on shared stairs and corridors
Rules that apply to Maidstone 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: Medway Sevenoaks Tunbridge Wells