Fire safety guide

What to do when a fire door is damaged in an occupied workplace

When a fire door in an occupied workplace is damaged, wedged open or fails to close and latch, record exactly which door and function is affected, tell the person controlling the area, and assess how the defect changes protection of people and escape routes. Put a building-specific interim decision in place with competent fire advice where needed, arrange suitable repair, and check the finished door in its installed setting before closing the action.

GOV.UK says the Responsible Person must maintain appropriate fire-safety measures. Its offices-and-shops technical guidance emphasises that protected escape routes and fire doors must be managed and maintained so they remain usable, and it asks whether door seals and self-closing devices are in good condition. The current Home Office dutyholder guide says that multiple Responsible Persons in a shared building must cooperate and align measures. This is a fault-response and evidence workflow, not a specification for door construction, fire-resistance rating or repair technique, which depend on the door set, building design and competent assessment. A work order marked “complete” is not enough if the door still does not perform as intended. GOV.UK: workplace fire-safety responsibilities; GOV.UK: offices and shops fire risk assessment; Home Office dutyholder guide, section 19.

Understand what the door protects

A fire door may protect a stair, divide a corridor, separate a plant room, protect a compartment boundary or control smoke spread between occupied areas, and it may also be a normal route used by staff and visitors. The same visible defect can have different consequences depending on location and building strategy. A door to the only protected stair may need a more urgent decision than a door in a lower-risk area, but neither should be dismissed without understanding its role. Find the door on the fire risk assessment, plan or door schedule if available, and record its location, ID, side of the building, area served, and which people rely on it. Ask whether the door is part of a designated escape route, whether it needs to be available for passage, whether it has a self-closing device or an electromagnetic hold-open linked to the alarm, and who controls its maintenance. If the documentation is missing or unclear, arrange competent assessment, and do not infer a fire rating from paint colour or a sign alone. GOV.UK: offices and shops fire risk assessment.

Recognise and report the defect accurately

Common reports include a door held open with a wedge, a closer that no longer closes it, a door that drags or sticks, damage to the leaf or frame, missing or damaged seals, broken glazing, a faulty latch, a damaged hold-open device or a gap created by building movement. An obstructed door may be physically sound yet unavailable for escape. The reporter should describe what they see without diagnosing a technical cause beyond their competence. Use a specific asset ID or location and photographs where safe, because “fire door broken” is hard to act on in a building with fifty doors. Record when it was found, whether people are occupying the area, whether the door can close and latch under normal conditions, whether it opens for escape, and whether the defect appeared after building work. Do not ask an untrained person to dismantle a closer or adjust a fire-rated component to improve a photograph. Make reporting accessible to cleaners, security and ordinary staff, who may notice a wedged door or a door that fails at night before a scheduled inspection.

Decide whether the area can remain occupied

Assess the consequence of this specific door failing. Consider the door’s protective role, occupancy, fire hazards on either side, alternative protected routes, people who need assistance, hours of use and the time needed for repair. Does the defect compromise the only protected stair, allow smoke into a corridor, prevent an exit opening or affect a high-risk room? Obtain competent fire-safety advice for decisions beyond routine obvious correction. Where adequate protection cannot be maintained, restrict or close the affected area rather than declaring a generic workaround sufficient. Possible interim controls are not interchangeable. Removing a wedge and reminding staff may resolve an immediate misuse, but a failed closer requires competent repair. A temporary route change may be possible if the building assessment supports it, but it must be communicated and available to everyone. Increased supervision may assist an assessed temporary plan, but it does not restore a door’s fire-resisting function. Record the interim decision: location, affected people, defect, advice, control, person responsible, start time, review point and the trigger for changing the decision. If the door is part of a shared route, all affected Responsible Persons need to know. Home Office dutyholder guide, section 19.

Example: a stair door that will not latch

A shared office stair door closes but does not latch after a tenant fit-out. The building manager logs the specific door, checks the current building strategy and asks a competent fire specialist about the immediate risk. The affected tenants are told the interim arrangement and any access restriction. A qualified door contractor assesses whether the latch, alignment, closer or frame is at fault and performs the appropriate repair. The finished door is checked in normal operation, including the interface with any hold-open device, and the manager records the result and tells tenants when the normal arrangement is restored. No one assumes that pulling the door shut by hand is a permanent control.

Identify who can repair it

Fire doors are systems, so the leaf, frame, hinges, seals, glazing, ironmongery, closer and installation work together, and a seemingly small adjustment may affect how the door closes, latches or resists smoke and fire. Choose a competent person with access to the door’s specification and manufacturer’s instructions where available. If the door set is undocumented or has extensive damage, obtain specialist assessment rather than improvising a patch. Agree the repair scope before work starts: what defect will be corrected, how the contractor will verify the result, whether the door will be unavailable during work, and who controls temporary protection. If building work changes the opening or frame, the issue may be bigger than a hinge adjustment, so coordinate with other trades so a cable installation, floor finish or new access-control system does not undo the repair. Check product and competence claims carefully, because a contractor’s accreditation, invoice or generic “fire-door compliant” statement may be helpful background, yet the acceptance evidence must match this door and this work. Do not ask the contractor to assert a fire-resistance rating it cannot substantiate.

Verify the door in its installed setting

After repair, confirm the door identity and compare the work with the reported defect. Does it open for the intended users and close under normal conditions? Does it latch where required by the assessed design? Are seals, glazing, hinges and frame in the expected condition according to competent inspection? Does an alarm-linked hold-open release and close as intended under the appropriate test, and is the escape route clear? The specific check and any measured tolerances require competent specialist determination, not this page’s generic checklist. Observe the door as people normally use it, because a door may close during a careful manual test but fail when the closer starts from a smaller opening angle or when air pressure changes. Keep technical and operational closure separate: the contractor reports the repair and test, the Responsible Person or site controller accepts the door’s return to normal role based on that evidence and any competent fire-risk advice, and then affected occupiers receive the update. If the door remains defective, keep the action open and the interim risk decision current.

