How often should fire doors be inspected? Regulation 10 and best practice
Published · 6 min read
In multi-occupied residential buildings over 11 metres in England, Regulation 10 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 requires quarterly checks of fire doors in common parts and annual checks of flat entrance doors, on a best-endeavours basis. For other premises, BS 9999 recommends routine inspection of fire doors at least every six months, with heavily used doors checked more often. Any fire door in poor repair also engages the general maintenance duty in Article 17 of the Fire Safety Order.
The legal baseline: Article 17 of the Fire Safety Order
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to keep fire-resisting doors — like all fire safety facilities — in efficient working order and good repair (Article 17). The Order does not set an inspection interval; the interval comes from specific regulations for residential buildings and from recognised guidance for everything else. The Fire Safety Act 2021 confirmed that flat entrance doors in multi-occupied residential buildings fall within the Order’s scope, ending a long-running ambiguity.
Regulation 10: fixed intervals for taller residential buildings
For multi-occupied residential buildings in England at least 11 metres tall, Regulation 10 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 sets explicit frequencies:
- Quarterly checks of all fire doors in the common parts — stairways, corridors, riser and plant room doors.
- Annual checks of flat entrance doors, using best endeavours to gain access, with records of attempts where access is refused.
- Information to residents: on moving in and at least annually, residents must be told that fire doors should be kept shut, not tampered with, and that faults should be reported.
Everything else: the six-monthly convention
Outside the Regulation 10 regime, the accepted benchmark is BS 9999, which recommends routine inspection of fire doors at least every six months, with doors subject to heavy traffic — hospital corridors, school circulation routes, hotel service doors — inspected more frequently, and some guidance suggesting weekly visual checks for the busiest doors. Insurers and enforcing authorities are familiar with the six-monthly convention, and a documented programme at that frequency is strong evidence of compliance with Article 17.
A fire risk assessment will also comment on fire doors as part of compartmentation, but an FRA is not a door survey: a periodic dedicated door inspection, recorded door by door, is what demonstrates the maintenance regime between assessments.
What a recorded check should contain
A Regulation 10 check is a functional check — that the door closes fully, seals are intact, and there is no obvious damage. A periodic survey goes further: the full eight-point health check with gap measurements, certification evidence and remedial actions, recorded per door in a register. Whichever level applies, the record should identify each door uniquely, date the check, name the inspector and capture defects with photographs — because the record, not the memory of the check, is what stands up to scrutiny.
AssessHub’s fire door inspection module produces exactly this record: a door register by building and level, per-door checks with photos and measurements, pass/fail outcomes, and a branded PDF report with a Regulation 10 appendix for residential buildings.
Frequently asked questions
Does Regulation 10 apply to buildings under 11 metres?
The quarterly and annual checking duties apply to multi-occupied residential buildings of at least 11 metres. Below that height the general duty to maintain fire doors under the Fire Safety Order still applies, and government guidance still recommends regular checks — the fixed frequencies are simply not mandated.
Who can carry out fire door checks?
Routine Regulation 10 checks can be carried out by a suitably briefed responsible person or their staff — they are simple functional checks. Periodic full surveys, and any judgement about ratings, certification or remedial specification, call for a competent fire door inspector.
What records should be kept?
A dated, door-by-door record of each check, defects found, photographs, remedial actions raised and their completion. For Regulation 10 buildings, also record attempts to access flat entrance doors and the information provided to residents.
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