Fire Safety · Best Practice · Construction

Fire Door Inspection Record

A record of fire door inspections checking correct installation, intumescent strips, and smoke seals.

Last reviewed: 29 March 2026 — This guide reflects UK law as of this date. Building Regs B / BSA 2022 remains current with no amendments enacted as of 29 March 2026. Next scheduled review: 29 March 2027.

Legal basis	Building Regulations Approved Document B + Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) + Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO) Article 17
Key standard	BS 8214:2026 (published 31 March 2026, replacing BS 8214:2016) — Timber-based fire door assemblies: design, installation, maintenance, and management
Inspection frequency	Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022: communal fire doors quarterly, flat entrance fire doors annually (buildings >11 m in height)
Gap tolerance	Maximum gap between the door leaf and the frame must be ≤3 mm on all edges when the door is in the closed position
Ratings	FD30S (30-minute fire resistance with cold smoke seal) and FD60S (60-minute fire resistance with cold smoke seal) are the most common ratings for residential fire doors

1. Fire Door Inspections

Fire doors are a critical element of passive fire protection. When a fire occurs in a compartmented building, fire doors are the components that maintain the integrity of the compartment walls, preventing the spread of fire and smoke from the room of origin into escape routes and adjoining compartments. A properly installed, correctly maintained fire door saves lives by giving occupants time to escape and by protecting the means of escape from heat, flame, and toxic smoke.

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, Article 17, the responsible person must ensure that fire safety equipment — including fire doors — is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order, and in good repair. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 introduced specific statutory inspection frequencies for residential buildings over 11 metres in height: fire doors in communal areas must be inspected at least quarterly, and flat entrance doors must be inspected at least annually. These are minimum frequencies — more frequent inspections may be necessary based on the fire risk assessment.

BS 8214:2026, published on 31 March 2026 and replacing BS 8214:2016, provides comprehensive guidance on the design, installation, maintenance, and management of timber-based fire door assemblies. The updated standard reflects the increased regulatory focus on fire door performance following the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and the introduction of the Building Safety Act 2022. It includes enhanced requirements for inspection competency, record-keeping, and the management of fire door asset registers.

A fire door inspection covers every component of the door assembly: the door leaf, the frame, the intumescent strips, the cold smoke seals, the self-closing device, the hinges, the glazing (if any), the signage, and the gaps between the leaf and the frame. The maximum permissible gap between the door leaf and the frame is ≤3 mm on all edges when the door is closed. This tolerance is critical because the intumescent strips and smoke seals are designed to function within this gap — larger gaps compromise both fire resistance and smoke containment. For higher-risk buildings under BSA 2022, a fire door asset register must be established and maintained as part of the golden thread of building information.

A wedged-open fire door is a hole in the compartmentation

A fire door that is wedged, hooked, or held open by any means other than an approved automatic release mechanism linked to the fire alarm system provides zero fire resistance. It is not a fire door at all — it is a hole in the compartment wall. In the event of fire, smoke and flame will pass freely through the opening, filling escape routes with toxic smoke and spreading fire to adjoining compartments. Wedging fire doors open is one of the most common and most dangerous breaches of fire safety found during inspections. Under the RRO 2005, the responsible person can be prosecuted for failing to maintain fire doors in working order, and individuals who deliberately interfere with fire safety equipment can also face enforcement action.

2. Content

The following table sets out the information that must be captured during each fire door inspection. Every inspection must be documented, and the records must be retained as part of the building's fire safety management file.

