There is no prescribed answer to the question, ‘How often should a fire door be inspected?’. The frequency depends on numerous factors, which we’ll uncover in this article.
Alex MacArthur, director at North West Fire Solutions, explains which factors influence fire door inspection frequency, the consequences of irregular inspections, and why you should outsource them to a professional.
What does a fire door do?
When we talk about fire doors, we have to discuss the concept of compartmentation. This is the practice of dividing a building into fire-resistant compartments to limit or prevent the spread of fire.
So, if a fire were to break out in a particular room, it wouldn’t be able to spread throughout the containing walls, ceiling, and floor for a certain amount of time, which could be 60 minutes, for example.
But of course, rooms don’t just contain four walls, a ceiling, and a floor. They will contain things like a door, which can be left open, causing fire, smoke, and flames to spread and go through it.
A fire door can suffer wear and tear due to regular usage and may not have been installed correctly.
For these reasons, it can become a weak part of compartmentation.
However, a fire door is there to form part of the compartmentation within a premises, so it must be properly inspected and maintained.
How often do fire doors need to be inspected?
The UK government recently brought out an update to the Fire Safety Act 2021, whereby for multi-occupied residential buildings above 11 metres in height, the Responsible Person must carry out checks of all flat entrance fire doors at least every 12 months and quarterly checks of any fire doors in communal areas.
What are the potential consequences of not regularly inspecting fire doors?
Besides the obvious potential danger to human life, you’re effectively not compliant if you don’t carry out those checks.
In the event of a fire, the enforcing bodies—whether that be the fire service, local council, or Health and Safety Executive (HSE)—will pull you up on this. Depending on the severity of the damage, they may issue you with an enforcement notice.
For multi-occupied residential buildings below 11 metres, and all other types of buildings, there’s no hard and fast rule that states how often you should get an inspection, but you need to make sure your doors will perform as required in the event of a fire and that they’re well maintained.
We obviously recommend you get a fire door inspection carried out. This inspection will identify your door’s deficiencies and what needs to be done about them so that you can take the necessary action.
What factors influence the frequency of fire door inspections?
In premises with particularly high footfalls, the doors will be used much more than they would be in other types of buildings.
Hospitals will be used throughout the day, with doors constantly being open and closed, whereas in a small block of flats the doors will be used less frequently, with people being out for most of the day.
How doors are opened and closed is another factor to consider.
Schools are a good example of this. Kids go through doors throughout the day without paying much care or attention to how they’re opening them. They may be kicking them, slamming them, pushing them open a bit too quickly, or knocking them against the walls.
This type of behaviour isn’t uncommon and may lead to inspections needing to be carried out more frequently than in other types of buildings.
It’s the duty of the Responsible Person within each premises to examine the building, how it’s used, and the condition of the doors and make a judgement based on their findings.
Just because there’s nothing in place to say, ‘You must get a fire door inspection done every six months, 12 months, or two years’, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t get them done on a frequent basis.
You have to look at your building and assess it accordingly. You may want to speak to your fire risk assessor about this if you’re unsure what to do.
What should a fire door inspection involve?
When we carry out a fire door survey, it’s a non-intrusive survey, so we’re just looking at what’s in front of us. We’re not taking parts off the door or taking the frame off.
We’re assessing the overall condition of the door, making sure it’s not damaged in any way, and that the fire-resisting elements of the door are likely to perform when required.
We’ll also look for evidence that the door is a certified fire door. This could be a sticker on the top or marker plugs indicating whether it’s an FD30 or FD60 door, for example.
We’ll look at the fittings on and around the door, such as hinges, door furniture, handles, locks, spy holes, and intumescent seals.
Gaps are important to look at as well. Lots of people overlook the gaps, but sometimes you’d be astonished by how big the gaps are at the top and the sides. In some instances, you can get your hand underneath the door or down the sides.
It doesn’t matter how good your fire door is; if the gaps are there, the smoke will stream through.
Following our survey, you may decide to carry out minor remedial works, or you might decide to replace the full door set or do something in between. But you’ll always be given the information you need to make the most informed decision.
Who should carry out a fire door inspection?
When you get a fire door inspection carried out, it needs to be done by somebody who’s competent and familiar with fire doors.
It really helps if the inspection is done by someone who has a joinery background or practical experience with fire doors in any way, shape, or form.
Lots of third-party accredited bodies out there can train people specifically on fire doors.
We take it upon ourselves to make sure our surveyors are properly trained and come from the right background. As boring as it may sound, they actually have an interest in doors—fire safety is not something we take lightly.
We take the time to provide a proper overview of each door so that we can give you a fair reflection of their current state.
We won’t just say to you, ‘You’ve got problems with your doors. Just replace them.’ We want to be able to give you the correct information so you can act accordingly. It’s not just about ripping everything out and starting again because, obviously, there’s a cost associated with doing this.
A fire door expert that’s worked in fire for a long time will know what to look for, understand what’s in front of them, and take the common-sense approach.
Detailed fire door inspections from North West Fire Solutions
We’ve spent many years carrying out fire door surveys.
One thing we’ve noticed with clients is that, although the surveys themselves are not particularly difficult, carrying them out can quickly turn into a full-time job.
If you’re a block management company or you’re working with leaseholders, you could be responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of doors. When you’ve got thousands of data instances to deal with, it’s hard to differentiate between one door and the next, and you may not know where to start.
This is where we come in. We’re aware that just as updated obligations in fire safety law are a new thing for the leaseholders and tenants, it’s also a new thing for the middlemen, like the block management companies.
We provide the tools and help you manage the data. We’ll provide you with a customer portal so you can break the data down door-by-door, by type of fault, and so much more.
All of our door surveyors are fully trained and experienced in fire safety in all types of premises and will identify instances where the fire resistance of your fire doors has been compromised.
Any recommendations they make will allow you to carry out remedial work to reduce liability and overall risk.
To arrange for an inspection at your property, reach out to us on 0151 665 0124 or email info@nwfiresolutions.co.uk.