Fire Door Inspections: What Your Building Needs
Fire doors are a key defence in a building's fire safety, but they’re also the most likely item to fail on a compliance inspection. Here's what strata and commercial building managers in the Illawarra need to know.
Why fire doors fail
A fire door only works as a complete assembly: door leaf, frame, hinges, closer, seals and signage, all functioning together. The common failures are mundane:
Doors propped open or wedged for convenience
Self-closers disconnected or worn out
Gaps outside tolerance after building movement
Damaged seals, missing signage, painted-over tags
Hardware swapped during unrelated maintenance
In a fire, any one of these faults can let smoke and flame into a corridor that was supposed to stay clear for evacuation.
How often must fire doors be inspected?
Under AS 1851, fire doors in most commercial and strata buildings require routine inspection (typically every six months, and every three months in higher-risk applications). Results must be recorded and defects rectified. Fire door compliance also feeds directly into your Annual Fire Safety Statement. One out-of-order door can hold up the whole lodgement.
What an inspection covers
A qualified inspector checks the full assembly: clearances and gaps, closer operation, latching, seals, signage, and the door's certification tag. Defects get documented with a clear scope for repair, not a vague note that something "needs attention".
A common question we get is “can we just replace the closer ourselves?”
Repairs to fire doors need to maintain the door's certification. DIY fixes can quietly void compliance. Use a fire door specialist for any work on the assembly.
Fire door inspections across Wollongong and the Illawarra
Local Fire inspects, maintains and certifies fire doors for strata and commercial buildings from Wollongong to the Southern Highlands and South Coast. Inspections are scheduled, recorded and rolled straight into your building's compliance calendar, so doors never become the thing holding up your AFSS.
Call us to request a quote and book a fire door inspection.
