Abloy UK is urging building owners, facilities managers, specifiers and security professionals to ensure fire and escape doors are correctly specified, installed and maintained, as the latest government statistics highlight the scale of fire incidents across England.
To mark Fire Door Safety Week 2026, Abloy UK is highlighting the importance of understanding fire door compliance and selecting access control solutions that support, rather than compromise, safe evacuation.
Fire and Rescue Services attended 170,597 fires in England in the year ending March 2026, up 19% on the previous year. Of these, 39,859 were building fires, representing a 3.1% increase year-on-year.
With building fires continuing to represent a significant proportion of incidents, ensuring that fire doors and escape routes are correctly specified, installed, and maintained remains key to protecting occupants and supporting safe evacuation.
For buildings that have access control systems, care is needed when selecting locking solutions for fire and escape doors as the requirements of the relevant standards must be understood to ensure that access control does not compromise escape routes.
These standards include BS EN 179, which covers emergency exit devices operated by a lever handle or push pad where users are familiar with the building. BS EN 1125 covers panic exit devices with a horizontal bar for environments where users may not be familiar with the escape route, and BS EN 13637 covers electronically controlled escape systems. Understanding the differences between these standards is an important part of ensuring that the correct solution is selected for the building and its occupants.
The Abloy Academy continues to provide its free, RIBA-approved Electrical Locking Fire and Escape Doors CPD course, which supports industry professionals in understanding the requirements for incorporating access control systems in commercial buildings, including electric locking options and the design of compliant access control systems.
The course also explores how electric locking specifications can meet the requirements of fire door and escape door legislation, helping attendees to make informed decisions when specifying and maintaining compliant solutions.
Pat Jefferies, Commercial Director at Abloy UK, said: “Fire Door Safety Week is an important opportunity to remind those responsible for buildings that compliance is about understanding the requirements, specifying the right solution, ensuring it is installed correctly and maintaining it throughout its service life.
“Specification, installation, inspection and maintenance all have a role to play in keeping fire doors and escape routes effective. By improving education and awareness across the industry, we can help reduce avoidable failures and ensure that fire safety remains a priority throughout the life of a building.”
For further information on products and services available from Abloy UK visit https://bit.ly/4y7yfJC, email info@abloy.co.uk or call 01902 364 500.
