The effectiveness of any fire door relies heavily on the condition it is in. While fire doors are put in place to contain fire and smoke, protect escape routes and save lives, they can only function as a reliable passive fire protection system if they are adequately maintained. 

A comprehensive fire door inspection or fire door survey is the first step towards keeping your doors compliant. A suitably qualified fire door inspector will thoroughly check each door to assess its current state of repair and identify any work required to bring it up to standard. If you’re not sure whether it’s time for this process to be conducted in your building, this guide will help you understand the signs that a fire door inspection is required.

You’re Behind Schedule Or Can’t Remember The Last Time An Inspection Was Conducted

It’s strongly advised that you have a regular fire door inspection schedule in place to prevent required fire door maintenance from going unnoticed. As per British Standards guidelines, fire doors should be inspected every six months. However, the exact frequency of inspection will depend on the nature of the building itself and factors such as the number of fire doors and how often they are used. For example, in high-traffic areas or buildings with vulnerable occupants like hospitals, a fire door inspection will need to be carried out more regularly.

If your last fire door inspection was longer than six months ago or, you cannot recall when it took place, it’s almost certainly time to schedule one. Regular inspections ensure that your fire doors remain effective and that you are making assumptions about safety based on correct and recent insights. 

The Way Your Building Is Used Has Changed

It’s often overlooked how much can change over just a few months. In fact, alterations to the way a building is used can significantly impact the wear and tear on fire doors, potentially bringing them into an inadequate and dangerous state of repair. 

For example, an increase in visitor numbers or daily staff usage may mean that fire doors are used more frequently and subsequently fall victim to greater levels of wear and tear. Similarly, if lots of new people are using your fire doors (such as new staff or residents), they may not be fully aware of how to operate them properly and this can lead to unintentional damage. Should any of these events have taken place in your building since your last visit from a fire door inspector, it’s crucial to reassess your fire safety needs and arrange for an up-to-date fire door survey to be completed. 

Building Work Has Taken Place

Building renovations can take place for a number of reasons, whether to improve the productivity of office space by changing the layout or as a result of necessary technical infrastructure upgrades. However, renovations can often compromise the integrity of your fire doors. New penetrations in walls for wiring or piping can leave gaps that compromise your building compartmentation and doors can easily be removed and reinstalled incorrectly.

After any significant building work, it is therefore highly advisable to schedule an updated fire door inspection. This will not only help you to understand whether your existing fire doors have been compromised by any of your changes but should also identify whether any further passive fire protection systems are required in light of new layouts or uses. 

Your Doors Are Visibly Damaged

Fire doors should be designed and fitted to endure wear and tear, but there does come a point where damage will compromise their ability to contain fire and smoke. Any indication of visible damage such as scratches and dents, missing or broken seals, or hinges and latches that fail to close properly, are surefire signs that immediate action should be taken to repair your doors.

While immediate maintenance may address some issues, a fire door inspection is essential to determine the extent of the damage and recommend necessary repairs. Not all damage will be visible; if there are problems you can spot yourself, additional hidden problems will likely be identified in a comprehensive fire door survey. The best fire door survey report will then provide you with a detailed breakdown of required remedial work, along with clear costs, helping you to plan your next steps.

What To Do Next

If any of the signs outlined in this article apply to you and your building, now is the time to take swift action. By organising a professional fire door inspection or fire door survey, you can be confident that your building remains safe and that you have fulfilled any compliance responsibilities you may have. 

At WGP Maintenance, our experienced and accredited team can carry out both comprehensive fire door surveys and the identified remedial or maintenance work. We go above and beyond to ensure that our inspectors provide you with the level of detail you need from a fire door survey, outlining not only the condition of your fire doors in our reports but also your next steps and costs. Contact us today to find out more and arrange your fire door inspection.