Fire Door Maintenance

Fire door maintenance is very important. A fire door is not just the door leaf. It is a complete assembly comprising the frame, any glazing, intumescent fire and smoke seals and all the ironmongery that is used on the door, such as hinges, overhead door closers, latches and locks. Just like other life safety devices, such as fire extinguishers and alarms, fire doors and final escape doors need regular, stringent inspection and maintenance to ensure that they will perform as intended in the event of a fire.

Fire doors are a crucial first line of defense in many of these fires, and yet they remain a significant area of neglect. Fire doors are often the first thing to be downgraded in a specification, mismanaged throughout their service life, propped open, damaged and badly maintained.

For doors to work efficiently all parts of the door should be regularly maintained. The maintenance period should be appropriate for the building and frequency of door use e.g. doors in main circulation areas are likely to sustain more wear than doors used less frequently to access locked stores. Also sleeping risks should attract a higher priority than non-sleeping risks due to the life risk involved. Suitable maintenance should be carried out. It should be regular, any defects should be remedied and records should be kept of the results of the inspections, and any actions taken to repair them etc, if damaged.

Fire doors are designed to help slow down the spread of deadly fire, smoke, and harmful fumes / gases. Our experienced staff will thoroughly inspect all necessary components in order to ensure you have optimal protection NFPA 80 5.2.4. requires the following items shall be verified, at minimum:

  • No open holes or breaks exist in surfaces of either the door or frame.
  • Glazing, vision light frames & glazing beads are intact and securely fastened in place, if so equipped.
  • The door, frame, hinges, hardware, and noncombustible threshold are secured, aligned, and in working order with no visible signs of damage.
  • No parts are missing or broken.
  • Door clearances at the door edge of the door frame, on the pull side of the door, do not exceed clearances listed in 4.8.4 (the clearance under the bottom of the door shall be a maximum of 3/4″) and 6.3.1 (top & edges 1/8″)
  • The self-closing device is operational; that is, the active door completely closes when operated from the full open position.
  • If a coordinator is installed, the inactive leaf closes before the active leaf.
  • Latching hardware operates and secure the door when it is in the closed position.
  • Auxiliary hardware items that interfere or prohibit operation are not installed on the door or frame.
  • No field modifications to the door assembly have been performed that void the label.
  • Gasketing and edge seals, where required, are inspected to verify their presence and integrity.

NFPA 80 require fire door assemblies shall be inspected and tested not less than annually, and a written record of the inspection shall be signed and kept for inspection by the AHJ.

Florida Fire Door Inspection are Fire and Egress Door Assembly Inspection (FDAI)-certified so we can ensure compliance with Life Safety regulations. We will make sure you know what is needed to meet code requirements and protect your building occupants.