Fire door surveys are a critical element of fire protection and the resulting fire door survey report provides valuable insights for building owners and managers. Required by law for a non-domestic building to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, this thorough examination of your fire doors should take place on a regular basis and will involve assessing the quality and functionality of your fire doors to produce a report which evidences how well you are meeting your safety obligations.

Without an understanding of the contents of a fire door survey report, it can be difficult to plan your ongoing fire door maintenance and stay on top of modern rules and regulations. That’s why we’ve created this handy guide to summarise exactly what you should get from your fire door survey and, crucially, what to do with this information once the survey has been completed. 

Will All Reports Look The Same?

Before getting and reading a fire survey report, it’s important to understand exactly what kind of inspection you are paying for. There is no set format and different providers will not only include different information in the report but also inspect with varying levels of care and attention. This kind of discrepancy can create issues further down the line when you move towards maintaining and replacing your doors. If the survey report is not detailed enough, the professional working on your doors will not be able to complete the work without carrying out another, more detailed survey.

For this reason, you should always opt for a comprehensive fire door survey like the ones we carry out at WGP Maintenance. This will ensure that you get an all-inclusive fire door survey report from which you can tell exactly what work needs to be done to maintain your doors and bring them up to the correct standards. 

How Is A Fire Door Survey Report Produced?

To produce their report, the inspector will follow a fire door survey checklist containing around 78 items – all of which need to be examined on each door. This process will include looking at the following elements:

• Fire door signage and appropriate markings
• Hinges 
• Hardware
• Latches and locks
• Glass and/or vision panels
• Seals
• Gaps
• Condition of the door itself
• Frames

Alongside your Fire Risk Assessment and Compartment Drawings, the inspector will also observe the layout of the building to gain a better understanding of how consequential remediation work could be completed.

The amount of time it takes to produce the fire door survey report will vary vastly from building to building. Ultimately, the more doors in your building, the longer the survey will take to complete and the report to be written. You can expect WGP’s fire door inspectors to allow approximately 6-12 minutes per door, guaranteeing you that adequate time has been taken to thoroughly survey the door and alleviate any concerns you may have about doors needing to be resurveyed before any work can be undertaken. 

Fire Door Survey Report Contents

As we have touched upon, the quality and therefore level of detail of a fire door survey can vary. However, a typical comprehensive report from WGP will include all of the information you need to be fully informed about your compliance with fire safety regulations. This includes:

• A detailed report for every door, providing specific information on its current state of compliance and a full breakdown of items which require remediation or replacement. 
• A door matrix including an itemised location reference as well as a summary of all repairs or replacements required to bring the door up to a compliant state of repair.  Getting this information at the surveying stage is crucial as it allows you to see exactly what kind of work needs to be done and provides a full specification that can be utilised to gain accurate costs from any qualified installers like WGP Maintenance. 
• A door-by-door cost breakdown to carry out the remedial work stated within the report.

What Happens When The Report Is Completed?

Once the inspector has provided you with the completed fire door survey report, it will be your responsibility to act upon any issues discovered during the inspection. A reputable company like WGP Maintenance should be able to guide you through this process and offer advice on the next steps you should consider. Depending on the expertise of the company that conducted the survey, you may need to find an alternative suitable professional to carry out the work. However, it’s still important that you get this work completed as soon as is reasonably possible. Any delays in making your fire doors compliant could mean that your building does not meet legal standards and, worse, is unsafe for use.

By choosing WGP Maintenance for your fire door surveys, you can enjoy peace of mind when it comes to compliance. We have been BM Trada-certified for over a decade and have vast experience within this speciality. Should you wish to make use of the full services we offer, then we can carry out your fire door surveys, undertake any subsequent remedial repairs or replacement works required and assist you with all ongoing maintenance to ensure you maintain compliance. This comprehensive approach removes the likelihood of wasted time or repeated surveying and ensures that the maintenance of your doors is completed to the appropriate high standards in the most cost-effective way. 

If you wish to kickstart the process of meeting your fire stopping obligations with a high-quality fire door survey report, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Our friendly team can work with you to deliver an expert service from start to finish.