Repair where you can, replace where you must
Most failed inspection items are repairable at a fraction of replacement cost — gaps, seals, closers, hinges, signage. The discipline is knowing where repair stops: only work on the scheme's approved task list can be certified, and a repair can restore a door to its evidence but can't create evidence it never had. We tell you which is which, door by door, with the price of each route.
Planned maintenance
Scheduled programmes matched to your risk profile and Regulation 10 duties — quarterly communal checks, annual flat-entrance checks, all recorded.
Responsive repair
Damaged leaves, dropped hinges, failed closers, missing seals — attended fast, repaired under scheme control, photographed before and after.
Approved-task control
Every repair type is a defined approved task, carried out by operatives individually signed off for that task by the Approved Person.
The paper trail
Job-sheeted records per door — condition found, work done, products used, photos — feeding your maintenance register and fire risk assessment.
What the law asks of a building owner
Keep them working
Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to keep fire safety measures, fire doors included, under a suitable system of maintenance and in efficient working order and good repair.
Check them on a cycle
In residential buildings over 11 metres, Regulation 10 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 requires communal fire doors to be checked at least every three months and flat entrance doors, on a best-endeavours basis, at least every twelve months — with records kept, including failed attempts to get access.
Fix what fails
A check that finds a fault should lead to repair or replacement by a competent person. The trigger is the fault, not the age of the door: government guidance is clear that a door does not need replacing simply because it does not meet today’s new-build standard, if it remains in good working order and adequate for the risk.
What we check
Our inspections follow BS 8214:2026 and record what we find in words and photographs — not just a pass or a fail.
Leaf and frame
Damage, splits, delamination and alterations, and whether the door still matches what it was when it was made.
Gaps
Measured at the head, sides and meeting edges against 3 mm, plus or minus 1 mm, or the door’s own evidence, with the threshold gap checked too.
Seals
Intumescent and smoke seals present, continuous, of the right type and undamaged.
Hinges
The right number for the door, usually three, every screw in place, and no wear or dropping.
Closer and latch
The door closes fully from any angle and engages its latch, with nothing holding it open unless it is on a fire-alarm release.
Ironmongery, glazing and signage
Locks, latches, vision panels, beads and signs consistent with the door’s evidence and its location.
Supporting construction
The gap between frame and wall properly sealed, and the wall around the door intact.
Being straight about what a repair can do
Under Q-Mark scheme 058, maintenance is carried out as defined approved tasks: adjusting and re-hanging, replacing seals, hinges, closers and other components like for like, and bringing a door back within its tolerances. Each task is done by an operative signed off for it by our Approved Person, and recorded door by door.
What a repair cannot do is create test evidence that was never there. Many older doors are nominal or notional — built to the standard of their day, often perfectly adequate, but without a test report behind them. BS 8214:2026 recognises those doors within a risk-based approach. We maintain them, record them honestly for what they are, and leave the judgement about their suitability where it belongs: with your fire risk assessment.
Where a door genuinely cannot be brought back — a leaf damaged beyond repair, a frame that has moved, an opening the fire strategy now needs to perform differently — we say so, and price the replacement doorset alongside the repair so you can see both. And we do not sell upgrades that cannot be evidenced: fitting new hardware to an unknown door does not turn it into a certified doorset.
From enquiry to certification
Enquiry
Tell us about the building and the works you need.
Site survey
Every asset inspected, photographed and QR-tagged.
Specification
Clear scope and pricing against tested systems.
Certified works
Competency-assessed operatives under scheme control.
Evidence pack
Photos, registers and product data for every asset.
Certification
Q-Mark labelled, registered and traceable for life.
Answered by the people who do the work
The questions we are asked most about fire door maintenance. More on the full FAQ page and in our Regulation 10 guide.
How often should fire doors be inspected?
It depends on the building and the risk. In residential buildings over 11 metres, Regulation 10 sets checks of communal doors at least every three months and of flat entrance doors at least every twelve months. Busy commercial and public buildings often need more frequent checks of high-traffic doors. Your fire risk assessment should set the frequency.
Who can carry out the Regulation 10 checks?
The checks themselves are simple visual checks, and a caretaker or managing agent can carry them out with the right instruction. Faults they find should be repaired by a competent person, which is where we come in.
Can a failed fire door be repaired, or does it need replacing?
Most defects found on inspection — gaps, seals, closers, hinges, signage — are repairable. Replacement is for damage beyond repair, or for doors that cannot meet what the fire strategy now needs.
Our fire risk assessment says replace. Do we have to?
Not always. If the recommendation rests on missing paperwork rather than the door’s condition, it is worth reviewing with evidence. We can inspect the doors and give your assessor a door-by-door record to work from.
Do you need the original certificate to maintain a door?
No. We maintain any fire door. Where the original evidence exists we work to it. Where it does not, we record the door for what it is and keep it in efficient working order, and your fire risk assessment judges its suitability.
What do we get after a maintenance visit?
A job sheet for every door: the condition found, the work done, the products used, and photographs before and after. Together they keep your maintenance register and fire risk assessment up to date.
Can you run a planned maintenance programme?
Yes. We schedule visits to your Regulation 10 cycle or your risk profile, and update the register after every visit.
Can you attend urgently?
Yes. Call and say it is urgent: we aim for same-week attendance where we can, and photographs of the problem help us arrive with the right components first time.
Failed fire door or open penetration found?
An inspection has flagged a door that will not close, a missing seal, or a hole through a compartment wall — or you have a handover deadline. Call and say it is urgent: same-week attendance where we can, with photographs of the problem letting us arrive with the right components first time.
Doors failing inspection?
Send us the FRA action list or survey report — we'll split it into repair and replace, price both, and clear it under certified control.
Ask about fire door maintenance
Send us the details and anything you already have — drawings, an old survey or photos. We will be in touch within one working day.
- BM TRADA Q-Mark certified, certificate 4515
- Named Approved Persons accountable for the work
- Every asset photographed and recorded
Prefer to talk? Call 020 8769 8869 (Mon–Fri 07:30–17:30) or email fire@arcticltd.com.