Quarterly communal fire door checks in Watford
Stairwell, lobby and riser doors, checked every three months, with a record you can show.
Get a priceSome blocks have a rule that says how often the shared doors must be checked.
The rule is in the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. It applies to residential buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises and a height of more than 11 metres. For those, the responsible person has to check the fire doors in the common parts at least every three months.
That is four sets of checks a year. Each one needs to leave a record.
Which doors count
Doors in the communal areas. Stairwell doors, lobby doors, doors on corridors between flats and the stairs, riser cupboard doors and plant room doors.
Flat front doors are a different list, covered on our flat front door checks page.
What a quarterly check looks like
It is quicker than a full inspection. We are looking for what changes in three months.
- Is it shut, or has someone wedged it open
- Does it close and latch from half open
- Are the seals still there, and not torn or painted
- Is the closer arm still fixed and the body not leaking oil
- Is the glazing intact
- Have cables or pipes gone through it since the last visit
Damage is photographed and added to a list for your contractor.
What goes in the record
The date, the doors checked and what we found on each. A door that failed gets a note on the fault, and the next visit shows whether it was fixed.
The regulations ask you to keep this. It is also the first thing an enforcing officer will ask for.
Blocks under 11 metres
The fixed three-month rule does not apply. The doors still have to work, and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 still expects them to be checked. How often is a decision for your fire risk assessment.
Many managers of smaller blocks pick quarterly anyway, because it is easy to remember.
Send the postcode and a rough door count. You get a price back the same day.
Get a price