CareHomeDeskCareHomeDeskThe National Fire Chiefs Council guidance specifies that FD30S fire doors in care homes must be inspected at minimum every six months by a competent person. Buildings with higher-risk occupancy profiles, recent refurbishment or a history of door damage should move to quarterly inspections.
NFCC guidance sets a minimum inspection frequency of six months for FD30S fire doors in care homes, carried out by a competent person and recorded in writing. This is presented explicitly as a floor rather than a target: it is the frequency below which a Fire and Rescue Service officer is likely to consider the building non-compliant, not the frequency that represents good practice for every home.
Buildings with elevated risk indicators should move to quarterly inspection. Indicators include high resident and staff footfall through fire doors, dementia or challenging-behaviour units where doors may be handled roughly or wedged open, a recent history of doors being found propped open, recent refurbishment work that may have disturbed door seals or frames, or any previous inspection that identified recurring defects on the same doors.
When a Fire and Rescue Service officer attends a care home, NFCC guidance is typically the reference point used to judge whether the provider's inspection regime is adequate, even though it is guidance rather than statute. Demonstrating that the home has assessed its own risk profile and set an inspection frequency accordingly -- rather than defaulting to the bare minimum without justification -- is viewed favourably.
The fire risk assessment should explicitly state the inspection frequency chosen for fire doors and the reasoning behind it, referencing the building's occupancy profile and any relevant history. This turns the frequency decision from an arbitrary maintenance choice into a documented, risk-based judgement that can be defended to an inspecting officer.
Whatever frequency is set, the inspection log should flag any door requiring escalation to more frequent checks -- for example a door with a repeatedly failing closer -- and show that the frequency was subsequently increased. A static six-monthly schedule that never adapts to emerging patterns of defects suggests the inspection regime is a paperwork exercise rather than a genuine risk management tool.
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