How Often Should Fire Doors Be Checked?

Fire doors are essential for helping to maintain fire safety. Not only do they help to prevent the spread of fire across buildings, but they can also help give more time to emergency services and to people trying to escape a fire.

It is your responsibility to ensure that fire doors are properly maintained. Fire doors should be checked regularly to make sure they remain safe and functional as part of your fire safety strategy.

How often should fire doors be checked? And what are your legal responsibilities? Learn more from the experts at phs Compliance.

Why are fire doors important?

Fire doors help provide additional protection in the event of a fire. They are designed to withstand fire for 30 minutes, which can be vital in helping people either escape a fire or for the emergency services to respond and put the fire out. Fire doors prevent flames from entering multiple rooms, which could help reduce the overall damage caused to a building.

Fire door regulations in the UK

The UK has some strict regulations when it comes to fire safety. The UK Government says that if you are either:

an employer

the owner
the landlord
an occupier
anyone else with control of the premises, for example, a facilities manager, building manager, managing agent or risk assessor

Then you are the designated ‘responsible person’ to ensure fire safety. One of the key responsibilities is to ‘put in place, and maintain, appropriate fire safety measures,’ one of which is the use of fire doors.

Recent changes to legislation following the Grenfell Tower Inquiry have included specific guidance for fire door inspections ‘in all multi-occupied residential buildings in England with storeys over 11 metres in height.’ This includes quarterly checksof all fire doors and annual checks of all flat entrance doors (including self-closing devices) that lead onto a building’s common parts.

There is further guidance available in the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, Fire Safety Act 2021 in Wales, Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations and The Fire Safety (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2010.

Fire door inspections

Fire door inspections are an important element of maintaining health and safety. By carrying out fire door inspections regularly, you are helping to meet your responsibilities as the designated responsible person, while helping to keep the people who use your building safe.

Most fire doors are used regularly, such as entry doors, office doors and doors connecting different parts of the building. Frequent use can mean that they become worn or damaged over time, and may not be as effective at preventing a fire from spreading.

Fire door inspections should check for:

Obvious signs of damage or issues to the door or the door closer
Gaps around the door frame or signs that the hinges and seals aren’t properly in place
The door closer is working properly
The door fully closes around the entire frame

If there are signs of damage or something isn’t working as it should, further inspection is required and should be carried out by a professional.

How often should fire doors be checked?

Landlords should ensure that there are suitable escape routes for tenants, allowing them to exit the building safely in the event of a fire. In a converted house, this is usually the main staircase of the property. These routes should be kept clear of hazards, and should be inspected regularly. Emergency lighting should also be provided for these escape routes.

The importance of an experienced professional to ensure fire door safety and compliance

Maintaining fire safety is an important responsibility, and many businesses and organisations choose to use an experienced fire safety professional to carry out fire door inspections on their behalf.

Using a professional fire safety inspection service can help ensure your fire doors are carefully inspected, while also ensuring yourfire detection and alarm systems are all in working order.

You may also want to secure certification through theBWF-CERTIFIRE Scheme, which can give you confidence your fire doors meet the safety requirements set out by BS 8214.

Enlist phs Compliance to help you maintain fire safety

phs Compliance provides a range of fire and security maintenance services. We can provide you with a complete fire safety risk assessment to help you accurately record risks and put mitigations in place to prevent fires from happening. We can also provide regular testing for fire extinguishers and fire alarms as well as electrical safety testing that can also help prevent fires. As one of the leading compliance experts in the UK, phs Compliance offers a service you can trust.