office fire doors

What makes office fire doors different?

Most fire doors for offices are designed around the glass. An office fire door with glass lets someone check the corridor before they push the door open, which cuts down on collisions in busy areas and lets staff glance into a meeting room without walking in.

The construction reflects how hard these doors work. Almost every office fire door in our range has a fire-resistant solid core, and the glass, beads and seals are tested together with the leaf. That’s why the glazing should never be replaced or recut on site.

Like any fire door, each one only performs as part of a doorset: a suitable frame, intumescent seals, fire-rated hinges and, in most commercial buildings, a self-closer. The leaf alone isn’t enough.

Not every door in an office needs to be fire-rated, of course. For partitions and internal office doors where your fire strategy doesn’t call for protection, our internal glazed doors give you the same light and visibility without the fire rating.

Glazing codes on office fire doors: 1G, 16G, 18G and 20G

LPD and Premdor use short codes in their product names to describe the glass layout. They aren’t fire ratings, and the same code can look slightly different between manufacturers, so always check the product images and specification before you order.

On office fire doors, position matters as much as size. A small square near the top is fine for a quick glance at standing height, but a long side light covers far more of the door’s height, so a child or a wheelchair user can see through it too. If you’re choosing a 1G, 16G, 18G or 20G glazed fire door for a corridor that everyone uses, the long side layouts are usually the more inclusive choice.

Glass type matters too. Clear and see-through glass give the cleanest view, while wired glass shows a fine mesh that many facilities teams prefer for back-of-house areas. Whatever the glass, it’s supplied already fitted, beaded and certified with the door.

White primed office fire doors

White primed internal office fire doors are the workhorse of most commercial fit-outs. They arrive with a base coat, ready to paint in your building’s colour scheme, and a white office fire door is easy to touch up when the corridor gets redecorated.

The LPD Flush series comes white primed in all four glazing layouts above. Premdor adds the Mid Glass, with a central vision panel, and side-glazed 1L and 2L designs. For wider openings, the Premdor Long Side Clear Glazed double door gives you a matching pair.

When you paint primed office fire doors, keep paint off the intumescent seals and the certification label, and follow the coating guidance supplied with the door. Fitting out a whole floor? Set up a trade account before you order.

Oak, walnut and plywood options

Where the doors face clients, such as a reception area, boardroom or consulting room, glazed office doors in a timber finish look more considered. Each oak office fire door in the LPD Flush range is faced in American white oak veneer and pre-finished at the factory, so it’s ready to hang. Premdor’s oak veneer doors add side-glazed 2L layouts, including FD60 versions.

For something darker, the Premdor Walnut 2L 16G is a walnut office fire door with two clear lights down one side, pre-finished and rated FD30.

Plywood office fire doors are the practical option for plant areas, back-of-house corridors and anywhere you plan to paint. Premdor’s unfinished plywood fire door designs come in a 2L side-glazed layout and a Top Square layout, each a wired glass fire door with wired clear glass that you finish on site.

FD60 office fire doors

Most office fire doors in our range are FD30. An FD30 office door covers the majority of office corridors and rooms, but some routes, such as protected stairs and escape corridors in larger buildings, can call for 60 minutes. Your fire risk assessor or building control officer will tell you which.

Every FD60 office door in our range comes from Premdor and has a 54mm leaf:

• White Primed 1L Side Clear Glazed: a single side light, ready to paint.
• White Primed 2L Clear Side Glazed: two side lights, also ready to paint.
• Oak Veneer 2L Side Clear Glazed: two side lights with a white trim around the glass.
• Light Oak 2L Clear Glazed: a lighter, pre-finished oak face with white trim.

A 54mm leaf needs a frame rebated for that thickness and hinges suited to the extra weight. You can compare these with our domestic 60-minute designs on the FD60 fire doors page.

Hardware for office fire doors

The ironmongery on office fire doors gets far more use than anything in a house, and every piece has to be compatible with the fire rating.

• Self-closers: most fire doors in commercial buildings need one, so the door shuts on its own after every use. Choose a closer tested for fire doors and set it to close the door fully against the latch. On heavier office fire doors, match the closer strength to the door width and the people using it, so the door isn’t a struggle to open.
• Hold-open devices: never wedge office fire doors open. If a door needs to stand open during the working day, fit an alarm-linked hold-open device or free-swing closer that lets it shut when the fire alarm sounds.
• Hinges: three fire-rated hinges per leaf is standard on an FD30 door; check the manufacturer’s recommendation for FD60.
• Kick and push plates: they protect the face of the door from trolleys, feet and hands, which matters most on finished oak and walnut.
• Signage: doors on escape routes usually need “Fire Door Keep Shut” or similar signs, fixed without drilling into the glass or beads.

Handles, latches and locks are in our ironmongery range. Check that each item is fire-rated before you fit it to a fire door.

Office fire doors: your questions answered (FAQ)

What do 1G, 16G, 18G and 20G mean?

They’re the manufacturer’s codes for the glass layout, not a fire rating. On our LPD Flush doors, 1G is a square panel near the top, 16G has two lights down one side and 20G has one long side light. The 18G is also side glazed, so check its product images for the exact layout.

Are office fire doors FD30 or FD60?

Both. Most are FD30 with a 44mm leaf, and Premdor offers FD60 versions at 54mm in white primed, oak veneer and light oak.

Do office fire doors come primed or finished?

Both, depending on the design. You can choose white primed doors to paint, pre-finished natural oak, oak veneer or walnut, or unfinished plywood. Commercial fire doors that will be painted to match a corporate colour scheme are usually best bought primed.

What sizes do office fire doors come in?

The LPD Flush designs come in imperial sizes at 1981mm high and metric sizes at 2040mm high, and some Premdor plywood doors go up to 914mm wide. Exact sizes are listed on each product.

Can I use these doors in a school or surgery?

Yes. A fire door with vision panel glazing is common in schools, surgeries and other public buildings, where staff need to see into a room before entering. The rating and glass position you need depend on the building’s fire strategy and accessibility requirements, so confirm them with your designer or building control. Our guide on where you need fire doors is a useful starting point.

How often should office fire doors be checked?

As often as your fire risk assessment sets out. In a workplace, the responsible person has to keep fire doors in good working order, so routine checks should cover the closer, the seals, the gaps around the leaf and any damage to the glass or beads. Problems found early are far cheaper to fix than a failed inspection.

Do you sell internal office fire doors with glass panels in pairs?

Yes. The Premdor Long Side Clear Glazed FD30 double door gives you a matching pair for wider corridors and openings. As with single vision panel doors, both leaves have to be hung as a tested doorset.