Who can legally repair or fit a fire door?

What the Fire Safety Order says

Article 17 requires the responsible person to keep fire safety equipment and devices in efficient working order and good repair. Article 18 requires them to appoint one or more competent persons to help with the preventive and protective measures. A person is competent if they have sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to do that properly.

The Order does not name a scheme or a qualification. That leaves the decision, and the risk, with the responsible person. If a door fails after poor work, the responsible person has to be able to show why they thought the firm was competent.

GOV.UK describes the responsible person as the employer, owner, landlord or occupier with control of the premises. In shared or common areas of a block it is the landlord, freeholder or managing agent.

Repair or fit: what competent looks like

Fitting a new fire door is more than hanging a door. The frame, seals, hinges, closer, lock and glazing all have to be the ones the door was tested with, and the gaps have to be right. A repair has to keep the door as tested.

A competent firm should be able to show you:

• evidence of third-party certification for fire door installation or maintenance, which an independent body issues after assessing the firm;
• training records for the people who will do the work;
• insurance that covers the work;
• how they check what a door is before they touch it;
• what they will give you afterwards, such as a record of the work and what was fitted.

Third-party certification is a voluntary route, not a legal one, but it is the clearest evidence of competence that you can ask for. Our fire door work is carried out by our third-party certificated contractors. See our certifications page for how that is arranged.

Building control and new work

Where a new door is part of building work, the Building Regulations apply and Approved Document B sets the fire resistance for the building. That is a separate question from who can do the job. Ask your building control body or a designer if you are altering the building and are not sure.

The risks of the wrong person

An unqualified person can do damage that is not obvious. Common faults are the wrong gap, a hole cut for a lock that the door was not tested with, seals painted over, glazing replaced with ordinary glass, and a closer of the wrong type. The door looks fine and does not work. Our page on fire door installers lists the questions to ask, and fire door installation explains how we do it.

Questions to ask before you hire

1. Which third-party scheme are you certificated under, and can I see the certificate? 2. Who will do the work and what training do they have? 3. What will you give me at the end of the job? 4. What happens if you find the door cannot be repaired? 5. Can you show me similar work you have done?

Sources

• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 18 (competent persons)
• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 17 (maintenance)
• GOV.UK, Workplace fire safety: your responsibilities