Fire door inspections for care homes
Bedroom doors, corridor doors and the kitchen, checked without upsetting anyone's day.
Get a priceIn a care home the fire doors have a harder job than in an office.
People cannot always leave quickly. Some will be moved by staff, some will stay in their rooms behind a closed door until help arrives. A bedroom door that holds back smoke gives those people time.
The trouble with closers
A fire door has to be heavy and has to close itself. For somebody frail or with a frame, that is hard to push.
So someone turns the closer down, or props the door with a wedge. You can see why. But a door on a wedge will not shut, and a door with the closer wound off will not latch.
The fix is usually a hold-open device wired to the alarm, which shuts the door when it sounds. Or a closer set light enough for a resident to manage. The report says which doors have which problem.
What we look at in a care home
Bedroom doors, one at a time. Often thirty or more of them, so we keep a tally against the room numbers.
The gaps, hinges and seals as on any other door.
Any hold-open device, whether it is on its bracket and whether it releases.
The kitchen, laundry, store and plant doors. These are often heavier use than the bedrooms.
Glazing in doors, such as a vision panel in a corridor door.
Working round residents
We understand a room may be occupied. We ask the manager to tell us which rooms to leave until later, or to ask the resident first. It takes a few minutes in each room at most.
We do not need the whole home empty, and we do not need to go in at night.
We inspected 16 doors in homecare properties in Hemel Hempstead and Kings Langley, and we know to ask before opening anyone's bedroom door.
The report
A written report with a line and photo for each door. It can go to the manager, the owner, your fire risk assessor or an insurer.
Repairs can be priced from the same report. Our BM TRADA / FIRAS-certificated contractors do them, or take the report to your own carpenter.
Questions we get asked
Who is responsible for the doors?
The provider, or whoever runs the premises. Your fire risk assessment should name the person.
Does this replace the fire risk assessment?
No. Different service. The assessment looks at the building as a whole.
Send the postcode and a rough number. A price comes back the same day.
Get a price