Responsible Person Fire Door Duties 2026

Who is the Responsible Person?

The Responsible Person is the person or organisation with fire-safety duties under the Fire Safety Order.

The identity of the Responsible Person depends on the premises and who has control.

It may be an employer, building owner, landlord, occupier, managing agent, facilities manager or another person with control over the premises.

There can be more than one Responsible Person. Where responsibilities overlap, duty-holders may need to cooperate and coordinate so fire-safety matters are properly managed.

Key takeaway: Responsibility follows control and legal duty, not simply job title.

Why fire doors matter to Responsible Persons

Fire doors may form part of the fire precautions for a building.

They can help protect escape routes, support compartmentation, reduce smoke spread and separate areas of different risk where required by the building design or fire risk assessment.

If fire doors are damaged, wedged open, altered, missing components or not closing properly, the Responsible Person may need to act.

Key takeaway: Fire doors should be managed as part of the building's fire-safety arrangements.

Fire risk assessment and fire doors

The fire risk assessment should consider fire precautions in the premises, which may include fire doors where relevant.

It may identify whether doors are suitable, whether inspection is needed, whether defects exist, and whether remedial action is required.

A Responsible Person should not treat a fire risk assessment as a one-off document. Fire door findings should be tracked through to action, completion and future review.

Key takeaway: Fire door actions from a fire risk assessment should be managed, not filed away.

The Fire Safety Order and fire door management

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is a central part of fire-safety law in England and Wales.

For Responsible Persons, the practical issue is whether fire doors form part of the general fire precautions needed for the premises.

Where they do, the Responsible Person should be able to show that fire doors are suitable, maintained, repaired where necessary and supported by appropriate records.

Key takeaway: Fire door management should connect back to wider Fire Safety Order duties.

Section 156 changes and stronger duty-holder expectations

Changes made through the Building Safety Act 2022 strengthened aspects of fire-safety duties under the Fire Safety Order.

Responsible Persons should be careful about recording fire-safety arrangements, cooperating with other duty-holders and providing relevant information where required.

For fire doors, this supports a more disciplined approach to records, inspections, remedial works, handover information and duty-holder communication.

Key takeaway: Modern fire-safety management expects clearer records and better duty-holder coordination.

Regulation 10 fire door duties in England

In England, Regulation 10 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 introduced specific fire door duties for relevant multi-occupied residential buildings.

For all multi-occupied residential buildings with common parts, Responsible Persons must provide residents with information about the importance of fire doors.

For multi-occupied residential buildings over 11 metres in height, Responsible Persons must carry out quarterly checks of fire doors in communal areas and use best endeavours to check flat entrance doors at least every 12 months.

Key takeaway: Regulation 10 turns fire door information and checks into a clear management duty in relevant buildings.

Resident information duties

In relevant residential buildings, residents should be given information about the importance of fire doors.

This information should help residents understand why fire doors should be kept shut, why self-closing devices should not be tampered with, and why defects should be reported.

Resident communication should be clear, practical and capable of being understood by the people living in the building.

• Explain why fire doors matter
• Tell residents to keep fire doors shut when not in use
• Tell residents not to tamper with self-closing devices
• Explain how to report a damaged or faulty door
• Explain why access may be needed for flat entrance door checks
• Record when information was provided
• Review information when residents change or building arrangements change

Key takeaway: Resident behaviour can affect whether fire doors work in practice.

Checks and inspections

Responsible Persons may need both simple routine checks and more detailed competent inspections.

Simple checks can identify obvious issues such as damage, poor closing, missing seals, wedging, obstruction or faulty hardware.

A competent fire door inspection may be needed where defects are serious, the risk is higher, evidence is missing, or remedial decisions are unclear.

Key takeaway: Simple checks are useful, but they are not always enough.

Fire door records Responsible Persons should keep

Records help show that fire doors are being actively managed.

A Responsible Person should be able to understand which doors exist, when they were checked, what defects were found, what action was taken and what remains outstanding.

For larger buildings, a door asset register can help link inspection, remediation, resident access, contractor works and future maintenance.

• Door location or asset number
• Door type or function where known
• Inspection or check dates
• Name or role of person checking
• Defects found
• Photographs where useful
• Resident access attempts for flat entrance doors
• Remedial action required
• Contractor or inspector details
• Completion evidence
• Outstanding limitations or exclusions
• Next check or review date

Key takeaway: Good records make fire door duties manageable and auditable.

Acting on fire door defects

Finding a defect is only the start. The Responsible Person should make sure the defect is assessed, prioritised and followed through.

Some defects may need urgent action, especially where a door does not close, protects an escape route, is seriously damaged or affects a higher-risk area.

Other defects may need planned remediation, further inspection or replacement. The important point is that defects should not remain unmanaged.

Key takeaway: A defect log is not enough unless it leads to action.

Competence and appointing others

Responsible Persons may appoint contractors, inspectors, fire risk assessors or managing agents to help with fire door duties.

Appointing someone else does not mean the Responsible Person should ignore competence, scope or records.

Before appointing a provider, ask what they are competent to do, what standards or evidence they will use, what the report or certificate actually covers, and what limitations apply.

Key takeaway: Do not rely on badges or assumptions; check competence and scope.

Cooperation and coordination

Some buildings have more than one person with duties or control.

A landlord, employer, managing agent, commercial tenant, facilities manager or building owner may each control different parts of the premises or different fire-safety arrangements.

Where duties overlap, communication and coordination are important so fire door defects, access issues and remedial responsibilities do not fall between gaps.

Key takeaway: Shared buildings need shared fire-safety coordination.

Handover, changes and continuity

Fire door management should continue when buildings, managers, contractors or duty-holders change.

Handover information should include inspection records, door schedules, defect logs, remedial works, resident communication, access issues and outstanding actions.

Without handover, new duty-holders may not understand the condition or history of the fire doors they are now expected to manage.

Key takeaway: Fire door records should survive changes in management.

What Responsible Persons should avoid

Do not assume that fire doors are compliant because they look like fire doors.

Do not ignore resident reports of faults.

Do not record defects without tracking remedial action.

Do not rely on vague contractor claims without understanding scope, evidence and limitations.

Do not allow fire door information, inspection records or remedial evidence to sit outside the building's fire-safety management system.

Key takeaway: Responsible fire door management needs evidence, follow-up and coordination.