Do residents have to be in for a door inspection?
Get a priceFor the communal doors, no. For the front door of a flat, somebody has to let us in.
We need to look at the inside face of the door. The hinges are on that side, and so is the closer. From the landing we can see the gaps and the seal on one side, and that is only half of it.
How it usually works
Your agent or landlord tells residents the date and the time slot. Some residents say yes, some do not reply, some will be out.
We start with the doors where somebody is in. If nobody answers at a flat, we note it and move on.
If you have a key for the flat, we can use it with your say so. If you do not, we make a list of the flats we did not reach.
What happens with the flats we missed
For a block over 11 metres, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 ask you to use best endeavours to check each flat entrance door every twelve months. You do not have to force anybody. You do have to be able to show that you tried.
So the list of missed flats matters. Keep it with the report. A second visit on a different day usually picks up a good share of them.
Care homes and shared houses
For a care home, the manager says which rooms to leave and which residents to ask first. For a shared house, we are in the common areas and each bedroom door if the tenant is happy for us to look.
Either way, we ask. We are in somebody's home.
Send the postcode and a rough number. A price comes back the same day.
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