do i need a fire door now i've made my garage into a room?

[prestodigitator]

Hi all,
please bare with me on the length here ....
i was pretty sure i didn't need planning permission to convert the back section of my garage (adjoining the house) into a utility room, so i put up a stud wall and plastered etc and (though i say myself) i think i've done a pretty good job )
Now, about 8 years ago (a little before i started the conversion i hasten to add!!) we had the door put in to allow access from the hall to the garage and the builder assured us that we did not need a fire door. I now believe this to be wrong and we SHOULD have had a fire door fitted. So my question (at last) is does this STILL need to be a fire door now that the door is only into the utility section and not into the garage (which is now the other side of the stud wall with fire retardant insulation..
Any thoughts anyone would be greatly accepted.
Thanks for sticking with me
best regards,
Presto

 

[^woody^]

If its no longer a garage then you don't need a fire door from it to the house

 

[prestodigitator]

thanks Woody, thats what i figured.
I wasn't there when the original door was put in but i'm assuming the builder told a little porky when he said it didn't need to be a fire door.....some of his other workk was 'less than satisfactory' too shall we say.
If you want a job done.....etc etc

 

[rssteve]

just a though but is the stud wall the correct fire rating? and also is the ceiling in that part also to the same fire rating? and as there is still a garage there, hes only converted the back part, surely the door inbetween the utility and garage should now be a fire door? also the floor should be 100mm higher than the garage should it not?

 

[prestodigitator]

thanks rssteve for your take.
There isn't actually a door there between the utility section and the garage now, just the solid stud wall. With regard to the 'fire rating' for this stud wall what does that mean? It's got fire retardant insulation between the plasterboard skins but how do you measure a fire rating? if it helps, the total thickness of the wall (including the plaster skim) is about 5 to 6 inches.
The floor of the utility section is still the same height as the garage, though when it was ALL garage there was a step down into it as required. so now, in effect, there is a step down into the utility section.

I'm really hoping i haven't got to change any of this now (

 

[rssteve]

im not sure on it but i think on a garage ceiling you need 2 12.5mm boards to give a 30min fire rating. im not sure how this will work with the walls id imagine the garage side would need 2 sheets of plasterboard for fire regs, not sure tho. id also thought he floor should have been raised as any chemical leaks or gases could in theory sit in your utility room if its not air tight. i know the house floor has defo got to be 100mm higher for this reason.

 

[^woody^]

12.5mm board and skim gives 1/2 hour protection, and the OPs stud wall easily meets an 1/2 hour rating

When a garage is partitioned off and you can't get a car in, then its arguable that it is no longer a garage. If you keep a motorbike in it then yes it may be, but otherwise its a store/shed/hobby room but not a garage and not treated as one.

There is no requirement for floors adjacent to a garage to be different heights. What is required is that there is some barrier to prevent spilled liquids getting into the adjacent room. Normally a course or two of bricks is laid on the floor, and then the timber partition built of this

 

[prestodigitator]

i couldn't fit a car in before the wall was in )
excuse my ignorance, but what is 'OPs stud' ?
is the half hour rating the same with all plaster board? that was what my brother (who is a fireman) hinted at so i assume that is the case.

in seriousnes, from what you say Woody, the front of the garage is now not classed as a 'garage' so the fire regs don't actually apply now anyway unless I store a vehicle in there which will never be the case.

So from what i can gather and i wont hold anyone to this ):
I SHOULD have had a fire door when it was a door straight into the garage (i did have the 100mm+ step down into the garage), however, now i've built the stud partition and plastered the back section and made it into a 'room' the remaining 2/3 of the garage which i only use as storage could, arguable, be refered to as storage only and not as a garage use so i should (!) be clear....

hmmmmm.
)

 

[rssteve]

so no longer a garage dosn't matter. but out of curiousity was your walls skimmed?

woody would platerboard just tape and jointed give 1/2hr? also why does my BR drawings ask for 2 12.5mm on the ceiling? does thta give 1hr? or is it just cause it is a ceiling?

Cheers

 

[^woody^]

OP = "original poster/post"

RS

Garages with a room above should have a means of preventing gases from getting through the ceiling. A single layer of boards can crack, so two layers with staggered joints overcomes this.

For fire protection its not really the board thickness itself, but the use of the board as part of the 'system' which achieves the rating. Joist or stud spacing and thickness and edge treatment all count.

But in general terms, to achieve a 1/2 hour rating for a stud wall, it needs to have studs of a minimum 3x2 timber, and 12.5mm plaster boards both sides and a 5mm skim coat.

Bare boards and filled joints on their own, wont give the wall or ceiling/floor the 1/2 hour rating