Most blocks we survey have had their fire doors looked at. Far fewer can produce a record that shows which door was checked, what was wrong with it, and when the defect was closed. That gap is what turns a routine inspection into an enforcement conversation.
How often doors need checking
For buildings above 11 metres in England, communal fire doors need checking quarterly and flat entrance doors need a best endeavours check annually. Below that height the duty is less prescriptive, but the responsible person still has to show the doors are being maintained.
In practice, the pragmatic approach for a mixed portfolio is a single inspection standard applied everywhere. It costs little more, and it removes the argument about which building sits either side of the threshold.
The defects we find most often
- Gaps at the head and jamb outside the 2mm to 4mm tolerance, usually after a door has been rehung
- Intumescent strips painted over during cyclical redecoration
- Self closers disconnected or adjusted so the door does not latch from any angle
- Non fire rated ironmongery fitted during a reactive repair
- Letter plates and viewers cut into flat entrance doors without a rated kit
- Service riser doors left with damaged or missing signage
What a defensible record looks like
The inspection record should identify the door by a fixed reference, not by flat number alone, and carry a photograph of the leaf, the closer and the gap check. Each defect needs a severity, an owner and a target date.
When the remedial is done, the same reference should carry the completion photograph and, where applicable, the installer's certification. If the auditor cannot follow one door from defect to sign off in under a minute, the record is not doing its job.
Closing remedials without disturbing residents
Flat entrance doors are the hard part, because access depends on leaseholders. Batching remedials by stair core, giving residents a two hour window and carrying common ironmongery on the van removes most repeat visits. Where a door is beyond adjustment, replacement with a certificated doorset is usually cheaper than a second round of failed remedials.