Regulation 10 fire door checks: what blocks of flats now need

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force on 23 January 2023. They were the government's response to the first phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, and Regulation 10 is the one that lands on the people who inspect and maintain fire doors.

What Regulation 10 says

It applies to the responsible person for any building in England with two or more sets of domestic premises and a top storey more than 11 metres above ground level. That's usually five storeys or more, but measure rather than count.

• Communal fire doors must be checked at least every three months. That means the doors on stairs, lobbies and corridors in the common parts.
• Flat entrance doors must be checked at least once every 12 months, on a best-endeavours basis. If a resident won't give access, the responsible person has to show they tried.
• Residents must be told that fire doors should be kept shut when not in use, shouldn't be tampered with, and that faults or damage should be reported.

What it doesn't say

The regulation sets how often, not how. The government's guidance describes the checks as a basic visual check that doesn't need a specialist. A full fire door inspection, where the door is checked against its certification and tested specification, is a different job.

That gap is where problems start. A quick look will catch a door wedged open or a closer hanging off. It won't catch a door that was never fitted to its test evidence in the first place.

What a useful check covers

Whoever carries it out, a check worth recording looks at the same things every time.

• Closing. Open the door fully, let go, and watch it close onto the latch without help. A door that sticks, bounces back or needs a push has failed.
• Gaps. The gap between the leaf and the frame is usually 2 to 4mm along the top and sides. Bigger gaps let smoke and fire through. Check the manufacturer's data where you have it.
• Seals. Intumescent strips and smoke seals present, continuous and not painted over.
• Hinges and hardware. No missing screws, no worn hinges and nothing fitted that isn't covered by the door's test evidence. Letterboxes and spyholes added later are common problems on flat entrance doors.
• Glazing. Intact, with beads and glazing seals in place.
• Damage. Holes, splits, or a leaf cut down to clear a new floor covering.

Each finding needs a date, a location and a photograph. A record that says 'door OK' is hard to rely on if something goes wrong later.

Who should do the work

A caretaker or building manager with the right training can carry out the checks. Fixing what they find is a different matter. Adjusting closers, replacing seals, rehanging leaves and replacing doors is installation work. If a repair takes a door away from its tested specification, it may not perform as tested.

That's where competence comes in. Clients and principal contractors increasingly ask installers and inspectors to show the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours for the job. An online course helps you evidence knowledge. A practical course, assessed in person, evidences knowledge and skills. Experience and behaviours come from doing the work well, over time.

See the courses for people working in housing.

This article is a summary for people who work on fire safety in buildings. It isn't legal advice. For the full requirements, read the legislation and official guidance it mentions.