Fire Doors in the UK: A Widespread Compliance Problem

Around three-quarters of fire doors in the UK fail inspection, based on over 100,000 checks by accredited inspectors. This points to systemic failures in how fire doors are installed, maintained, and managed across both residential and commercial buildings.

For property managers and agents, this is a critical risk area with clear legal duties.

Where Fire Doors Commonly Fail

1. Gaps and Seal Defects - the most frequent issue is incorrect gaps between the door and frame. Standards (BS 8214) recommend gaps of 2–4mm. Anything outside this range can compromise fire and smoke resistance.  Environmental factors make this worse:

• Timber doors swell in humidity and shrink in dry conditions

• Doors can bind, warp, or misalign

• Gaps quickly become non-compliant

Equally critical are intumescent seals with missing, damaged, or painted-over seals rendering the door ineffective.  Without them, fire and smoke can pass through prematurely

2. Self-Closing Failures - fire doors only work if they close properly. Yet faulty or disabled closers are common. Typical issues include:

• Doors wedged open for convenience

• Closers that don’t fully shut the door

• Poor maintenance leading to failure over time

If a fire door doesn’t close, it doesn’t protect, simple as that.

3. Installation and Frame Defects - poor installation is often hidden but highly dangerous. Common problems include:

• Gaps between frame and wall

• Missing fire-rated materials (e.g. intumescent mastic)

• Incorrect fixings

These defects are frequently missed during visual inspections, especially the gaps between walls and frame, as decorative architraves conceal the space behind the frame. A door may look compliant but fail under fire conditions.

Other frequent issues include, physical damage such as holes and dents, along with unauthorised modifications (locks, letterboxes, hardware). Any alteration can invalidate a fire doors rating and ability to perform as intended.

Legal Responsibilities

If you manage or own property, you may be the “Responsible Person” under fire safety law.  The key requirements include:

Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022

• Quarterly checks of fire doors in common areas (buildings over 11m)

• Annual checks of flat entrance doors on a “best endeavours” basis

Fire Safety Order

• Fire doors must be maintained in efficient working order

Importantly, you can outsource inspections, but you cannot outsource responsibility

What Compliance Actually Looks Like

A compliant fire door must:

• Close fully onto the latch

• Have correct gap tolerances

• Include intact seals

• Have a working self-closer

• Show no damage or unauthorised changes

Certification alone is not enough, current condition is what matters and if you are not inspecting or auditing your doors, how can you prove that they are, ok?

What Property Managers Must Do

1. Inspect Regularly – you must your statutory quarterly and annual checks, use competent professionals for detailed inspections and audits, and supplement these with routine on-site checks.

2. Fix Issues Immediately - some defects are critical and require urgent action such as excessive gaps, damaged or missing seals, faulty closers or structural damage.  If a door can’t perform, it must be repaired or in some rare circumstances replaced, not monitored.

3. Keep Robust Records - you must be able to prove compliance. Records should include, what was inspected, details of any defects found, the actions taken (before/after evidence), and who carried out the work. This aligns with the “Golden Thread” under the Building Safety Act 2022.

4. Manage Access Properly - for flat entrance doors set inspection dates, contact residents and keep evidence of all attempts.  “Best endeavours” means doing everything reasonable and proving it.

5. Engage Residents and tenants - residents and tenants play a role in safety and therefore engagement is essential.  Make sure that residents and tenants understand and are made aware that fire doors must not be wedged open, closers must not be tampered with and damage must be reported. For residential buildings information must be provided by law at move-in and at least every 12 months; there is no reason why this couldn’t apply to commercial buildings.

6. Understand Lease Responsibilities – the responsibility for doors and frames can vary, however, inspection responsibility always sits with the Responsible Person.

Conclusions

Fire door compliance isn’t a one-off task; it’s an ongoing legal and safety obligation.  With failure rates so high, the risks are clear, life safety is compromised and legal liability is significant.

Effective management requires regular inspections, prompt remediation, clear documentation and ongoing oversight

Anything less is a risk no property manager or agent can afford to take.

Written by

David J. Hills FRICS, FIIRSM, MIFireE, MSFPE, RSP 

Senior Director - Regulatory, Technical & Technology Solutions 

Ark Workplace Risk