Life-threatening fire door faults uncovered by FDIS inspectors

A new infographic produced by the Fire Door Inspection Scheme (FDIS) warns landlords, building owners and tenants of life-threatening fire door faults.

The infographic highlights 10 common fire door faults, as photographed by FDIS certificated inspectors.

An FDIS survey conducted in 2015 found that many fire doors across the UK suffer from severe defects: 61% of doors had problems with fire or smoke seals, while almost 1 in 6 had significant damage to the door leaf.

Kevin Hulin, FDIS 2016 scheme manager, said: “We hope this infographic highlights the atrocious condition of some of the country’s fire doors. When a fire door isn’t properly installed and maintained, it puts the occupants of the building at significant risk of death or injury in the event of a fire.”

He added: “We wanted to name and shame defective fire doors and the common faults that plague them.”

The infographic shows fire door defects including incorrect signage, excessive gaps around the fire door and unsuitable hinges, among others.

Clive Reilly, an independent FDIS certificated fire door inspector, said: “It’s not uncommon to find newly installed fire doors with hardware which has fixings missing or with unsuitable frames. Usually the building manager will think these doors have been installed correctly and will perform as required in the event of a fire.

“It’s only when, or even if, the doors are inspected by someone who knows what to look for that these problems are found, by which time they will have to pay for remediation or replacement.”

The new infographic has been produced for Fire Door Safety Week, which this year takes place from 26 September to 2 October.