140+ directly employed staff
92% of fire doors over five years old we inspect have at least one non-compliant aspect
ISO 9001 accredited
Fire door compliance is not a box you tick once. Fire doors are moving parts. They are opened, closed, kicked, wedged and drilled through every working day, and every one of those actions wears away at the performance they were tested to deliver.
Oculus Group inspects fire doors, repairs the defects we find and keeps the records that prove your building is compliant. One directly employed team, one report and one point of contact, across Wirral, Liverpool, Chester and the wider North West.
A fire door has one job. It holds back fire and smoke long enough to protect the escape route and give people time to get out. It can only do that if every part of the assembly works together: the leaf, frame, intumescent and smoke seals, hinges, closer, glazing and signage. Damage one component and you no longer have the door that was tested.
Our fire door compliance inspections check each of those components on every door. We confirm the door closes fully onto its latch from any opening angle, measure the gaps around the leaf and look for alterations that compromise fire resistance, such as holes drilled for cables or unapproved hardware.
Every door is recorded individually with photographs, a list of defects and a priority grade, so you know what needs fixing this week and what can wait for the next cycle.
The three faults we find most often are excessive gaps, worn hinges and damaged leading edges. Close behind are doors wedged open, seals that are missing or painted over and unauthorised alterations. Want a quick check of your own? Try the pound coin test from our fire door safety guide.
Many building owners search for a fire door compliance certificate expecting a single document that signs a building off. No such statutory certificate exists, and any contractor offering a one-off certificate that “proves” compliance is overselling it.
Compliance is evidenced in two ways. The first is the door itself: a certificated fire door carries a label or plug showing it was manufactured to a tested specification. The second is the record of what has happened to it since, including when it was inspected, by whom, what was found and what was done about it. That second part is where most buildings fall short, and it is what fire risk assessors, insurers and enforcing authorities ask to see.
Compliance is a process, not a certificate. Doors keep wearing from the day they are fitted, so the record must keep up.
Component-by-component checks of every fire door in your building, recorded with photographs and graded by priority.
Replacement seals, adjusted gaps, corrected closers and suitable hardware, carried out by the team that found the defect.
A clear, auditable history of every inspection and repair, ready for your fire risk assessor, insurer or enforcing authority.
Quarterly, six-monthly or annual inspection cycles built around your building, your legal duties and how each door is used.
For multi-occupied residential buildings in England above 11 metres, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 set specific fire door duties:
In any building with two or more sets of domestic premises and common parts, residents must also be told at least once a year to keep fire doors shut, not to tamper with self-closers and to report faults immediately.
Under the Building Safety Act 2022, duty holders are increasingly asked to evidence not just that checks took place, but who carried them out and what happened next. That makes the record as important as the inspection.
Fire door compliance depends on competence, follow-through and records you can rely on. That is how we run every job.
Our fire door work is led by David Egan, Facilities Operations Director. David is an electrician by trade with fire door safety specialist training from BM TRADA and RoSPA, and has inspected thousands of fire doors across commercial and residential buildings. He knows what fails first, why it fails, and what it takes to fix it.
A report that sits in a drawer protects nobody. Our directly employed, multi-skilled engineers fix the defects our inspections find, so you are not left chasing a second contractor. The outcome is a compliant building, not a list of problems.
From our base in Bromborough we support buildings across Wirral, Liverpool, Chester and the wider North West. Local teams mean quicker surveys, quicker remedial work and engineers who know your building. We are ISO 9001, CHAS and SafeContractor accredited.
Fire door compliance means a fire door still performs to the standard it was tested and certified to, is maintained in that condition and has records to prove it. That covers the leaf, frame, gaps, seals, hinges, closer, glazing and signage working together as one assembly, plus a documented history of inspections and repairs.
There is no single statutory fire door compliance certificate. Compliance is evidenced by the door’s own certification label or plug, which shows it was manufactured to a tested specification, and by a documented record of inspections, defects found and remedial work completed. After every inspection Oculus provides a door-by-door report that forms that record.
In multi-occupied residential buildings in England above 11 metres, communal fire doors must be checked at least every three months and flat entrance doors at least every 12 months on a best endeavours basis. In other buildings the frequency is set by your fire risk assessment. We recommend quarterly professional checks for high-traffic doors and a monthly visual check of every door.
We check the door leaf, frame, gaps, intumescent and smoke seals, hinges, closer, latch, glazing, signage and any alterations, and confirm the door closes fully onto its latch from any opening angle. Every door is recorded individually with photographs, a list of defects and a priority grade for each one.
The Responsible Person under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. That is usually the employer, building owner, landlord or managing agent with control of the premises. The legal duty cannot be delegated, but the work of inspecting, maintaining and recording fire doors can be contracted to a competent specialist.
Yes. When an inspection finds a defect, the same team recommends the fix and carries out the remedial work, from replacing seals and adjusting gaps to correcting closers and hardware. You receive a record of exactly what was done to which door, so your compliance file is complete rather than a list of open problems.
Non-compliant fire doors put occupants at risk and leave the Responsible Person exposed. Enforcing authorities, usually the local fire and rescue service, can issue enforcement or prohibition notices and can prosecute under the Fire Safety Order. Insurers may also question cover where fire safety duties have not been met.
We carry out fire door compliance work in offices, schools, warehouses, healthcare premises, retail units and residential blocks. Our teams cover Wirral, Liverpool, Chester and the wider North West of England, and inspection cycles are built around how each building is used.