Fire door inspections: what's checked and why it matters

A fire door is a system, not a single object — the leaf, frame, hinges, seals, glazing, door closer and ironmongery all have to work together and be correctly specified for the door to perform as intended. A fire door inspection checks that system as a whole, because a door that looks fine but has the wrong seals, an incompatible lock, or has been undercut for a carpet no longer provides the protection it was designed for.

Why fire doors matter

Fire doors are a core part of a building's passive fire protection — the compartmentation that's designed to hold a fire back for a defined period, protecting escape routes and giving occupants time to get out safely. A fire door isn't there to stop a fire indefinitely; it's rated to resist fire for a specific period (commonly FD30 or FD60, denoting 30 or 60 minutes), and that rating only holds if every part of the door assembly is intact and correctly maintained.

What an inspection actually checks

A proper fire door inspection looks at the leaf for damage, delamination or unauthorised alterations; the gaps around the door, which need to fall within a specific tolerance — too wide and smoke and flame can pass through, too tight and the door may bind; intumescent and smoke seals, checking they're present, continuous, and undamaged; hinges, checking there are enough of them, correctly fitted, and fire-rated; the door closer, checking the door closes fully from any open position without being forced; and any glazing or vision panels, checking the glass and its beading are the correct fire-rated specification. Signage — "Fire Door Keep Shut" or "Fire Door Keep Locked" as appropriate — is also checked, since it's part of how the door is meant to be managed day to day.

Common findings

In practice, the same handful of issues come up repeatedly: doors wedged open in breach of their "keep shut" designation, damaged or missing intumescent seals, gaps that have widened as a building settles or as doors are repeatedly used, self-closers that have been disconnected or adjusted so the door no longer closes fully, and doors that have had non-fire-rated hardware fitted at some point without anyone checking the fire rating was preserved. None of these are necessarily obvious to someone walking past — which is exactly why a structured inspection, rather than a casual glance, is needed.

Who needs fire door inspections and how often

Fire door inspection sits within your wider duties under the RRO 2005, and for higher-risk residential buildings there are now more specific expectations around inspection frequency for doors in the common parts. The right frequency for your building depends on its use, occupancy and risk profile — something we'd cover as part of a fire risk assessment or a dedicated fire door inspection.

Getting your fire doors checked properly

A fire door inspection should leave you with a clear, prioritised schedule of defects — not just a pass/fail — so remedial work can be planned sensibly rather than reactively. If it's been a while since your fire doors were properly inspected, or you're not sure what condition they're in, that's a straightforward thing for us to help with.