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Fire doors have been an increasingly common area of scrutiny when assessing and ensuring fire safety within buildings. A fully functional fire door is a critical element in containing fire and smoke spreading and maintaining viable routes for occupants to escape from.
Responsible Persons, building owners and facility managers need to understand the difference between routine fire door checks and comprehensive fire door surveys, ‘checks’ and ‘surveys’ both are aimed at protecting lives and property during a fire emergency, but their execution and objectives differ significantly.
A ‘check’ is as you would imagine a much less detailed, reasonably basic assessment of the condition of a fire door and can be undertaken by anyone deemed competent, a survey is a much more in-depth inspection and should be completed by a suitably qualified and competent person.
Deciding who to use to undertake any check is ultimately the responsibility of The Responsible Person, they must satisfy themselves with which type of inspection is needed, the frequency and that the person/organisation appointed to complete them are suitably competent.
Fire door checks Under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, are designed to be simple and basic. It is unnecessary to engage a specialist’s services to conduct these routine checks. Providing they are given clear, simple instructions the likes of caretakers, managing agents or maintenance personnel etc, should be fully capable of performing these as part of their regular inspections and visits to the building. The checks are purely visual and do not involve the use of tools, it is not required to record the findings, but there is a need to be able to evidence that you have a process in place to show compliance with the Regulation.
A fire door survey is a far more in-depth inspection of all fire doors conducted by a qualified and experienced person. A comprehensive survey conducted by a competent person should be done every 6 months to ensure their proper maintenance and compliance. A fire door survey is recommended as part of the significant findings outlined in the fire risk assessment proceed for the inspected areas. This survey becomes imperative when consistent defects in fire-resistant doors are identified by the Responsible Person(s) during the fire risk assessment.
Conducting a fire door survey must be undertaken by a suitably qualified and experienced person(s) with appropriate knowledge and understanding of current fire legislation and best practices, including BS 8214: 2016 (the code of practice for fire door assemblies). The survey report must detail appropriate risk ratings associated with each door set concerning life safety.
Legal obligations Under Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, the Responsible Person(s) are required to make sure that the premises, along with any facilities, equipment and devices provided on the premises, are subject to a suitable system of maintenance. They must maintain these elements in an efficient working order and in good repair, including fire doors. In shared premises, where multiple Responsible Persons may exist, it is essential for them to collaborate effectively to ensure all relevant requirements of the Fire Safety Order are met.
Fire Door Surveys Residential Premises Over 11m Under the Fire Safety (Regulations) 2022 it is a legal requirement for responsible persons for all multi-occupied residential buildings in England with storeys over 11 meters in height to:
The individuals responsible for performing fire door checks should consider the following:
Commercial premises and residential premises under 11 meters Responsible Persons overseeing residential buildings under 11 meters in height are required to implement general fire precautions within these buildings. This duty includes ensuring that all fire doors, including flat entrance doors, can provide adequate protection. This also involves conducting six-monthly inspections of all communal fire doors, including assessments of self-closing devices. It is advised that best endeavours are made to check all flat doors as well.
At First Intervention Team (FIT) we have a team of qualified, experienced and competent fire door assessors who can assist with the full range of fire door-related services. We have assisted many clients who have been advised that they need to replace the vast majority of their fire doors, incorrectly at times. Our approach is to work with our clients to ensure the correct balance of compliance and life safety standards are achieved taking into consideration the commercial and financial needs of a business.
FIT hold a wide range of relevant accreditations, which demonstrates our ongoing commitment to maintaining the highest levels of competence in this critical life safety sector. We are also fully insured for all the services we provide and hold applicable EL, PL and PI cover.
If you have any questions relating to any aspect of fire door requirements we can assist you, please contact us today we are more than happy to assist.
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