Why inspect your fire doors

Fire Resisting Doors are an essential defence to allow your employees & visitors to escape from a building safely in the event of a fire, any defects in your Fire Resisting Doors could be the reason someone doesn't make it out of the building in the event of a fire.

BS9999:2017 Fire Safety in the Design, Management and use of Building recommends that fire doors are inspected at least every 6-months to ensure they will function and perform as designed in the event of a fire.

Having your Fire Resisting Doors inspected regularly will highlight any defects and ensure that the doors can be maintained when defects are identified.

The frequency of inspections will depend on the nature of your business and the frequency of use of the door. BS9999:2017 recommends that Fire Resisting Doors are inspected on a 6-monthly basis by a competent person, however, realistically Fire Resisting Doors in an office with 10 employees may only require a formal inspection once a year, where a care home, hotel or house of multiple occupancy they may need to be formally inspected every 3 to 4 months due to their excessive use.

Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO/FSO) makes it a legal requirement to ensure that fire resisting doors and escape doors are correctly installed and adequately maintained in order for them to be fit for purpose.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, often referred to as the RRO or FSO, applies to all buildings other than domestic housing, and replaces many pieces of previous fire legislation, including the old fire certificate issued by the local authority fire & rescue service.

During a Fire Door inspection our assessor will thoroughly inspect the door, the frame and any accessories fitted to the doors, this will include hinges, closers, lock and latch mechanisms and letterboxes if applicable.

Depending on the condition of the door and the frame an inspection can take 20 to 30 minutes.