Fire Door Inspection Checklist, Regulations and Register (UK)

A fire door inspection checklist is a one-page record of a visual check on a single fire door: the door, frame and wall, glazing, letterbox, hinges, gaps, intumescent strips and smoke seals, and a test that the self-closer shuts the door fully into its frame, marked pass or fail.

In England, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 turned these checks into a legal duty for blocks of flats whose top storey is more than 11 metres above ground: communal fire doors at least every 3 months and flat entrance doors at least every 12 months, on a best endeavours basis. The government guidance describes the checks as simple and visual, with no tools or specialist needed, and suggests a checklist to plan the checks and record each outcome. That is exactly what this page and the register give you.

Below you will find the fire door regulations in plain English, who must check what and how often, a 5-step check with what a pass and a fail look like, a gaps and seals table, what to do with defects, what records to keep and the faults to look for. Every legal point links to the GOV.UK source it comes from.

Last reviewed: 25 October 2026.

In England, fire doors in blocks of flats are covered by three layers of law: the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Fire Safety Act 2021 and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. The Building Regulations and Approved Document B set the standard for new doors and building work, not a check regime.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The 2022 Regulations apply in England only. In Wales, the Welsh Government publishes its own fire doors in flats guidance for building owners. In Scotland, the Scottish Government's practical fire safety guidance for existing high rise domestic buildings notes that Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 does not generally apply to individual flats or the common areas of blocks of flats, and that the duty to maintain common areas falls on those who control them. Northern Ireland has its own rules too. If your building is outside England, use the register with intervals set by your own fire risk assessment and local guidance.

Breaching the 2022 Regulations is a criminal offence where it puts one or more people at risk of death or serious injury in the event of fire (GOV.UK guidance, section 1.2).

Sample scenario, for illustration only. A purpose-built block of 32 flats whose top storey is 20 m above ground has 12 communal fire doors (stair and lobby doors) and 4 riser and plant room doors.

• Quarterly: 16 doors are checked every 3 months, so 64 door checks a year go into the inspection log. The register sets each door's next due date 3 months after its last check and turns it amber, then red, as it falls due.
• Annual: 32 flat entrance doors. Letters go out offering three dates; 27 doors are checked on the day, 3 on a second visit. Two flats do not reply after a letter, an email and a visit. Each attempt goes into the Flat Access Log with the evidence kept, and those doors show "Overdue: access being sought".
• Defects: In the October round, door 3F-L1 fails step 5: it closes from fully open but stops short from 15 degrees. A defect is raised with a priority and target date, a competent contractor adjusts the closer, and the door is re-checked and passed. The defect closes with the date and the contractor's note.
• Residents: The resident sheet goes to every flat on moving in and to all flats once a year; the register shows when the next reminder is due.

At the end of the year the Responsible Person can show the fire risk assessor and any enforcing authority 64 communal checks, 30 flat door checks, a dated access record for the 2 doors not reached and every defect from discovery to close.

For flat entrance doors in buildings over 11 m, regulation 10 requires a record of the steps taken to check them over every 12-month period, including where access was not given. For communal doors, a dated log for every door is the simplest way to show the 3-monthly checks happened.

A good record shows, for each door: its ID, location and type; the date and who checked it; the result of each item; any defect reference; and the repair and re-check. For flat doors, add every access attempt (letter, email, call or visit), the outcome and where the evidence is kept. The guidance says you can plan and record checks on paper or electronically, so a spreadsheet register is fine.

Keep the register with your fire risk assessment so the assessor can see door condition and open defects when they review it.

Browse all our compliance templates and record kits. Landlords with US properties use the NSPIRE inspection checklist for Section 8 units, built the same way: a printable checklist plus a register that tracks due dates and repairs. If you manage a large portfolio and want inspections on a phone or tablet with photos, we also build custom inspection apps in AppSheet.

This register and checklist help you plan, carry out and record fire door checks. They are not legal advice and do not replace your fire risk assessment or a competent fire safety professional. Rules change and differ across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: check the current GOV.UK guidance and legislation for your building. Greenwolf Tech Labs is not a law firm and is not affiliated with any government agency, and the product does not certify any door or building as meeting any standard.