Shared front door

[Fabpinky]

Who is BU?

I’ve been in a silent battle for nearly 3 years now and I’m wondering who everyone thinks is being unreasonable.

Person A - Rents an office/shop that has a flat above it

Person B - Rents the flat about A’s office/shop

The silent war is over the shared front door. It goes as follows: shared front door which then leads to a tiny square with door to the office on the left, door to the flat in front.

Person A wants the shared front door locked at all times when they are not in the office e.g evenings and weekends.

Person B doesn’t want the shared front door locked at all because they say it’s a fire hazard, for example if there is a fire in the night and Person B tries to escape they won’t have their keys and would be stuck.

When discussed Person B suggested a key be permanently in the lock. Person A doesn’t want this as the door is glass panes and someone might smash to get the key.

Person B has also said that in the past if someone runs out of the flat without their keys and the front door is locked, they have been trapped in the tiny hallway until someone has been able to come and let them out.

Same landlord for both properties. He says no comment and to sort it between us.

So for the past 3 years Person A has been locking up when they leave, and Person B has been leaving it unlocked. This makes for an awkward relationship, but is probably what will continue to happen. Just curious to who is BU

Keep a spare key on a hook - or even on a string - near the door on the inside but not visible or reachable from outside. This key should never be removed as it is an emergency safety key.

In the event of a fire or of being locked in the hallway that key is available by the door. The rest of the time the door can be locked and anyone needing to go in and out uses their own key.

I got the letters wrong way round, I meant person B.

Maybe the door should be replaced if it's glass, get a better lock then 😉

You can get locks that can be opened with a key from the outside, but with a turning lock on the inside, so you can easily get out in an emergency. .
Could something like that be fitted away from any breakable areas of the door, maybe lower down? It sounds like the lock needs fixing anyway

Or yeah, just keep a key on a hook near the door

Every morning, 10 minutes before person A is due to arrive at the shop, I would lock the front door leaving the key in the lock. I would then go upstairs, put my headphones on and listen to very loud music while they fail to be able to access the building..
"But I thought you wanted me to leave the key in the door?!"

Without looking at other answers, I think B is being sensible, A sounds scatty - 'running out of the flat without keys', why? Don't do that.

The obvious answer to the fire issue is to keep a key permanently near the front door but not visible or in reach from outside, so not in the lock. A is right about that inviting burglars.

There is an assumption here that the office and flat doors are not as secure as outside doors, so the front door needing to be locked, in addition to the office / flat doors, for security. Certainly Yale locks are not very secure. Mortice locks to outside doors are required by most insurers - and insurance woud be invalid if that lock is not locked.

Oops, I had the letters the wrong way around - person A (office) is sensible, person B (flat) is scatty and being a pain.

Person A needs to get a grip. The door has a lock it doesn't need to be locked with a key aswell. What would be the point

?

My mum and dad have the same on theor front door. They have never locked the key lock and have lived there for 18 years!

So OP are you A or B?

Mortice locks to outside doors are required by most insurers

I’ve never had this come up as an issue with a rented property behind a shared front door, though, where there’s another front door between your flat and the communal one. It’s standard practice for those doors to have the kind of locks you can open fast without needing a key.

So person A wants the front door to be double locked in effect? That is ridiculous.

A is being ridiculous.

B us in the right.

Had a Yale lock front door for 25 years and never used the extra deadlock on it. No need at all.

An emergency Break glass fitment with the key available by the final exit door would be good. Is there emergency lighting in the foyer?

The landlord is unreasonable. The exterior door should be sturdy and not have glass panels. Ideally it should also be a Yale like lock so that it can be locked from the outside but possible to open from the inside without a key.

Something like this, out of reach of anyone who smashes the door pane.
www.amazon.co.uk/Firechief-KB2-Flat-Break-Glass/dp/B07763TJHV?linkCode=xm2&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&creativeASIN=B07763TJHV&tag=mumsnetforum-21&creative=165953&camp=2025

So person A should move to an office without a resident above or a shared door if she/he wants to deadlock the door all weekend and every evening just because they are not there!

Thatstheendofmytether I’m B, I live upstairs in the flat

Also, the office door should be a 30 minute fire rated door.

That's a good point @wandrewarren as if the office door is sturdy enough it's essentially an exterior door anyway and then what happens to the other door is less important.

How is the door being locked any different to a house that would have its front door locked. We wouldn't leave your house front door unlocked so How's it any different?

That's a consideration, the office occupant would have alevel of concern depending on the value of stock and equipment they hold. I should point out I used to do this sort of stuff for a living so know a fair bit more than most posters here. I could quote rule and regulations till I'm blue in the face. Fire safety does not always trump security. There is a balancing act to be done and individual circumstances must be taken into consideration. If the upstairs dweller ( who is quite rightly concerned about their own safety) is physically able then a break glass key safe (as linked) would be deemed to be a sufficient adjustment to ensure a safe and quick exit route, as long as all the other fire safety equipment is in order i.e. alarm, fire door, emergency lighting.

Could you not get a break glass unit put in? Similar to the break in the event of a fire but with a key in it

Do you have a secondary fire escape in the event that a fire broke out near the door? If not, maybe look into a window ladder

A and B should have adequate front doors and locks on them so that the external door is a bonus.

OP - are they in the office late at night? Can't you just leave the door unlocked when you come in and over the weekend when they're out?