Fire Door Inspections

Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) makes it a legal requirement for fire resisting doors and escape doors to be correctly installed and adequately maintained.  The FSO applies to all buildings other than domestic housing. The law places responsibility on whoever has day-to-day control of premises.  The Fire Safety Authorities have the power to prosecute or even close buildings down where breaches are discovered.

In order to comply with the Law, most fire doors need to be inspected at least twice a year (more frequently where the door is in a high traffic area or in new buildings) by a suitably qualified/competent person. Recent regulatory changes (Fire Safety Regulations 2022) further require fire doors to be installed at the entrances of individual domestic premises of +11 metres and for these doors to be checked at least annually.  Communal doors in such buildings must be checked at least 4-times a year.