Installed UK-wide
Composite doors
Composite doors — a reinforced core under a weather-resistant skin, in a range of styles and colours — fitted across the UK for houses and for flats above commercial premises. They suit a front door that should feel solid and look traditional without the upkeep of timber. Each door is made to order after a survey and quoted in writing.
Consents this work tends to involve
- Planning permissionOccasionally
A replacement front door on a house that looks similar to the old one is normally permitted development. Flats and Article 4 areas lose that right.
- Listed building consentSometimes
A listed building needs consent for a new door, and councils usually expect timber.
- Building regulationsSometimes
A door more than half glazed is notifiable, and a flat entrance door onto a shared stair or landing has to keep its fire rating.
An installer’s general guide; your council decides.
Composite or uPVC?
A uPVC door is a panel set in a uPVC frame. A composite door is a thicker slab — a solid timber or foam-filled core under a glass-reinforced plastic skin — usually hung in a uPVC or aluminium frame. The composite slab is heavier, sounds and feels more like timber, and carries a woodgrain finish and deep colours better. The uPVC door costs less. Both depend on the same locks and glass for their security.
What about the front door of a flat above a shop?
If the flat door opens onto a shared stair or landing, its job is to hold back fire and smoke while people get out, so it should be a certified fire doorset — usually FD30S, with a self-closer and smoke seals. An ordinary composite front door is not one, however solid it looks. Fire-rated composite doorsets exist, but the whole set has to be the tested one: frame, glazing, seals and hardware.
In blocks of flats whose top storey is more than 11 metres above the ground, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require the responsible person to make best-endeavour annual checks of flat entrance doors and quarterly checks of fire doors in the common parts.
Why does a dark composite door sometimes stick in summer?
In full sun a dark outer skin gets much hotter than the inner face, and the slab can bow slightly and bind at the top or bottom. Most doors settle as they cool. One that keeps catching usually needs its hinges or keeps adjusting rather than replacing.
Standards and regulations
| Reference | What it covers |
|---|---|
| PAS 24 | The enhanced security test a burglar-resistant composite doorset should have passed. |
| BS 476-22 / BS EN 1634-1 | Fire resistance tests for doorsets, where the door must also be a fire door. |
| Approved Document B | Fire safety, including flat entrance doors onto common parts. |
| BS EN 14351-1 | Product standard under which an external doorset’s performance is declared. |
Questions
Can a composite door be a fire door?
Related
- uPVC doors — Front, back and flat entrance doors in uPVC — for homes and the back of the shop.
- Fire doors — Certified doorsets for stairs, plant rooms and escape routes, fitted so the rating holds.
- Security doors — Steel doorsets for rear, side and service entrances, rated to a recognised attack standard.