The words "check" and "inspection" get used interchangeably, but in fire door compliance they mean two different activities, with different depth, different people and different frequencies. Telling them apart helps you build a regime that is both proportionate and actually compliant.
This article sets out what each one is, who does it, how often, and why a sensible building uses both.
A routine check is a regular visual check of a fire door's most important features. It is the activity that Regulation 10 requires in buildings with a storey over 11 metres: communal fire doors at least every three months, and flat entrance doors at least annually on a best-endeavours basis.
A check is quick and focused. It typically looks at whether the door closes fully and latches, whether the seals are present and undamaged, whether the gaps look consistent and within tolerance, whether there is visible damage, and whether anything is propping the door open. It can be done by a suitably trained competent person, and its job is to catch obvious and developing faults early and often. Our guide on inspection frequency covers the timing in detail.
A detailed inspection is less frequent and goes much deeper. Carried out against a standard such as BS 8214, it examines the whole assembly: the closer mechanism and its adjustment, the hinges and fixings, the certification evidence, the condition of the leaf and frame, and the compatibility of the hardware. It is the kind of work done by an experienced fire door inspector.
Where the routine check asks "is this door obviously working?", the detailed inspection asks "does this door still match the certified assembly it is supposed to be?". That is a harder question, and it needs more knowledge to answer.
It is a mistake to treat these as alternatives. Frequent simple checks catch the everyday problems, a wedged door, a failed closer, a damaged seal, before they sit unnoticed for months. Periodic detailed inspections catch the things a quick visual check would miss, such as a hinge that is no longer fire-rated or a modification that has quietly invalidated the door's certification.
A building that only does detailed inspections, perhaps once a year, leaves long gaps where a propped or failed door goes unrecorded. A building that only does quick checks never confirms the deeper integrity of the assembly. Used together, they give both coverage and depth.
If a building sits at or below 11 metres, Regulation 10's fixed frequencies do not apply, but the duty under the Fire Safety Order to keep fire doors in good repair remains. A risk-based routine of regular checks and periodic deeper inspections is the practical way to meet that duty and to evidence it.
DoorTRACE handles both. It schedules routine checks to the right frequency per door and records each one on the engineer app, and it captures detailed inspections against the same door so the full picture, quick checks and deep inspections together, lives in one history. See the inspection checklist the platform uses, or book a demo.
Fire door failures can attract a lot more than a warning. Here is how enforcement under the Fire Safety Order escalates, and what tends to trigger it.
Regulation 10 sets clear minimum frequencies for buildings above 11 metres. Here is what they are, who they apply to, and what a check actually involves.
FM companies on DoorTRACE can now give their clients secure portal access to live compliance status, reports and defects, no more chasing for the latest PDF.