Quarterly and annual fire door inspections for HMOs, blocks of flats and commercial premises — every door photographed, every defect logged, every report ready for your fire officer, insurer or buyer's solicitor. Surveys booked in 5–7 days.
Daniel Daly holds the Fire Door Inspection qualification (QFD027).
A fire door inspection is a systematic, recorded check of every fire-rated opening in a building against its certified FD30 or FD60 specification — leaf condition, frame integrity, intumescent and smoke seals, hinges, closer, latch, gaps at head, jambs and threshold, glazing, signage and the door's certification pack. Each door receives a pass / fail / advisory rating, photos and a written report you can hand straight to your Responsible Person, insurer or fire officer.
Responsible Persons under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 — landlords, HMO operators, managing agents, housing associations, care home operators, schools, GP practices and commercial premises occupiers. Mandatory for any building over 11m in height under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, and best practice for everyone else.
Under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, communal fire doors in buildings over 11m must be inspected quarterly and flat entrance doors annually. Outside that, on change of ownership, after a fire risk assessment update, before re-mortgage or sale, after vandalism or forced entry, and as the baseline check before a planned maintenance programme.
An inspection by an unqualified person is worthless to your insurer if a claim is raised, and to your fire officer if an enforcement notice is served. The whole point of the record is to evidence that the check was carried out by a competent, qualified person against the door's certified specification. Daniel Daly holds the Fire Door Inspection qualification (Programme Ref: QFD027, awarded 06/02/2026 by UK Fire Door Training), so the reports we issue carry weight where it matters.
An untrained inspection might tick the obvious boxes — door closes, latch works, sign present — and miss the gap geometry, the failed hinge pad, the painted-over intumescent and the wrong-grade closer. At enforcement these reports are picked apart.
Under the 2022 Regulations, failure to carry out and record the required inspections is itself an offence. Merseyside Fire & Rescue can issue an Enforcement Notice on the missing paperwork alone — before any door is even examined.
If a fire occurs and the claims investigator finds no inspection record, or a record from an unqualified inspector, your buildings insurance position is materially weakened. The defence to that is a documented inspection regime by a qualified person.
Custodial sentences have been handed down post-Grenfell for failures in fire door management. The Responsible Person — usually a director, landlord or managing agent — carries personal liability. A clear, traceable inspection record documented using OneTrace is the first line of defence.
We confirm the door schedule (or build one if missing), agree access arrangements with the managing agent or building manager, and notify tenants in writing where flat entrance doors are included. No surprise visits.
Each door checked methodically against its certification: leaf, frame, intumescent and smoke seals, hinges (count, type, intumescent pads), closer (grade, latch action), latch, gaps (feeler-gauge measured at head, jambs, threshold), glazing if present, signage on both faces, and the certification pack itself.
Every door photographed (open, closed, latch detail, closer detail). Defects rated Pass / Advisory / Fail with a brief written reason. Failures categorised by remedial cost so you can plan budgets.
PDF report by end of next working day: executive summary, building-level summary table, per-door pages with photos and findings. Plus the raw door schedule in spreadsheet form for your records.
If you want the failures closed out, we quote remedials separately under our Fire Door Maintenance service — same team, same paperwork format, no second mobilisation. Or take the report and use it with another contractor — your choice.
Inspections carried out by or under the supervision of Daniel Daly — Fire Door Inspection qualified (QFD027). The kind of competent person the 2022 Regulations require.
Reports documented using OneTrace and designed for the eyes of insurers, fire officers and Approved Inspectors — clear, dated, photographed and signed.
Recurring inspection programmes for blocks and HMOs at a known per-door price, scheduled in advance to satisfy the 2022 Regulations.
Findings rolled up into a building summary so you see which doors need urgent action versus advisory items — useful for planning maintenance budgets across a portfolio.
We quote remedial work separately and clearly. You're free to take the report to another contractor — we don't bundle inspection and remedial fees to lock you in.
We handle the access notices for flat entrance doors and work cleanly inside occupied properties — no complaints back to the managing agent.
A proper fire door inspection is more than a tick-box checklist. It's a structured assessment against the door's certified specification, fully fire compliant and documented using OneTrace so the record survives examination by a fire officer, an insurance claims investigator or a buyer's surveyor. Below is what we examine on every door, and why each element matters.
For buildings over 11m: communal fire doors must be inspected quarterly, and flat entrance doors annually. Inspections must be carried out by a competent person and recorded. The Responsible Person (named under the Fire Safety Order) is accountable for ensuring the inspections happen and the records exist. We work to the FDIS / FDM frameworks recognised by Merseyside Fire & Rescue and the major insurers.
We check the leaf for warp (under 4mm bow), splits, delamination, fire damage, signs of swelling from water ingress and unauthorised modifications (over-sized cut-outs for letterboxes, drilled vision panels, deep mortices). The frame is checked for plumb, fixings into structure, packing behind the architrave and continuity around the head — a gap behind the frame voids the fire-stopping function.
Intumescent strips and smoke seals are inspected for continuity around head and jambs, profile match to the door's original spec, paint contamination (paint stops the intumescent expanding properly), shrinkage, ironmongery cuts and end-of-life degradation. Seals are the single most common Fail finding on our inspections — typically 25–35% of doors we inspect for the first time fail on seals alone.
Closer tested for positive latching from the half-open position (30°), correct grading for door width and weight, no oil leaks. Hinges checked for count (minimum 3 on a heavy fire door), CE marking, intumescent pads where required, no dropping or wear. Latch checked for fire-rated specification and alignment with the keep. Combined: these account for another 20–30% of Fail findings.
Gaps measured with a feeler gauge at head, jambs and threshold against the door's spec (typically 2–4mm at head and jambs, 8–10mm at threshold or as data-sheet states). Fire-rated glazing inspected for cracking, intumescent gasket and correct beading. Signage ('Fire Door — Keep Shut') checked on both faces under BS 5499. Threshold drop-seals tested for free fall.
Fire door maintenance is the planned and reactive work required to keep an installed fire door performing to its certified FD30 or FD60 rating — replacing failed intumescent and smoke seals, re-tensioning or replacing overhead closers, refitting or upgrading hinges and latches, easing leaves that have dropped or are catching, adjusting gaps back to the 2–4mm tolerance and reissuing the per-door compliance documentation.
Explore Fire Door MaintenanceFire door installation is the supply, fitting, sealing and certification of FD30 or FD60 rated door sets — the door, frame, intumescent seals, ironmongery and signage — to BS 476-22 / EN 1634-1 and the guidance in Approved Document B.
Explore Fire Door InstallationA full property renovation is a coordinated programme of works — strip-out, structural alterations, services first fix, plastering, joinery, kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, decoration and snagging — delivered to a fixed scope, a fixed price and a defined timeline.
Explore Full Property Renovations
Free scoping call across Liverpool & Merseyside — door schedule, fixed per-door price, dates to satisfy the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.
