What is a Fire Door Inspection Checklist?

A fire door inspection checklist is a tool used to guide the process of evaluating the condition and functionality of fire doors, identifying any deficiencies or issues, and checking if they meet the minimum safety standards and regulations. It’s used by building owners, facility managers, and fire safety professionals to ensure fire doors are properly installed, maintained, and functioning as intended.

Why Use a Checklist for Fire Door Inspections?

When it comes to fire safety in establishments, one crucial component is fire doors. They are designed to prevent the spread of fire and smoke, protecting occupants and allowing for a safe evacuation.

However, fire doors can only be effective if they’re properly installed, maintained, and regularly checked. To ensure that fire doors are in good working condition, building owners, facility managers, and fire safety professionals should conduct inspections using a fire door inspection checklist. This outlines the key components that need to be inspected, helps ensure that no important details are missed, and reduces the risk of fire-related injuries and property damage.

Apart from those, you can also achieve the following benefits when you use this checklist:

• Ensure compliance with regulations – Inspecting fire doors using a checklist helps ensure that they meet the required fire safety standards and regulations.

• Identify deficiencies – This allows building owners and managers to take corrective action before any potential fire-related incidents occur.

• Maintain safety – Regular fire door inspections and maintenance using a checklist can help ensure that they can provide the necessary protection in case of a fire.

• Save costs – By catching fire door issues early, building owners and managers can address them before they become more significant and require more extensive repairs or replacements.

Platforms like SafetyCulture make it easier to act on these benefits — scheduling recurring inspections, logging corrective actions as they're found, and keeping a searchable audit trail that's ready when regulators ask for it.

What to Include in a Fire Door Inspection Checklist

To ensure comprehensive and organized fire door inspections, your checklist should include the following items and sections:

• Visual Check – for any signs of damage, warping, misalignment, etc.

• Hardware and Accessories Check – for any unsecured latches, hinges, etc.

• Mechanism and Operational Test – whether the fire door is functioning properly

• Recommendations and Corrective Actions – for next steps and resolution of issues found during inspections

• Completion and Sign-off – for the inspector to affix a digital signature before exporting the report

How to Create One

To create a fire door inspection checklist, follow these steps:

1. Familiarize yourself with the relevant fire safety regulations and standards for fire doors in your jurisdiction. These may include the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 80, local building codes, and other fire door inspection requirements.

2. Create a list of all fire doors in your building or facility that need to be inspected. This list should include the door’s location, rating, and other relevant information.

3. Develop a list of items to inspect for each fire door. Consider items such as clearances, latching mechanisms, hinges, seals, operation, frame, hardware, glass, and accessories.

4. Create a checklist form that includes all of the inspection items. The form should also have a space for notes and comments, as well as a place to document any deficiencies or issues found.

5. Train the team responsible for conducting the fire door inspections on the regulations, standards, and checklist items.

Fire Door Inspection Report Template | SafetyCulture

How to Use This Checklist

To help you effectively maximize a checklist you can use during a fire door inspection, here are some steps you can take:

1. Conduct a thorough inspection of the fire door using the checklist to guide you through each item. Take note of any deficiencies or issues found.

2. Record the results along with the identified issues and recommended corrective actions.

3. Address any identified issues promptly. Make repairs or replacements as necessary to keep fire doors functioning as intended. In SafetyCulture, you can assign corrective actions directly from the inspection — setting a priority level, deadline, and responsible person — so nothing gets lost between the site walk and the maintenance team.

4. Complete the inspection report and store it securely. SafetyCulture saves all completed inspections to the cloud, so your fire door records are accessible to compliance officers, site managers, and auditors across every location.

5. Make sure to schedule regular inspections of fire doors using the checklist to ensure ongoing compliance with regulations and safety standards.

It’s important to note that under NFPA 80, fire doors in the US must be inspected and tested at least annually by a qualified person — but doors in high-traffic areas like hospital corridors or stairwells may need more frequent checks. In the UK, BS 8214 recommends at minimum a six-monthly inspection for most commercial buildings. Keep completed inspection records on file so they're ready for any fire authority audit.