Fire doors are one of the most important elements of ensuring occupant safety in any commercial or residential building. Making sure fire doors are in their best condition, carrying out fire door assessments and making repairs as soon as issues are identified is the only way to reduce fire risks that the use of fire doors can prevent.

AFS carry out fire door repairs and maintenance on existing fire doors on properties across the Greater London area and the Midlands. This can quickly ensure that fire doors meet fire safety standards without manufacturing new doors.​

Our scope of work can involve replacing frames and doors as well as a number of small and larger repairs including:

• Replacing damaged and failed perimeter seals
• Rehanging doors on new replacement hinges
• Re-fixing loose hinges
• Replacing door self-closers
• Replacing lock sets
• Realigning doors
• Replacing damaged frames and door leafs

Legal obligations to repair Fire Doors

The legal obligations that need to be fulfilled are outlined in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 This details all of the building owner’s responsibilities surrounding fire safety and prevention methods that should be in place to protect and occupants of the building. A part of this is the need for quality fire doors that slow the progression of fires and help contain fires to limited spaces within a building. Any damage or inadequacies in fire doors can lead to the failure of these preventative measures in the event of a fire.

Yes, if you’re a business owner, employer, landlord, or responsible for a property in the UK, you’re legally required to carry out a fire risk assessment. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places the responsibility for ensuring fire safety on the responsible person for the property, and a fire risk assessment is a key part of meeting this legal obligation.

Proper risk assessments are crucial to preventing accidents in the workplace, cutting down on injuries and even saving lives. By highlighting specific hazards and potential threats, a risk assessment helps to generate appropriate awareness of them amongst both employees and managers.

UK fire alarm regulations only state that your fire alarm system must be ‘adequately maintained’, however BS 5839 recommends that a fire alarm system should be inspected by a competent person at least every 6 months and the government recommends following this standard.

You must have your fire extinguishers serviced, every 12 months – this is what’s known as a “basic service” and needs to be done in accordance with BS 5036-3. This service is best done by a third party accredited fire extinguisher technician, with the correct tools, training and experience

As such, a fire door should be regularly checked to ensure it functions correctly and will perform to its designed standard in the event of a fire. Periodic checks should be carried out at least once every six months although newly occupied buildings may require more frequent checks in the first year of use.

If you are not sure what is the right fire alarm system for your business, or home, we can quick and easily book one of our experienced team as AFS to visit your premises and recommend the system they feel is best suited for your particular situation.

Here at Active Fire Systems we try to keep any disruption in your business to a absolute minimum, but each situation is different and some noise and disruption has to be expected. 

Your fire alarm system will require maintenance by a certified and experienced person from installation onwards. Legislation such as the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and other legislation protecting both employees and the public require premises operators to conform with standards for fire alarm systems. It is a requirement of BS5839 Part 1 that a maintenance contract is in place on a system with a maximum duration between service visits of six months. At AFS we conduct these on a quarterly basis. It is a criminal offence for a fire alarm system to not be kept in good working order and, as a maintenance contract it is so easy to arrange, not having one is not acceptable as a defence in court.

We are a team of highly skilled engineers that provide a comprehensive service and maintenance on all types of fire safety equipment including:

• Fire alarm systems
• Emergency lighting
• Fire extinguishers
• Emergency access
• Control Call systems

We can provide maintenance contracts for quarterly, six monthly or annual periods to suit your own requirements. We also provide a 24hr, 365 day emergency call out service. 

For the annual test, the requirements for emergency lighting are to test for a duration of three hours. When doing so, the primary lighting circuit must be switched off and emergency lights left on for three hours in line with BS 5266-1. All luminaires should remain lit throughout this period. Any defects should be reported and remediated as soon as possible. A competent person should carry out these annual emergency lighting tests and undertake any remedial work needed as a result. These tests may be performed by technicians during a fire alarm service, as this can be done while waiting for the lamps to complete the duration of test.