OFFICES & COMMERCIAL
Fire doors for offices and commercial buildings
Fire doors for offices, mixed-use and multi-tenant commercial space, where escape routes, occupancy and constant fit-out churn all bear on the doors.
WHAT THESE BUILDINGS NEED
Escape routes that perform under load
In offices, the fire doors on stairwells, lobbies and escape corridors protect the routes a full building of people rely on to get out. Occupancy can be high, and the escape strategy assumes those doors perform.
Commercial space changes constantly: fit-outs, partitions, new cabling and tenant churn. As a result, it is easy for a compliant door to end up wedged open, over-drilled for a new lock or breached by services, quietly undermining the fire strategy. Regular inspection catches it.
HOW WE HELP
Inspected, remediated, evidenced
Inspection. An ABBE Level 3 qualified inspector checks escape-route and compartment doors to a photographic report.
Repair-first remediation. We bring seals, closers, gaps and glazing back up to standard, and replace only where needed.
Documentation. Evidence for your responsible person, fire risk assessment actions and audits.
A RECENT PROJECT
The LV Building, Bournemouth
A large commercial building with more than 170 fire doors of every age: FD30 and FD60, single and double leaves, pivot hinges, key-fob access, glazed and unglazed. We inspected and photographed every door and produced a 700-page report with door-by-door remedial options, clear enough for any contractor to price against. Read the case study →
Fire doors for offices and commercial buildings: FAQs
Straight answers to the questions employers, building owners and managing agents ask us most about fire doors.
What are the fire door requirements for offices and commercial buildings?
Offices and commercial premises are workplaces, so they fall squarely under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Fire doors protect the escape routes, stairwells and compartments that let people get out safely and stop fire spreading. So the responsible person must keep them in efficient working order and inspect them as often as the fire risk assessment determines.
Which doors in an office need to be fire doors?
The fire risk assessment identifies them. In practice, they are usually the doors onto protected escape corridors and stairways, doors between separate fire compartments or tenancies, and doors to higher-risk rooms such as plant, server or storage rooms. Each of these is there to hold back fire and smoke, so it must be a properly specified and maintained fire door.
How often should office fire doors be inspected?
The fire risk assessment and the building's use set the frequency. Many commercial buildings inspect fire doors every six to twelve months, and check high-traffic doors more often. In buildings above 11 metres, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require quarterly checks of communal fire doors.
What fire door problems are most common in offices?
The most frequent issues are fire doors wedged or propped open for airflow or convenience, self-closers removed or adjusted so doors don't close and latch, damage to leaves and frames from trolleys and deliveries, and gaps that have drifted outside the typical 2–4 mm as the building settles. Regular inspection finds and records these before they become a compliance problem.
Who is responsible for fire doors in a commercial building?
Responsibility rests with the responsible person under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, usually the employer or building owner. In multi-tenant buildings, the managing agent or landlord typically covers the common parts, while tenants cover their own demise. The fire risk assessment and the lease set out who does what.
Which areas do you cover for office and commercial fire doors?
We work with offices, commercial buildings and managing agents across Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and the wider Dorset area, including Wimborne, Ferndown, Ringwood and Southampton. We provide inspection, repair, maintenance and certified installation.
Last reviewed 7 September 2026 by Daniel Storr, Founder & Managing Director.
LET’S TALK
Keep your escape routes compliant
Tell us about your building. We will then set out a practical inspection and remediation plan, with a clear, itemised quote.