By David Egan, Facilities Operations Director
Here is a number that surprises almost everyone I share it with: of the fire doors I’ve inspected that were installed more than five years ago, 92% had at least one non-compliant aspect. Not because anyone did anything reckless, usually it’s nothing more dramatic than a gap that’s crept beyond tolerance or a hinge that has quietly worn.
That’s the thing about fire doors. They are the only part of a building’s fire protection that gets opened, closed, leaned on, kicked and wedged every single day. A fire door is a moving part, and like anything that moves, it wears. Hinges fail. Doors drop under their own weight. And yes, sometimes people kick them open when they’re having a bad day.
So this guide isn’t about blame. It’s about what a fire door actually has to do, who is responsible for it, how often it should be checked, and what you can do yourself between professional inspections.
What a fire door is actually for
A fire door buys time. Properly installed and maintained, it holds back fire and smoke long enough to protect the escape route and give everyone in the building the minutes they need to get out. Every part of the assembly contributes: the leaf, the frame, the intumescent and smoke seals, the hinges, the closer, the glazing, even the signage. Change or damage any of them and the door is no longer the product that was tested.
Who is responsible?
In practice, everyone involved in maintaining a building shares responsibility for fire door compliance, but ultimately it sits with the building owner or building manager as the Responsible Person under the Fire Safety Order. That duty can’t be delegated away. The checking, maintaining and record-keeping, however, can be contracted to a competent specialist and for many buildings, the law now says how often.
How often should fire doors be checked?
For multi-occupied residential buildings in England above 11 metres, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 are specific: fire doors in communal areas must be checked at least every three months, and flat entrance doors at least every twelve months on a best-endeavours basis, with both checks confirming the self-closing devices actually work.
Beyond those legal minimums, my rule of thumb from years of inspections: high-risk and high-traffic doors should be professionally checked every three months, and every fire door in the building should get a visual once-over monthly. That monthly check doesn’t need a specialist, it needs an observant person walking the building.
The pound coin test
Which brings me to my favourite piece of practical advice, because it costs exactly £1. The gap around a fire door matters enormously – too wide, and smoke and fire pass through. As a rule of thumb, a pound coin should fit snugly into the gap between the door leaf and the frame. Walk your building, and if a gap looks wrong, try the coin. If it rattles loosely or won’t go in at all, report the door and have it checked by a competent person. Most people have a pound coin in their pocket; that’s the entire toolkit for a first-pass check.
What fails first
Across thousands of doors, the same three faults come up again and again: excessive gaps, worn hinges, and damaged leading edges. None of them looks urgent on a Tuesday afternoon. All of them can compromise the door on the day it’s needed. Add wedged-open doors, missing or painted-over seals, and unauthorised alterations, drilling through a fire door for a cable run is more common than you’d hope, and you have the bulk of what a professional inspection finds.
Compliance is a process, not a certificate
No building is ever “done” with fire door compliance, because doors keep moving and wearing from the day they’re fitted. That’s why the best approach is predictive rather than reactive. When we inspect a door, we’re not just recording today’s faults , we’re assessing how the door is deteriorating so the building owner can budget for what’s coming, rather than being surprised by it. After a first full inspection, you should know not just what needs fixing now, but roughly what you should be allowing each year to keep the building’s doors compliant. No surprise costs.
Regulation is only moving one way. The Building Safety Act 2022, the Fire Safety Act and the 2022 Regulations have all raised the bar on accountability, documentation and the ongoing management of risk and duty holders are increasingly asked to evidence not just that checks happened, but who did them and what happened next.
What to do next
Three things, in order. First, find out when your fire doors were last professionally inspected – if you don’t know, that’s your answer. Second, put a monthly visual check into your building walk-arounds: gaps, closers, seals, damage, doors propped open. Third, make sure inspection leads to action: a report that sits in a drawer protects nobody. When our fire door inspections find a defect, the same team recommends the fix and carries out the remedial work because the point isn’t a list of problems, it’s a building that performs.
If you’re not sure where your building stands, book a fire door inspection or call us on 0330 024 9121 – and keep a pound coin in your pocket on the next walk round.
