Guide
A practical guide for landlords, managing agents, responsible persons and property teams on turning a door-by-door inspection report or fire risk assessment action list into a prioritised, costed remedial programme — and on what to keep once the work is done.
Inspection reports vary widely in format and detail. Whatever the layout, the same handful of things determine what happens next.
Every entry should be traceable to a specific door — a plot or flat number, a core, a floor or a door tag. Where references are missing or duplicated, agree a numbering approach early; it becomes the backbone of the scope, the pricing and the records afterwards.
A line marked as a failure tells you the door did not meet the criteria used, not what has to happen next. Read the described defect — gap dimensions, missing seals, closer performance, damage, unknown specification — because that is what determines the remedy and the cost.
Most reports rate items in some way. Ratings differ between assessors, so treat them as the assessor's view of relative urgency for that building rather than a fixed national standard.
Note where the report records a label, plug, product information or an unknown specification. Doors of unknown specification usually need a different conversation from doors with a straightforward component defect.
Reports frequently pick up signage, hold-open devices, surrounding construction, service penetrations and ironmongery. Some of these are quick wins; others belong to a different trade or a wider compartmentation programme.
Doors recorded as no access, or areas not surveyed, need chasing. An action list with unsurveyed doors is not a complete picture of the building.
Splitting the list into what needs attention now and what can be programmed is usually the most useful thing you can do with a report. The examples below are a general guide only; the priority for any given door depends on the building, the assessor's findings and competent advice. Timescales should follow that advice rather than a rule of thumb.
Where a report leaves the remedy open — a door that may be repairable or may need replacing — our guide to fire door repair or replacement sets out how that decision is usually reached.
The more of the following you can share, the closer the first quotation will be to the final cost. Reports and action lists can be attached privately to our enquiry form.
Review the report
We work through the findings door by door and separate items we can price directly from items that need clarification, further evidence or another trade.
Confirm on site
A pre-works site assessment checks the doors we will be working on, measures what needs measuring and confirms the remedy for each one. This is a scoping visit for our own works — it is not a formal fire door inspection report.
Price door by door
Each door gets its own line: the defect, the proposed remedy, whether it is a repair or a replacement, and the cost. Programme rates can be applied where volumes justify them.
Agree priority and phasing
Urgent items are separated so they can proceed first. The remainder is grouped into phases that suit the building, the budget and the occupiers.
Carry out the works
Repairs and replacements are completed to the agreed scope, with variations raised where a door turns out to differ from the report.
Hand over records
You receive records of what was done to each door, including product information where it is available to us, so the works can be evidenced later.
Attach your inspection report or FRA action list to the enquiry form and we will come back with a prioritised, costed scope.
Already have a fire door inspection report or FRA action list? Attach it securely to the enquiry form and we will price the remedial or replacement work door by door.
Most remedial programmes happen around residents, staff or students. Where practical, we plan the work so that disruption is kept short and predictable.
Doors that will not close and latch, or that protect an escape route, are usually separated out and completed ahead of the wider programme.
Working through one core, floor or door type at a time keeps each area disturbed once rather than repeatedly, and makes access arrangements simpler to communicate.
Access to private dwellings depends on residents. Grouping appointments and allowing for no-access revisits avoids stalling the rest of the programme.
Where a doorset is being replaced, the opening is made secure and usable again the same day wherever the work allows.
Non-urgent items can be split across phases so spending fits a service charge, sinking fund or financial year, with priorities agreed in advance.
Because pricing is per door, completion can be reported the same way — useful when several buildings are running at once.
Once works are complete, the useful record is a clear trail from the original finding to the remedy. Keep the original report or action list alongside the scope you agreed, the records of the work carried out on each door, photographs where taken, and any product or component information supplied.
What you can typically expect to receive, and what is worth retaining in the building file, is covered in our guide to installation and handover documentation and in more detail in fire door records and close-out evidence after remedial works. If the building stays occupied throughout, see also remedial works in occupied buildings.
Parsec Fire Doors carries out repairs, remedial works, installation and replacement. We do not produce standalone formal fire door inspection reports, and we do not present our own works records as an independent verification of the work we have done.
Where a formal inspection or a reinspection after works is required, it can be arranged through a specialist fire door inspection contractor. Keeping the assessment separate from the works is often the more straightforward position to evidence later.