Field	Detail
Door asset ID	Unique identifier for the door assembly, linked to the fire door asset register. Each door must be individually identifiable and traceable throughout its service life.
Location	Precise location of the door within the building — floor, corridor, flat number, stairway, or riser cupboard. Must correspond to the location shown on the fire strategy drawings.
Door type and rating	The fire resistance rating of the door assembly (e.g. FD30S, FD60S), the manufacturer, the certification or test evidence reference, and whether the door is a flat entrance door, communal door, or service riser door.
Date of inspection	The date on which the inspection was carried out. This is used to verify compliance with the statutory inspection frequencies (quarterly for communal doors, annually for flat entrance doors in buildings >11 m).
Inspection type	Whether the inspection is a routine quarterly or annual inspection, a post-installation check, a reinspection following remedial works, or an ad-hoc inspection triggered by a reported defect or fire incident.
Inspector	Name, competence qualifications, and employer of the person carrying out the inspection. BS 8214:2026 requires that fire door inspectors are competent and can demonstrate relevant training and experience.
Checks: pass or fail	Itemised checklist covering: door leaf condition (no damage, holes, or delamination), frame condition (securely fixed, no distortion), intumescent strips (present, continuous, undamaged), cold smoke seals (present, continuous, flexible), self-closer (functioning, closes door fully from any angle), hinges (correct number, securely fixed, CE/UKCA marked), glazing (intact, correctly beaded, fire-rated), gaps ≤3 mm on all edges, signage (fire door keep shut / fire door keep locked), threshold gap ≤8 mm, and letterbox (if present, fire-rated and intumescent protected).
Defects found	Description of every defect identified during the inspection, classified by severity (critical, major, minor). Critical defects — such as missing intumescent strips, failed self-closers, or gaps exceeding 3 mm — compromise the fire resistance of the door and require immediate remedial action.
Remedial action	The remedial action required for each defect, the priority classification (immediate, within 24 hours, within 7 days, planned), and the date by which the remedial work must be completed. For critical defects, interim measures (such as a fire watch) may be required until the door is repaired or replaced.
Overall assessment	The inspector's overall assessment of the door: pass (all checks satisfactory), conditional pass (minor defects that do not compromise fire resistance, remedial action planned), or fail (one or more critical defects that compromise fire resistance, immediate action required).
Inspector signature	The inspector's signature (or electronic equivalent) confirming that the inspection was carried out in accordance with BS 8214:2026 and that the findings recorded are accurate and complete.
Next inspection due	The date of the next scheduled inspection, calculated from the date of this inspection in accordance with the statutory frequencies and the building's fire risk assessment. This date must be recorded in the asset register to ensure inspections are not missed.

3. Common Mistakes

Not acting on defects found during inspection

The purpose of a fire door inspection is not simply to record the condition of the door — it is to identify defects and ensure they are remediated. A common and dangerous failure is to carry out inspections diligently, record defects accurately, and then fail to follow through with the remedial work. Inspection records that show the same defects reported quarter after quarter without remediation are evidence of a systemic management failure and will be treated as such by the fire authority. Critical defects — missing intumescent strips, failed self-closers, gaps exceeding 3 mm, damaged door leaves — compromise the fire resistance rating of the door. A fire door with critical unresolved defects may provide no meaningful fire resistance at all. The responsible person must have a clear process for tracking defects through to completion and must escalate unresolved defects.

Using non-competent inspectors

Fire door inspection requires specific knowledge and competence. An inspector must understand fire door construction, the function of each component (intumescent strips, cold smoke seals, self-closers, hinges, glazing), the relevant standards (BS 8214:2026, BS 476, BS EN 1634), and the regulatory requirements. An untrained person carrying out a fire door inspection may not recognise defects that a competent inspector would identify immediately — for example, intumescent strips that have been painted over (reducing their ability to expand), hinges that are not CE/UKCA marked for fire resistance, or glazing that has been replaced with non-fire-rated glass. BS 8214:2026 sets out the competence requirements for fire door inspectors, and third-party certification schemes such as those offered by the BM TRADA Q-Mark, FDIS, and IFC provide recognised routes to demonstrating competence.

