Fire doors - external ground floor flat front door opening to communal hallway

[MrRenovator2015]

I recently bought a ground-floor flat in a council estate, and I would like to fit a new front door. The front door is inside the building (3 stories in total), opening onto a communal hallway. When I completed the purchase, I noticed an extra sheet added to the lease (short letter signed by the council housing officer) which says that "most front doors will be fire resistant for 30 minutes but we are concerned that some residents have changed their door with an unsuitable replacement... Should a new door be fitted this must comply with the relevant building regulation (currently BS 476)."

The current door feels quite heavy and is 44mm thick, but is very old and could do with replacing - it has intumescent seals fitted, but obviously there is no visible kite mark / fire rating certification.

I want to fit a new door but I'm a bit worried about security given that it's a ground floor flat; the limited options for 'external fire doors' seem to be generally a bit cheaper than normal exterior doors. (In contrast to internal fire doors which are readily available and most often more expensive than non-FD versions). I'm worried they'll be weaker or less secure than more expensive front doors I've seen in the DIY sheds

eg.
http://www.championtimber.com/timbe...1-3-4-quot-f1xf-external-flush-fire-door-fd30
http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Ply-Veneer-Flush-Exterior-Fire-Door-1981x838mm/p/121603
http://www.justfiredoors.com/fd30-s...fire-door-44mm---lipped-four-edges-7481-p.asp
https://www.directdoors.com/doors/external-fire-doors-30-minute-rated/

Should I worry security wise about these doors? Or am I worrying over nothing - ie even the Wickes £70 option is, essentially, just a solid slab of wood... and the differences in price are all down to the external styling...? (fyi I will be fitting a BS nightlatch and BS mortice)

The ones below are not FD30 rated, however they are 44-45 mm thick and heavier than the fire doors above (35-37 kg vs ~30 kg), so I would guess are also solid-core doors
http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Croft-External-Oak-Veneer-Door-Glazed-1981x838mm/p/205869
http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Geneva-External-Oak-Veneer-Door-1981-x-838mm/p/480159

Would either of the last 2 options meet building regs, provided they are fitted tightly into the door frame and fitted with intumescent smoke seals, hinge pads, letterboxes, etc to meet FD30 requirements? Or would they be automatically rejected for not having a FD30 kitemark stamped on them? (Technically I need to have an automatic door closer as well, is this correct?)

I just wanted to check before I buy and fit the new door.
Also if anyone can recommend other suppliers of fire-reg compliant external front doors, that would be great.

Thanks for reading this far!

 

[^woody^]

You don't need an external grade fire door if the door is not exposed.

Security wise, there is not really any difference between any compliant fire door. The plain solid core doors have a chipboard type core which does not resist things like police battering rams, but unless loud destructive break-ins are common, then you should not really worry about the security of the door, but concentrate on the locks and frame.

You do need a fire-rated self-closing device, and intumescent letter box too. Possibly smoke seals around the door too, not just intumescent strips.

 

[MrRenovator2015]

Letterbox, smoke seals - yep, noted
Self closing device - something concealed like this: http://www.screwfix.com/p/eclipse-c...mm/55034#product_additional_details_container
(although slightly annoying to have the front door swing closed all the time, will have to be extra careful to always have keys)

Thanks for the advice about the door - in which case I could go for a nicer "internal" fire door and fit it as the external door to the flat. I did consider that originally... so you're saying there's nothing special between an internal and an external door (apart from the weatherproofing which obviously I won't have to worry about) I guess I'd just have to choose a slightly thicker one then (44mm instead of 35mm) so it fits into the existing frame

 

[Nakajo]

You can put the door on a simple roller latch, with a dead lock if you like - and as long as the insurers are happy.