Fire safety has been treated with far greater seriousness since the Grenfell Tower fire, and fire door compliance is no exception. According to the latest available government figures, 51,026 fire safety audits were carried out in England in a single year. Of those, 2,955 led to formal notice and 35 went as far as prosecution. Prosecutions are rare and most operators fix problems long before it gets that far.
Compliance company Duty Room reviewed 34 completed Fire Safety Order prosecutions, covering pubs, hotels and restaurants sentenced over a five year period to July 2026. In one, a hotel in Chester was ordered to pay £67,000 after inspectors found poor compartmentation and deficient fire doors, among other noted failures.
These cases are the exception, not the rule, but they show what happens when fire doors aren’t maintained properly.
What Compliance Actually Means
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person for a building has a legal duty to keep fire doors maintained and fit for purpose at all times. That’s an ongoing responsibility, not a one-off installation task and the standard must be upheld. A door that was compliant when it was fitted can stop being compliant a year later if it’s not checked in between.
Where Fire Doors Fit In
A fire door’s job is to hold back fire and smoke for a set period, keeping escape routes clear and giving rescue services safe access. It works alongside fire barriers, seals and fire stopping elsewhere in the building, but unlike those, it’s used dozens of times a day. That’s why it needs regular attention and maintenance checks.
The issues that compromise a fire door often look minor day to day: a gap between the door and its frame or floor, a misaligned frame that stops it closing properly, a door closer that’s too slow or too fast to self-close effectively. None of these should be ignored and will affect how the door performs in a fire. It can be the difference between safe passage and severe risk. Left unaddressed, they can lead to the kind of wear that turns a compliant door into a non-compliant one.
Staying On Top Of Fire Door Compliance
Regular surveys and maintenance are the most effective ways to catch issues before they become a problem and make you non-compliant. Doing so ensures you have a record of the condition of each door, and can plan repairs before they become urgent.
Get in touch with us to talk through a fire door survey or maintenance plan, or call 0800 035 6827.
