Fire door inspection
Every fire door in your building inspected, photographed and recorded — to the Ontario Fire Code and NFPA 80 criteria, with a report your fire inspector will accept.
What a fire door inspection actually is
A fire door is not a door. It is an assembly — leaf, frame, hinges, closer, latch, seals and glazing — tested and certified as a unit. Change any part of it and the certification no longer holds.
An inspection checks that assembly against a defined set of criteria. It is not a visual walk-past; it is a physical examination of each opening, checking clearances with a gauge, operating the door, confirming it latches under its own power, and reading the label.
The output is a record. That record is what proves compliance to a fire prevention officer, an insurer or a regulator — and without it, having inspected the doors is not the same as being able to show you did.
The inspection criteria, in plain language
Fire door assemblies are assessed against a defined checklist. Here is what each item means and why it matters.
Labels are present and legible
The label identifies the door’s rating and certification. Painted over, removed or damaged beyond reading, and the assembly cannot be verified as rated. This is the single most common deficiency we expect to find.
No holes or breaks
Holes drilled in the field for hardware that was later removed, or damage through the leaf or frame, compromise the assembly’s integrity.
Clearances within tolerance
The gaps at the head, jambs, meeting stiles and underside are specified and measured with a gauge, not estimated. Too wide and fire and smoke pass through.
Glazing and vision panels intact
Rated glazing, glazing beads and their fixings must be in place and undamaged, with no field-installed substitutions.
The door closes fully on its own
Released from any position, the self-closing device must return the door to the fully closed position without assistance.
Positive latching
The latch must engage the strike and hold the door closed under pressure. A door that swings shut but does not latch will be pushed open by a fire.
Coordinators and hardware functioning
On pairs, the coordinator must close the leaves in the right order. All hardware must be present, secure and operating as intended.
No unauthorised field modifications
Added hardware, cut-outs, applied materials or anything not part of the certified assembly invalidates the rating.
Gasketing and edge seals intact
Smoke seals and intumescent strips must be present, undamaged and not painted over. They are part of the rated assembly, not an accessory.
Signage and obstruction
Required signage present, and nothing wedging, blocking or holding the door open other than a listed hold-open that releases on alarm.
What you get back
The report is the product. The inspection is how we produce it.
- Every opening numbered and tagged, so doors can be identified on site and in the record
- A photograph of each deficiency, not a written description of one
- Findings graded — code failure, developing wear, or cosmetic
- A recommended correction against each finding
- A summary for the building file and for your fire inspector
- Records retained and carried forward, so next inspection compares to last
Graded, not dumped
A list of forty deficiencies with no priority is not useful — it is a budget problem with no starting point.
We separate what must be corrected to meet code from what will need attention within the year and what is purely cosmetic. Then you decide what to spend and when, and you have the reasoning in writing.
Most fire doors fail on something
This is normal and it is not a crisis. Industry inspection data consistently finds the large majority of fire doors fail on at least one criterion, and most failures are small and inexpensive.
A misaligned strike, a tired closer, a painted label, a missing seal. None of these require a new door. Most are resolved in under an hour by someone who knows what they are looking at.
We quote the remediation separately, and you are free to have it done by someone else. The report is yours either way — it is not held hostage to a repair order.
The label problem
Missing or illegible labels are the deficiency we expect to find most often, and the one people assume means replacing the door.
It often does not. Some embossed labels remain readable once paint is removed. Where a label is genuinely gone, re-labelling by a certified facility is sometimes possible — a fraction of the cost of a new rated assembly.
We will tell you which situation you are in before anyone quotes a replacement.
If your building has fire separations, it has fire doors
Stairwells, corridors, mechanical and electrical rooms, storage, service risers, between tenancies, and every exit route.
Office and commercial
Stairwells, corridors, risers and demising walls between tenancies.
Healthcare and long-term care
Heavy fire separation density and documentation regulators expect to see.
Industrial and warehouse
Rated separations between production, storage and office areas.
Institutional and retail
Schools, municipal buildings, shopping centres and multi-tenant retail.
Inspection questions
How often do fire doors need inspecting in Ontario?
Who is allowed to inspect a fire door?
How long does an inspection take?
What if we have never had an inspection?
Do you inspect doors you did not install?
Can you do the repairs as well?
Find out where your doors stand
We will walk the building, count the openings in fire separations and tell you the scope of the obligation before anyone quotes a number.
Managing several buildings? We can assess the whole portfolio and quote it as one scope.
Monday to Friday, 8am–5pm. After-hours by arrangement.
Request service
We reply within one business day.