No fire door asset register

The Building Safety Act 2022 requires that higher-risk buildings maintain a fire door asset register as part of the golden thread of building information. The asset register records every fire door in the building, its location, its rating, its installation date, its inspection history, and its current condition. Without an asset register, it is impossible to demonstrate that every fire door in the building has been identified, inspected at the required frequency, and maintained in working order. Buildings with hundreds of fire doors cannot rely on ad-hoc inspection arrangements — a systematic register-based approach is essential to ensure that no door is missed and that the inspection and remediation cycle is properly managed.

4. Frequently Asked Questions

What changed between BS 8214:2016 and BS 8214:2026?▾

BS 8214:2026, published on 31 March 2026, is a substantial update that reflects the regulatory changes introduced by the Building Safety Act 2022 and the findings of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. Key changes include enhanced competence requirements for fire door inspectors, requiring demonstrable training and, where available, third-party certification. The standard introduces more detailed guidance on asset register management, including the information that must be recorded for each door and the process for tracking defects through to resolution. It strengthens requirements for installation quality, emphasising that a fire door is only as good as its installation and that installation must be carried out by competent persons following the manufacturer's instructions. The 2026 edition also provides clearer guidance on the assessment of existing fire doors, including criteria for determining when a door must be replaced rather than repaired. It aligns with the golden thread requirements of BSA 2022 and emphasises the importance of maintaining accurate, accessible records throughout the life of the building.

What does the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require for fire door inspections?▾

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 (FSER 2022) introduced mandatory inspection frequencies for fire doors in residential buildings over 11 metres in height. Fire doors in communal areas — such as lobbies, corridors, stairways, and service risers — must be inspected at least every three months (quarterly). Flat entrance doors (the front door of each individual flat, which is typically the most important fire door in the building from a life-safety perspective) must be inspected at least once every twelve months (annually). These are minimum frequencies; the responsible person must carry out more frequent inspections if the fire risk assessment identifies a need for them. The Regulations also require the responsible person to provide information to residents about the importance of fire doors and their obligation not to interfere with them. FSER 2022 applies to all residential buildings over 11 metres, not just higher-risk buildings under BSA 2022.

What is an acceptable gap on a fire door?▾

The maximum permissible gap between the door leaf and the frame is ≤3 mm on all edges (top and sides) when the door is in the closed position. This tolerance is specified in BS 8214:2026 and is critical to the performance of the door assembly. The intumescent strips fitted to the door or frame are designed to expand when exposed to heat, sealing the gap between the leaf and the frame and preventing the passage of flame. If the gap exceeds 3 mm, the intumescent strips may not be able to fully seal the gap, and fire resistance is compromised. The threshold gap (between the bottom of the door leaf and the floor) may be up to 8 mm where a cold smoke seal is not required at the threshold, or up to 3 mm where a threshold smoke seal is fitted. Any door with gaps exceeding these tolerances should be classified as a defect requiring remedial action — the door may need to be rehung, the frame adjusted, or the door leaf replaced.

Can a non-fire-rated door be upgraded to a fire door?▾

In almost all cases, no. A fire door is a tested and certificated assembly — the door leaf, frame, intumescent strips, smoke seals, hinges, self-closer, and glazing (if any) are all tested together as a complete system under BS 476 Part 22 or BS EN 1634-1. Retrofitting intumescent strips, smoke seals, and a self-closer to a standard (non-fire-rated) door does not make it a fire door. The door leaf itself must be constructed to provide the required level of fire resistance, and this depends on its internal construction (core material, density, edge lipping, glazing aperture framing). A standard hollow-core or lightweight solid-core door will fail catastrophically in a fire, regardless of what hardware is fitted to it. The only reliable way to achieve the required fire resistance is to install a purpose-manufactured fire door assembly that has been tested and certificated to the appropriate standard. In very limited circumstances, a solid timber door may be upgraded under a scheme approved by the door manufacturer, but this is the exception rather than the rule and must be supported by test evidence.

Generate your Fire Door Inspection Record on Construction Suite

Construction Suite walks you through every required section with a guided Q&A — built to Building Regs B / BSA 2022 — and generates a professionally formatted document in minutes.

Get started free