14 September 2026 · Arctic Fire guides
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force in January 2023, putting parts of the Grenfell Inquiry's recommendations into law. Regulation 10 is the fire doors piece, and it applies to residential buildings containing two or more domestic premises where the building is over 11 metres tall.
What Regulation 10 requires
Two duties. First: check all fire doors in communal areas at least every three months. Second: use best endeavours to check all flat entrance doors at least every twelve months. 'Best endeavours' acknowledges that residents don't always answer the door — but it means recorded, repeated, documented attempts, not one knock and a shrug.
There's a third duty people forget: under Regulation 10 you must also provide residents with information about fire doors — that they should be kept shut, not tampered with, and faults reported. That's a one-off on occupation and then as reasonably practicable.
What a check actually involves
A Regulation 10 check is not a full BS 8214 survey — it's a functional check that the door is likely to perform. In practice: does the door close fully onto its seals from any position, unaided? Are the intumescent and smoke seals present and undamaged? Are hinges secure with no missing screws? Is the gap around the leaf sensible — roughly 3mm at sides and top? Is any glazing intact? Has the self-closer been disconnected, or the door wedged?
Anyone competent can do these checks — a trained caretaker or managing agent is fine for the routine look. The judgement calls, and the fixes, are where certified maintainers come in: knowing which defects are repairable under scheme control and which mean the doorset's number is up.
The records that protect you
The regulation requires you to keep a record of the checks and the steps taken — and this is where most duty-holders are exposed. A tick-sheet in a drawer is technically a record; a photographed, dated, per-door digital register is a defence. Our surveys and maintenance visits feed exactly that: every door QR-tagged, every check and repair time-stamped with photos, exportable the day the fire authority asks.
Where to start
If checks haven't been happening, don't backfill paperwork — start clean. A baseline survey establishes each door's condition and gives you the prioritised defect list; the quarterly regime then runs against a known starting point. That's defensible. Retro-fitted records are not.
Need this applied to your building?
A survey turns the theory into a door-by-door plan with prices. Book online or send us the details.