When was the last time you considered a building’s safety aspects before walking into it? Everyday we enter buildings without a thought for where the fire exit is, let alone whether fire doors and seals have been fitted correctly.

It’s heart-breaking to learn that a huge percentage of inspected fire doors had issues that could prevent them from holding back fire as they were designed to do. This puts the many people’s lives that enter these buildings under unnecessary risk.

Last year during Fire Door Safety Week, the Fire Door Inspection Scheme released statistics that paint a frightening picture about the upkeep of fire doors.

• Over 61% of fire doors had fire or smoke seals either missing, installed incorrectly or not filling perimeter gaps correctly.


• Over a third of fire doors had incorrect signage.


• More than 34% of fire doors inspected had excessive gaps between the door and its frame.


• Almost one in five fire doors had unsuitable hinges.


• Over 15% of fire doors had damage to the door leaf.

These statistics were released by FDIS as the five most common fire door faults. It’s worrying to think of all of the potentially many other issues they also found while carrying out their inspections.

When you look at the cost and time involved to replace a fire seal on a fire door, it makes the statistic of 61% of fire doors having issues with seals completely irrational. Fire door seals are low in cost and take only a matter of minutes to install. When you compare this to the potential loss of life should the worst happen, there’s absolutely no reason for any fire doors to have issues with their seals, let alone a massive 61%.

Regular fire safety checks are important to discover issues not only with fire doors but other aspects of fire safety too, including evacuation plans and any objects that may be obstructing these, as well as finding any gaps in staff fire safety training or any materials in your building that have the potential to start a fire.

If you do discover issues with fire door seals during your regular fire safety checks it’s important to have these seals replaced as soon as possible. Every minute a fire door is ineffective puts lives at risk.

When replacing fire door seals it’s important that you get the right seal for your particular fire door based on the fire doors test evidence. Fire door seals are designed for different types of doors and different purposes in mind and it’s crucial that you get the correct pairing. If you’re unsure of the exact seal you need, this can be easily discovered by either contacting the door manufacturer and obtaining a copy of the doors test evidence or asking a fire seal provider like ourselves.

It is possible to fit a fire door seal yourself with the right tools, however we always recommend getting a professional involved. If you do plan on tackling the job yourself, take a look at our guide on How To Fit An Intumescent Strip.

If you need some guidance on whether your fire door seals need replacing get in touch. We’d be more than happy to help, share with you your options on fire door seals and guide you through the process of having them replaced.