Around three-quarters of fire doors in the UK fail inspection, based on over 100,000 checks by accredited inspectors, pointing to systemic failures in how fire doors are installed, maintained, and managed across both residential and commercial buildings. For property managers and agents, this isn’t just a maintenance issue – it’s a critical risk area with clear legal duties attached.
A fire door installed correctly can drift out of compliance within months, as daily wear, propped-open doors, and mismatched hardware quietly erode its performance between inspections. Ark’s Fire Door Audits give you a full, accredited assessment of every door’s condition, with regulator-ready evidence and a clear route to resolution if issues are found.
Why Inspection Matters
Fire doors are one of the most overlooked elements of building safety, quietly doing their job whilst daily wear and tear and other damaging habits compromise their performance. The figures below show just how common non-compliance really is, and why regular, accredited inspection matters more than ever.
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75%of fire doors inspected in 2021 failed to meet the required standards after an FDIS inspection.
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65%of social housing fire doors failed to meet the FD30 legal minimum, as found in Sentry Doors' FOI data gathered in March 2026.
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31%of fire door failures stem from incorrect installation from day one, rendering them ineffective before a fire even occurs.
Fire doors are engineered life-safety systems. Designed and tested to resist fire and smoke for defined periods, they provide the time residents need to escape and emergency services need to intervene. But they only work if they are correctly specified, installed, maintained, and compatible with the building’s fire strategy.
For those responsible for residential assets, understanding whether fire doors will perform as intended is not optional; it is fundamental to protecting residents, safeguarding your organisation, and fulfilling your legal duties.
Fire door compliance isn’t a one-off task; it’s an ongoing legal and safety obligation.
Ark Workplace Risk offers a comprehensive fire door risk assessment service that keeps teams compliant, eases the workload of property managers, keeps residents informed, and turns audits into prioritised remedial works where needed.
Ark’s Fire Door Audit service is designed to reduce the administrative burden placed on property managers – saving time and improving resident engagement – and remove the friction often involved in moving from audit completion to remedial works.
When you choose to work with Ark, you get:
- A solution-driven service: Our straightforward workflow allows for a seamless process from audit through to remedial works.
- Access to improved technology: an easy-to-use resident booking portal and direct-to-resident reporting that save your team time and keep residents informed at every stage.
- Golden Thread evidence: All services and reports are compatible with our proprietary technology, QUOODA®, meaning that each fire door within your audit is scored, dated and evidence linked, leaving you audit-ready for the Building Safety Regulator.
- A trusted and accredited remedial partner: We can refer you to Firetecnics Systems Ltd., our sister company and passive fire protection specialists for a no-obligation, competitive quote for any necessary works.
- An in-house multi-disciplinary team: Fire, health and safety, structural and competence specialists are on hand to ensure that services are delivered to the highest standards.
- A track record that speaks for itself: 30+ years’ experience, over 200 UK clients, and a 98% client renewal rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places a legal duty on the “Responsible Person” to ensure fire doors are properly maintained, based on the findings of a fire risk assessment.
For residential buildings over 11 metres, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 go further, setting out specific, legally mandated inspection frequencies for fire doors.
For residential buildings over 11 metres, the law requires communal fire doors to be checked at least every three months, and flat entrance doors at least once a year.
For buildings under 11 metres, and for commercial premises, there’s no single fixed legal frequency, but industry guidance points to inspections every six to twelve months as sensible practice, with more frequent checks for high-traffic or higher-risk areas.
An audit is a systematic assessment of all relevant fire doors within a building to establish:
- What doors are present (flat entrance doors, communal doors, riser doors, plant room doors, etc.)
- Their fire rating
- The condition and compatibility of all of the visible components, including the door and frame itself, gaps around the door (head, jambs, and threshold), intumescent strips and smoke seals, hinges and hardware, self-closer performance, and certification or labelling
- Installation quality and maintenance history
- Their alignment with the building’s overarching fire strategy and fire risk assessment.
An audit provides a baseline understanding. In many existing residential buildings, particularly older stock, records may be incomplete, doors may have been replaced piecemeal, and modifications may have occurred without adequate oversight.
Without an initial audit, duty holders cannot confidently state whether their compartmentation strategy is intact or whether doors are capable of delivering their designed fire resistance.
The failure is recorded as a clear, prioritised finding in your audit report, along with what’s required to bring it back into compliance. As the Responsible Person, you’re required to act on this “as soon as reasonably practicable.”
If remedial works are required, Ark can refer you to Firetecnics Systems Ltd., our sister company and accredited remedial partner, for a no-obligation quote to resolve it. As passive fire protection specialists with an established track record, fire door and fire protection remediation are among their core areas of service, covering everything from minor remedial works through to complex, multi-building fire safety programmes. They hold FAS and SafeContractor accreditations, and all works come with detailed reporting and certification on completion.
Our end-to-end approach means that we can bridge the gap between your Fire Door Audit and remediation works to deliver faster, simpler and more trustworthy outcomes.
In the UK, the penalties for non-compliant fire doors are severe. Breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 can result in unlimited fines and, for the most serious offences that put people at risk, up to two years’ imprisonment.
Criminal liability for non-compliant fire doors rests primarily with the Responsible Person, but the legal accountability can extend to other corporate entities and individuals. Non-compliance can also affect insurance cover and increase civil liability risk.
Ark’s fire door audits are underpinned by recognised industry credentials and hands-on fire safety expertise:
- Multi-disciplinary fire safety team with proven experience across residential and commercial sectors
- BAFE SP205 certified – our fire risk assessments are independently assessed and verified
- All of our fire risk assessors are listed on the Institute of Fire Safety Managers (IFSM) register at Tier 2 or 3
- End-to-end fire safety delivery; from assessments to evacuation to fire strategy
- Seamless integration with Safety Case Reports, Resident Engagement Strategies, and digital compliance tracking
- Proactive, people-first approach grounded in regulatory insight and real-world delivery
To ensure that arranging any remedial work is equally smooth, we can now proudly refer you to Firetecnics Systems Ltd., our sister company and passive fire protection specialist, for a no-obligation quote. Firetecnics are operationally independent from Ark, hold FAS and SafeContractor accreditations, and are experienced in everything from minor remedial work to multi-building fire safety programmes.
How does it work? Once your audit findings are ready, you can choose to have us pass your report to Firetecnics, who will manage quotation, review and delivery, all with the aim of minimising disruption to your operations. Transparent quotes are typically turned around within four days, with works completed within three to six weeks, meaning certainty of delivery from a credible contractor, without the usual time spent sourcing and vetting one yourself.
This no-obligation referral route is a great option that takes a lot of the usual friction away, and ultimately provides you with a gold-standard, accredited partner found through one seamless process.
Ready to book in your Fire Door Audit?
Whether you’re ready to book or you would like to discuss the process with a member of the team, Ark is your trusted partner for safer buildings and stronger governance.