110
doorsets surveyed
BS 8214
assessed against
100%
photographic evidence
1
defensible register
The challenge
The owner of a corporate headquarters campus in West London held a fire door assessment from an incumbent consultant and had reason to doubt it. Some doors were marked as compliant that visibly were not. The methodology behind the scoring was not stated. And nothing in the report was supported by a photograph, which meant no line of it could be checked without re-inspecting the door.
That is a difficult position for a Responsible Person. Acting on a report you do not trust is a risk. Ignoring it is a bigger one. And commissioning a second survey only helps if the second survey is done to a stated standard and evidenced well enough that it settles the question rather than adding a third opinion to the pile.
What we did
We surveyed all 110 doorsets independently to BS 8214, with no sight of the incumbent's scoring while the inspection was running. Each doorset was assessed as a complete assembly and photographed — overall, plus close-ups of every defect recorded.
Only once the survey was complete did we benchmark our findings against the existing assessment, doorset by doorset, and set out where the two differed and why. Each difference was traced to a specific, photographed feature: a missing intumescent seal, an uncertified hinge, a gap outside tolerance, a closer that would not close the door onto the latch from any angle.
The output was a single register in Onetrace, QR-tagged at the frame, with a prioritised and costed remedial schedule attached — and a plain-English summary the owner could put in front of their board and their insurer.
The outcome
The owner ended up with one register rather than two conflicting reports, and with the evidence to support it if it is ever challenged. Where the incumbent's assessment was right, we said so. Where it was not, the photograph explained the difference better than any argument could.
The job is a good illustration of the point we make on every survey: an assessment is only worth what the evidence behind it is worth. ‘Evidence, not assumptions’ is not a slogan — it is the difference between a register that survives scrutiny and one that does not.
Illustrative — project photography subject to client permission.
Related
Need the same evidence for your estate?
Tell us the building and roughly how many doorsets or penetrations are in it and we will come back with a fixed price. Call 020 8769 8869 or send the details over.