Hi,

I am trying to find guidance on how often I need to check flat entrance doors for social housing. All I can find is BS9999 which states that Fire Doors should be checked every 6 months. Does this just mean readily accessible communal doors, or also Flat Entrance doors? I am trying to find a sensible way of complying with the guidance, I doubt we would be able to check all of our flat doors twice a year.

Any advice would be appreciated, especially from other social landlords.

thanks,

Mike

Hi Mike,

Clearly the more heavy use a door is subject to then the more maintenance issues will arise. Because the BS 9999 guidance already exists (and is reinforced in BS 8214) I would find it hard to ignore and therefore follow it in advising my clients. However, I believe the building's fire risk assessment should cover periodic inspections of fire safety devices and therefore should include a schedule for inspection and maintenance works based on A) how critical the door is to life safety, B) the fire risk at that part of the building, C) the condition of the door at the last inspection and D) the type of use to which the door is put.

With flat entrance doors we know they are critical because the considered fire risk is from inside the flat whereas some common areas should be 'sterile'. However, doors in common areas are likely to suffer more wear and tear. As you say it would be good to hear from housing providers on this rather than fire door specialists like me!

Edited August 24, 20187 yr by Neil Ashdown CertFDI
Typing error corrected

Don't forget the RRO says you must maintain your fire doors but doesn't say how or when. That's left to the various guides. I agree with Neil in that the fire risk assessment should be making recommendations based on where the door is, it's function, etc as to how often doors need to be inspected.