Leasehold

A large letter plate has been cut into a flat entrance door and the intumescent strip is missing beside it. What fire performance has the survey not laboratory-tested?

The fire performance of that door has not been laboratory-tested. A large letter plate has been cut into a flat entrance door, and the intumescent strip is missing beside it. The survey can describe the cut, the plate and the gap where the strip should be. It has not burned the door, timed any resistance, or certified the door. A missing strip is a visible gap in the edge detail. It is not a laboratory result.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the fuller explanation?

A letter plate is a hole through the door. An intumescent strip is there to swell and seal a gap when it gets hot. If the strip is missing beside a large plate, the edge detail the survey could see is incomplete. That observation does not measure how the door would perform in a fire, and it does not name a fire rating the door might once have had. The home survey has no furnace and no certificate to issue.

Pass the door, the letter plate and the missing strip to the solicitor to read against the lease, and ask the managing agent what the building expects of flat entrance doors. A fire-door specialist can inspect the leaf if you need that trade. The survey has not laboratory-tested performance, and it has not certified the door. Do not fill the gap with a strip yourself and then call the question closed.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Did you record the letter plate and the missing strip without a fire test?
Was any laboratory measure of the door outside this visit?
Have you left the lease position on the door with the solicitor?

What are the typical next steps?

Describe the cut plate and the missing strip as seen.
Do not treat that note as a laboratory fire test.
Ask the solicitor to read the lease against the altered door.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

If the door is thick, has its fire performance been proved?

No. Thickness is not a laboratory test. The survey has not timed the door or certified it. A large letter plate and a missing strip remain visible alterations, not a result from a furnace. Fire performance stays untested however solid the leaf feels. The cut plate is still only a visual note.

Does a new letter plate restore the strip?

No. A new plate is still a hole, and the strip beside it was missing. Replacing the plate does not, on its own, put the strip back or laboratory-test the door. The survey has not certified the fire performance of that entrance door. A fresh plate can repeat the same gap.