Example: a door held open for deliveries

A warehouse staff member wedges a cross-corridor fire door open because deliveries pass through it frequently. Removing the wedge immediately restores the door’s normal closed state if the door is otherwise sound, but the repeated behaviour suggests an operational conflict. The manager asks whether the delivery route or the authorised hold-open arrangement needs redesign, checks the door is not damaged, briefs staff and observes practice. A sign alone may fail if the route still requires constant manual passage, so a competent fire adviser should assess any proposed hardware or change to the building arrangement. The issue is not closed merely because one wedge was removed.

Manage defects across shared premises

In a building with tenants, landlord and managing agent, map ownership separately from the reporting route. A tenant may discover damage to a common door and pass it to the building manager, but it still needs to protect its own people and know the interim arrangement. A landlord may own repair of a common door, while a tenant controls storage that blocks it, so record both actions and make sure they meet at the same door. Give occupants a concise update: which door, what restriction or alternative applies, how long the arrangement is expected to last, and whom to contact if conditions change. Include reception, security and out-of-hours staff. Do not disclose a long technical report as the only instruction, because people need to know what to do. Once repaired, withdraw temporary instructions and tell everyone normal routes are restored.

Keep an evidence trail that helps future review

Record the door ID, location, role in the fire strategy, observed condition, reporter, time, affected people, interim decision, people notified, repair provider and scope, technical check, residual issue, final acceptance and communication. Attach photographs and reports where appropriate, and note whether the fault followed an alteration or whether it has recurred. Keep the record with the building’s fire-safety arrangements and assessment actions, not only in a contractor’s invoice folder. Review patterns such as repeated closer failures on one door, damage from trolleys, wedging in the same corridor, a failed access-control release or doors whose records cannot be matched to the asset. A recurring pattern may require a different route design, protection from impact, changed hardware with competent approval, or a staff practice review, so do not simply order the same repair each month without asking why it fails. Where a door defect exposes an assumption in the fire risk assessment, review the assessment and emergency plan, because the Home Office says fire risk assessments and arrangements must be kept current. Home Office dutyholder guide, sections 3 and 12.

Avoid mixing commercial and residential rules

The Fire Safety Regulations 2022 for England include specific fire-door check requirements for buildings with two or more domestic premises and common parts, and the Home Office guidance for those rules expressly defines that scope. A commercial office with several tenants is not automatically subject to those exact residential check provisions merely because it is multi-occupied. Commercial Responsible Persons still need to maintain suitable fire precautions under the Fire Safety Order and their assessment. An office may need regular door checks and prompt repairs, and the interval and method should reflect its risks and technical guidance, so do not market a fixed residential frequency as the law for every workplace. Mixed-use buildings require separate review because different parts and dutyholders may engage overlapping regimes. GOV.UK: Fire Safety England Regulations fire-door guidance.

Common mistakes

Reporting “door broken” without identity or function, instead of recording the exact location and what fails: closure, latching, opening, seals, glazing or obstruction.
Treating a wedge as harmless because staff are present, when a held-open door may undermine the protected route and the misuse should be removed and its cause assessed.
Assuming a repair invoice proves performance instead of obtaining door-specific evidence and checking the installed result.
Using a generic “fire watch” without assessment, when temporary arrangements must match the door’s role, occupancy and building strategy, with competent advice where needed.
Leaving tenants out of the update, when a common door can affect every occupier using the route, so the interim and final status should be shared.
Copying residential check rules to an office, when the 2022 fire-door guidance has a defined domestic-premises scope and commercial duties apply through the correct regime.
Closing a recurrent fault without reviewing the cause, when repeated damage may need a route or equipment change rather than another like-for-like repair.

FAQs

Can we keep the area open while a fire door is damaged?

It depends on the door’s safety function, the people affected, the alternatives and whether an assessed interim arrangement provides adequate protection. Obtain competent advice where needed. Restrict or close the affected area if people cannot be adequately protected, and do not infer a universal grace period from a generic guide.

Does every scratch require a specialist contractor?

No blanket rule follows from a cosmetic mark. The question is whether the door set’s required function or integrity is affected. A competent assessment should distinguish superficial wear from damage to the leaf, frame, glazing, seals, closer or other safety component. Do not ask an untrained worker to classify a significant defect from appearance alone.

Are the 2022 England fire-door check intervals the rule for our office?

Those specific regulations and Home Office guidance concern buildings with domestic premises and common parts. A purely commercial office should apply its Fire Safety Order duties and risk assessment rather than copy the residential interval as a blanket statutory rule. Mixed-use buildings need separate review.

What does Complys do for a fire-door defect?

Complys publicly describes fire risk assessment creation and modernisation and facilities-management tracking of building safety records and maintenance dates. It can hold the assessment, contractor evidence and review dates. The public pages checked do not verify a door-survey tool, automatic rating of door defects or technical certification of repairs, so the software status should reflect the actual physical door.

Where Complys fits

Complys publicly describes fire risk assessment creation and modernisation, plus facilities-management tracking of building safety records and maintenance dates. Those functions can help hold the assessment, contractor evidence and review dates so the report, interim decision, competent repair and verification stay connected. The public pages checked do not verify a dedicated door-survey tool, automatic rating of door defects or technical certification of repairs. A software status should reflect the actual physical door rather than replace the check, and product owners should confirm the best CTA before publication.

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