Fire door regulations
Are Fire Door Inspections a Legal Requirement? How Often Must They Be Checked?
Yes. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Responsible Person must keep fire doors in effective working order and repair, which in practice means regular checks. For residential buildings over 11 metres, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 go further and set a fixed frequency: quarterly for communal fire doors, annually for flat entrance doors.
By Daniel, Director · 4 August 2026 · 5 min read
The legal basis for fire door inspections
The duty to inspect fire doors does not come from a single, standalone regulation. It comes from the general duty in the Fire Safety Order to keep fire precautions, including fire doors, in effective working order and repair, combined with the specific inspection frequencies added by the 2022 Regulations for certain residential buildings.
This matters because it means the duty to inspect applies more widely than the fixed frequency does. A commercial building under 11 metres has no fixed quarterly requirement, but the Responsible Person still has to be able to show that fire doors are checked often enough to catch problems before they become dangerous.
How often fire doors must be checked
Where the 2022 Regulations apply, the frequency is fixed and specific.
| Door type | Minimum frequency |
|---|---|
| Communal fire doors (buildings over 11m) | Quarterly |
| Flat entrance doors (buildings over 11m) | Annually |
| Fire doors in other premises | No fixed frequency, but must be checked often enough to remain in effective working order |
Why the requirement was introduced in 2022
The 2022 Regulations followed directly from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, which found fire doors in the building that had been damaged, poorly maintained, or replaced with doors that did not meet the fire rating. The government's response was to remove any ambiguity for higher-risk residential buildings by setting an explicit minimum frequency, rather than leaving it entirely to a general risk-based judgement.
What counts as a proper check
A compliant inspection covers the whole doorset: the gaps around the leaf, the condition of intumescent and smoke seals, the self-closing device, hinges and fixings, glazing, signage, existing certification, and the frame and surrounding structure. A visual walk-past is not enough to satisfy the duty. The inspection needs to be recorded, ideally with photographs, so there is evidence the check took place and what it found.
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Installation and Remediation of Fire Doors
What BS 8214:2026 requires, and how to tell whether an installation has been done correctly. The same guide applies whichever part of the country your building is in.