Dorplan supports Fire Door Safety Week 2025

Fire Door Safety Week 22nd to 26th September 2025

This September, Dorplan is proud to continue its long-term support of Fire Door Safety Week. The theme for 2025 is “Recognise it. Report it.” It calls upon anyone who uses, manages or services buildings to take a few minutes to check their fire doors and report anything that is not right.

The importance of a Fire Door

A correctly specified, manufactured, installed and maintained fire door is a passive fire protection system. It does not rely on human action to work.

When it performs as intended, a fire door slows the spread of fire and smoke, protects escape routes and buys vital time for occupants to evacuate and for emergency services to respond. Fire doors are supplied and installed as a complete doorset, and they include critical components such as intumescent strips, smoke seals, fire-rated ironmongery and self-closing devices.

Common ratings you will see on commercial buildings include FD30 and FD60, which indicate the length of time the doorset is tested to resist fire.

Recognise it. Report it. 

Research carried out in 2023 by the British Woodworking Federation, as part of its Fire Door Safety Week campaign ‘Recognise it, Report it’, revealed that more than half (57%) of the UK public are unable to spot problems with a fire door – meaning many issues go unreported.

Although the survey of 2,000 UK adults showed that people have a good general awareness of the factors that can stop a fire door from working properly in a fire, most were still unable to recognise when a fire door was faulty.

How to check if a Fire Doors is Compliant:

1. Certification:
Inspect the top or side edge of the door for a certification label or plug. If there’s no visible certification, the door can’t be verified as a fire-rated product.

2. Gap Size:
Ensure the gaps between the door and the frame – particularly along the top and sides – are under 4mm when closed. A £1 coin (roughly 3mm thick) is a handy tool to check this.

3. Seals:
Check for the presence of intumescent seals fitted into the frame edge. These seals should be intact and free from damage.

4. Hinges:
Make sure all hinges are firmly attached with no screws missing or damaged. Secure hinges are vital for fire door performance.

5. Self-Closing:
The door must close tightly onto the latch on its own. Open it halfway and observe if the door closer brings it fully shut – if not, the door may not function as a proper fire barrier.

Join us and spread the message:

Please take a moment during Fire Door Safety Week to carry out a quick fire door check. Share this post with colleagues, tenants and contractors and encourage them to do the same. Use the campaign hashtags on social media to help amplify the message: #FireDoorSafetyWeek #RecogniseItReportIt #FireSafety #Dorplan

This September, take a few minutes to recognise a fault and report it, so that together we make buildings safe.