Every September, Fire Door Safety Week reminds us of one simple truth: fire doors save lives. However, this only happens if they’re fitted correctly, regularly maintained, and free from the DIY shortcuts that too often turn them into liabilities.

At Fireco, we’ve written before about the dangers of non-functioning door closers, explored the benefits of free-swing devices, and explained why certified maintenance matters. This year, we’re connecting the dots – to show why joined-up fire door care is essential and why cutting corners is never worth it.

When is a door closer not a door closer?

A fire door without a working closer is like a seatbelt that won’t fasten – it looks important until it fails you in the moment that counts. The Fire Door Inspection Scheme (FDIS) found that 75% of fire doors in the UK fail to meet required safety standards, based on more than 100,000 inspections in 2021. The most frequent failures included gaps around the frame (77%), poor smoke sealing (37%) and inadequate maintenance (54%). Even more disturbing: 31% of fire doors were improperly installed from day one, meaning they were never fit for purpose.

And these aren’t just numbers. At Grenfell Tower, residents repeatedly reported that flat entrance doors lacked functioning self-closing devices — in fact, survivor testimony indicates that as many as 56 % of flat entrance doors had missing or non-functioning closers. This failure severely undermined fire compartmentation and allowed smoke and flames to spread into common corridors and staircases, contributing to the rapid escalation of the blaze that claimed 72 lives. 

Similarly, at Lakanal House in 2009, the coroner’s inquest following the fire concluded that inadequate fire-stopping measures and ineffective internal doors – including doors without proper self-closers – broke compartmentation, enabling flames to spread vertically and horizontally in under five minutes. Six people died and at least twenty were injured in a building of 98 flats. 

In both cases, broken, missing or mechanically ineffective self-closing devices were far more than just building-standards breaches – they were critical safety failures that directly facilitated catastrophic fire spread and loss of life. And this issue is hardly specific to the UK either. 

At Twin Parks North West in the Bronx, New York City (January 9, 2022), a fire started in a third-floor flat when a malfunctioning space heater ignited. Despite legal requirements for self-closing apartment doors, the door to the fire-origin unit (and at least one stairwell door on the 15th floor) failed to close – creating a chimney effect that allowed smoke to spread through the 19-storey building. Seventeen residents (including eight children) died of smoke inhalation, and 44 were injured. Although multiple violations for faulty self-closing doors had been issued between 2013 and 2019 – reported by city departments and supposedly corrected by August 2020 – the front door was tested as operational in July 2021 yet proved inoperable at the time of the fire, indicating a breakdown of compartmentation exactly where lives depended on it.

Free-swing devices: safety without the sabotage

We hear it too often: “The door’s too heavy”, which often leads to wedged-open fire doors – from plant pots to trolley jams to, believe it or not, fire extinguishers. But a wedged-open fire door is a hole in your safety plan. When fire rips through a building, the wedge doesn’t get up and close the door.

Freedor from Fireco

Free-swing devices stop this cycle. They let fire doors operate like normal doors in daily use, but ensure automatic closure when the alarm sounds. No shoulder workouts, no sabotage, just doors that people can live with – and that you can rely on.

Why uncertified maintenance is a false economy

Time and again, we see fire doors “serviced” by uncertified contractors: wrong seals fitted, ill-matched hardware, hinges askew, and gaps you could post a shoebox through. Paperwork gets ticked, but performance doesn’t. These are handyman specials, not life-saving systems.

Take the case of a Greater Manchester landlord fined £20,000 in 2022 for repeatedly letting out unsafe flats – even after being ordered to upgrade fire doors, alarms, and escape routes. Or the West Midlands businesses fined more than £145,000 after inspectors uncovered multiple breaches, including defective fire doors. And in 2024, two care home directors were fined nearly £125,000 after fire doors in four of their homes were found to be defective or missing self-closers.

The common thread? Uncertified work done on the cheap, leaving residents unprotected and organisations exposed. Fire door maintenance isn’t optional – it’s a legal and moral duty. Certified professionals follow recognised standards and ensure compliance. Anything less is gambling with lives.

Fireco: everything you need to keep doors performing

Fireco provides the full package to keep your fire doors healthy, safe and compliant. From hardware upgrades to free-swing solutions, to full inspections and certified maintenance, installations and remedial works – we bring together the expertise, products and services necessary so your doors don’t just exist, they perform when it matters.

This Fire Door Safety Week, don’t let your doors become expensive wall adornments. Talk to Fireco, and make sure every door is ready to do its job – in a way you can trust.

Speak to an expert today on 01273 320650