Every six months for hinged and pivoted fire doors and smoke doors in common areas, every three months for sliding fire doors, and once a year for every fire door in the building including the doors to sole-occupancy units in residential buildings. AS 1851-2012 sets those intervals. The annual routine also tests fire and smoke barriers and the release of hold-open devices on a panel signal or power failure. A monthly walk to confirm every fire door self-closes and latches, with nothing wedged or propped, is recommended practice above the standard.
The intervals
| Interval | What happens | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly (recommended practice) | Walk every fire and smoke door: self-closes and latches from any position, nothing wedged, propped or disconnected, no damage to leaf or frame. | Owner or staff |
| Three-monthly | Sliding fire doors: operation, closing, tracks, fusible links or release. | Fire door inspector |
| Six-monthly | Hinged and pivoted fire doors and smoke doors in common areas: leaves, frames, hinges, closers, latches, clearances, intumescent strips, smoke seals, vision panels and tags. | Fire door inspector |
| Annual | Every fire door in the building, including doors to sole-occupancy units in residential buildings; fire and smoke barriers; hold-open device release on panel signal or power failure. | Fire door inspector |
Who does it and what to keep
A fire services contractor or a specialist fire door inspector. The inspection leaves a tag on the hinge edge of each door and a report listing every door by number and location, the defects found (gaps over the allowed clearance, missing or painted-over seals, damaged closers, unlisted hardware), the repairs made and the doors still defective. In New South Wales the fire doors are an essential fire safety measure on the annual fire safety statement, and the annual report is what the statement rests on. Access to doors inside apartments is the usual difficulty, which is why the annual routine is scheduled with notice to residents.
The rule behind the interval
AS 1851-2012 Routine service of fire protection systems and equipment, Section 17, sets the intervals for fire and smoke doors and the yearly routine for fire and smoke barriers. AS 1905.1 is the construction standard the doors were installed under, and the tag on each door records its rating. The building regulation of each state requires the doors to be maintained to the standard the building was approved with.
Common questions
Do the doors to apartments have to be inspected?
Yes. The door from a sole-occupancy unit to the corridor is a fire door in most apartment buildings, and AS 1851-2012 has every fire door inspected annually, including those doors. The six-monthly routine covers the doors in common areas only.
What are the most common fire door defects?
Gaps at the edges beyond the allowed clearance, smoke seals missing or painted over, closers that no longer latch the door from a small opening, doors wedged open, and hardware that is not fire-rated fitted after the building was approved. All are recorded on the annual report until repaired.
Put it in the register
An interval only holds when the asset is listed with its tasks, its contractor and where the record lives. Standara's library carries this asset with the tasks above attached, so adding it to a site's register produces the year's schedule, the monthly to-do list and the completion record the auditor or insurer asks for. The fuller picture, with the neighbouring assets and the rule behind each interval, is in the AS 1851 maintenance schedule.
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- A worked example: one club's register, planner and records for a year
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