Fire and Building Regs: Is it ok to remove my kitchen door?

Hi!

I want to remove the door circled in red below. It is not currently a fire door (i think - It doesn't have a seal and looks like a really cheap 1960s interior door!) This will effectively make my front door open into my kitchen (although the door frame will still be there!)

My flat is a ground floor flat with 2 stories above me. This means exiting if the kitchen goes on fire is no problem. (my cooking is about as good as my MSPaint skills are)

Are there any regulations on kitchen doors or having your front door into a kitchen? Do i need to notify anyone or am i free to do as i please?

Thanks in advance

D

Technically you should not remove your kitchen door, to do so means that there will be no protected escape route to the front door from any other room in the property. The kitchen is considered to be the highest fire risk in a property, its not just cooking, its the electrical appliances, having said that, you've no protected means of escape from the bedrooms either should a fire occur in the living room. Hope you've at least got a smoke detector in the hall. One assumes you can escape through the winodws?

douglash said:

Do i need to notify anyone or am i free to do as i please?

Click to expand...

You can't do as you please. Check your lease, or agreement with whoever owns the block

If you remove it and nothing happens then that's fine.
If you remove it and a subsequent fire endangers and/or damages the whole block, then you are personally liable (with any insurance possibly void) - irrespective of whether you can get out of a window or not

You are removing your protection from the room most likely to have a fire in.

Your existing door despite not being a fire door will still give you some protection, just not as much as a fire door.

Remove that and you have none, and no exit should the fire be in the kitchen.

Its upto you.