Fire Door Maintenance: A Practical Guide for Building Managers

Between formal inspections, ongoing maintenance keeps fire doors in working order. Here is a practical guide for building managers and facilities teams.

Establishing a Maintenance Routine

Fire door maintenance should be part of your regular building management schedule. Create a simple checklist that your staff or caretakers can use to carry out routine visual checks. This does not replace formal inspections by a competent person, but it helps catch obvious issues between inspections.

Monthly Visual Checks

Building staff should check monthly that all fire doors close fully into the frame and latch, no doors are propped or wedged open, self-closing devices are functioning, there is no visible damage to door leaves, and signage is in place and legible. Keep a record of these checks in a simple logbook.

Common Maintenance Issues

Adjusting self-closing devices is one of the most frequent maintenance tasks. Over time, the closer may need adjusting to ensure the door latches properly. Only adjust the closing speed and latching speed — never reduce the power to the point where the door does not latch. If a closer is worn out, replace it with one of the correct fire rating.

Replacing damaged seals is another common task. If intumescent strips or smoke seals are damaged, they must be replaced with the correct specification. Do not use generic draught excluder strip as a substitute — it will not provide fire protection.

What Not to Do

Never prop fire doors open unless you have a fire alarm-linked hold-open device. Never drill holes in fire doors for new hardware without checking compatibility. Never paint over intumescent strips. Never remove self-closing devices. Never fit non-fire-rated glazing, hardware, or accessories.