Fire door inspection checklist

What this fire door inspection checklist is, and how it's built

A fire door only does its job — holding back fire and smoke long enough for people to escape — if it is the right certified doorset, installed correctly and kept in good condition. This checklist walks through the same elements a competent fire-door inspector checks: certification and identification, the leaf and frame, the gaps, the intumescent and cold-smoke seals, the hinges and self-closing device, any glazing, and signage and operation. It flags the critical items — the ones that, if defective, mean the door cannot be relied on as a fire door until they are put right.

The inspection regime: Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022

Since January 2023, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require the Responsible Person for a multi-occupied residential building over 11 metres in height to carry out quarterly checks of fire doors in the common parts and to make best endeavours to check the flat entrance doors annually. In other buildings, fire doors are inspected on a risk basis as part of the fire risk assessment. Inspections should follow the approach in BS 8214 (installation and maintenance of timber fire doors) within the wider BS 9999 management framework, and the findings must be recorded — for a high-rise building the safety case report has to evidence that fire doors are inspected regularly and that any significant findings were acted on.

Who can carry out the inspection

There is no legal requirement for a fire-door inspector to belong to a formal register, but whoever does it must be demonstrably competent — able to show they understand the relevant regulations, standards and the inspection procedure. In practice many building owners and principal contractors now expect a recognised Level 3 fire-door inspection qualification. Record who carried out the check and the basis of their competence alongside the findings.

Common defects this checklist catches

The defects inspectors find most often are: missing or painted-over intumescent strips; gaps that are too wide around the leaf; a self-closer that doesn't fully close and latch the door; doors wedged or propped open; damaged or over-trimmed leaves; missing or loose hinge screws; and uncertified modifications such as added grilles or through-fixings. Any of these can stop a fire door performing, which is why they are flagged as critical here.

This checklist is a self-help planning aid that drafts your findings — it is not a certified inspection and does not replace a competent fire-door inspector or the dutyholder's statutory duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. Always have significant findings assessed and remedied by a competent person.