Where FD30 Meter Cupboard Doors Are Needed
We fit fire-rated meter cupboard doors for landlords, managing agents, freeholders and housing providers in:
- ✓Blocks of flats and apartment buildings
- ✓HMOs and converted houses with shared hallways
- ✓Communal stairwells, landings and corridors
- ✓Commercial and mixed-use buildings
If a fire risk assessment or fire door inspection has flagged a meter cupboard door, we can replace it with a certified doorset.
How It Works
- Survey: we visit, measure each opening and check the existing frame and surrounding wall.
- Manufacture: we make each door to fit the opening, using BWF-certified fire door blanks.
- Fit: we fit the new frame and door, fire-stop the gaps, and fit hinges, locks and signage.
- Sign-off: you receive documented sign-off for each doorset.
Double Fire Door Cabinets
Not every meter cupboard has a single narrow door. Where several meters sit together or the cupboard is wide, we make double fire door cabinets: a pair of made-to-measure FD30 doors hung in a new fire-rated frame, so the whole cupboard can be opened up for meter readings and electrical work.
- ✓Pairs of FD30 doors made to fit wide or non-standard openings
- ✓Full-width access to meters and electrical equipment
- ✓Fire-rated locking to suit who needs access
- ✓Documented sign-off for every cabinet
Fire-Rated Locking Options
Every lock we fit is fire-tested for use on FD30 doors, so it doesn’t weaken the door’s fire rating. We’ll talk through the full specification with you before any work starts, and it’s recorded in your sign-off documentation. Choose the option that suits your building:
- ✓Fire-rated DIN mortice deadlocks: architectural-quality, CE/UKCA-marked euro profile deadlocks with a matching euro cylinder.
- ✓Mechanical digital code locks: keyless push-button locks, such as fire-tested models from Codelocks or Borg Locks.
- ✓Fire-tested shear magnets (maglocks): mortice shear locks, such as the FR-SL500, tested to BS EN 1634 for up to 30 or 60 minutes.
Not sure which is right for your building? We’ll recommend the best option when we survey.
Electrical Meter Cupboards Only
We supply and fit FD30 doors for electrical meter cupboards only. Gas meter cupboards have different ventilation requirements, so we don’t fit these.
Meter Cupboard Fire Doors and the Law
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person for a block of flats, HMO or commercial building must keep the escape routes in the common parts safe. That includes the fire doors along those routes, and a meter cupboard door that opens onto a communal hallway, landing or stairwell is part of that protection.
In England, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 also require the responsible person in residential buildings over 11 metres tall to check all fire doors in the common parts every three months, and flat entrance doors every year. A damaged, ill-fitting or non-fire-rated meter cupboard door is one of the most common problems picked up in these checks and in fire risk assessments.
Signs Your Meter Cupboard Door Needs Replacing
Many meter cupboards in older blocks and converted houses still have a basic cupboard door that was never fire-rated. Others have been damaged over the years by meter readers, contractors and everyday wear. Look out for:
- ✓A thin, hollow or plain softwood door with no fire rating label or certification
- ✓Large or uneven gaps around the edges of the door
- ✓A door that won’t close fully or catch on its lock
- ✓Missing, broken or non-fire-rated locks and hinges
- ✓Holes, splits or DIY repairs in the door or frame
- ✓A loose frame, or gaps between the frame and the wall
- ✓Missing “Fire Door Keep Locked” signage
If any of these apply, we can survey the cupboard and give you a clear quote to replace the door, or the full doorset, with a certified FD30 unit.
Keep It Locked, Keep It Clear
A fire-rated meter cupboard door only works if it stays shut. Keeping the cupboard locked stops it being left open, prevents tampering with meters and electrical equipment, and stops the cupboard being used as a store. Rubbish, bikes, paint tins and cardboard in a meter cupboard add fuel right next to electrical equipment, which is exactly what fire safety guidance warns against. Every door we fit comes with fire-rated locking and signage, so it’s clear to residents and visitors that the cupboard must stay locked.
Meter Cupboard Fire Door Questions
Does an electric meter cupboard need a fire door?
If the cupboard opens onto a communal hallway, stairwell or landing in a block of flats or an HMO, it will usually need a fire-resisting door, typically FD30, kept locked shut. Your fire risk assessment will confirm what’s needed for your building, and we can fit whatever it asks for.
What does FD30 mean?
FD30 means the doorset is designed to hold back fire for 30 minutes when it’s correctly installed with the right frame, hinges and lock. That gives people time to use the escape route past the cupboard.
Do you replace the frame as well as the door?
Yes. We fit a new fire-rated frame with every door, so the door and frame work together and the gaps around them are properly fire-stopped.
Can the meter reader or electrician still get in?
Yes. We can fit a fire-rated key lock, or a fire-tested digital code lock so authorised people can open the cupboard without a key. We’ll recommend the best option when we survey.
Do you fit gas meter cupboard doors?
No. Gas meter cupboards need ventilation, which a sealed fire door doesn’t allow, so we only fit doors to electrical meter cupboards.
More questions? See the meter cupboard section of our fire door FAQs.
Areas We Cover
We’re based in Liverpool (L36) and fit meter cupboard doors across Liverpool and Merseyside, including Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and the Wirral. We also offer fire door installation and ongoing fire door maintenance. Have a question? Read our fire door FAQs.
