Fire Door Maintenance Specialists Across the South East

Whether you need a one-off programme of works or a planned maintenance contract, we keep your fire doors in working order and give you the records to prove it. Maintenance is the final stage of the ARM Process: once your doors are right, we keep them that way.

Get a quoteCall 0333 339 7225
Vanguard engineer carrying out maintenance on a fire door
Close-up of a CE-marked fire door hinge in poor condition

Why Fire Door Maintenance Is Essential

Fire doors are only effective if they operate exactly as intended, yet ongoing use, environmental conditions, or poor previous workmanship can cause critical components to degrade over time.

Poorly maintained fire doors are among the most common and most serious failures picked up in fire risk assessments across the UK.

Legal Requirements

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, it is a legal duty for the responsible person to ensure that fire doors are maintained in an efficient working order at all times. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 further define inspection frequency in multi-occupied residential buildings over 11 metres.

Exploded rendered view of a fire door and its components

One-off fire door maintenance

If your doors need putting right now, whether after an inspection, a fire risk assessment or years of everyday use, we carry out one-off maintenance works to bring them back to a compliant condition, avoiding replacement wherever possible. Our LPCB certified fire door teams can carry out:

  • Adjustment of door leaf for compliant gaps and closing performance
  • Installation or replacement of intumescent and cold smoke seals
  • Replacement of fire-rated hinges, closers, locks, latches, and signage
  • Installation of drop seals to reduce threshold gaps
  • Re-firestopping of door frame gaps to meet compartmentation requirements
  • Light repairs to frames or leaves using tested materials and methods

All work is carried out in line with third-party certification standards and LPCB LPS 1197 guidance.

We Cover

  • Sussex
  • Hampshire
  • Kent
  • Brighton
  • Surrey

What Makes Vanguard Different?

  • LPCB Certified

    Certified to inspect, maintain and repair fire doors under the LPCB LPS 1197 scheme, and independently audited.

  • Honest & Transparent Approach

    Clear and honest advice; we only replace doors where absolutely necessary, making your budget go further.

  • Comprehensive Coverage

    Skilled maintenance teams covering the South East with in-house and trusted subcontractor support.

  • Complete Documentation

    Maintenance works recorded, photographed, and fully documented with integrated reporting systems.

  • Compliance Trail

    Clear compliance trails and asset tracking for audit-ready documentation.

When Should You Maintain Fire Doors?

Fire door maintenance should be considered:

  1. After Inspections

    Following an annual or quarterly inspection to address identified issues.

  2. Fire Risk Assessment Flags

    When faults have been flagged in a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA).

  3. Visible Damage

    If doors are visibly damaged, not closing, or have missing seals/signage and other critical components.

  4. Refurbishment Cycles

    During refurbishment or occupancy turnover cycles for preventive maintenance.

Our Expertise

When you choose Vanguard Fire Protection for fire door maintenance, you benefit from accredited expertise:

  • LPCB certified, LPS 1197 scheme
  • Institute of Fire Safety Managers affiliate member

LPCB third-party certificated works. Evidence-led reporting you can act on.

LPCB Certified

We are certified by the Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB) under the LPS 1197 scheme for fire door inspection, maintenance and repair. Our work is independently audited, not self-declared.

IFSM Affiliated

As an affiliate member of the Institute of Fire Safety Managers (IFSM), we stay close to current guidance and best practice, so our advice reflects how the rules apply today.

Oak flat entrance fire door and a white glazed communal fire doorset in a residential building

Planned maintenance contracts

Your duty to keep fire doors in efficient working order does not end when the remedial works are finished. Doors are used every day, and small issues left alone turn into expensive replacements. Maintain is the final stage of the ARM Process: once your doors have been assessed and put right, a planned maintenance contract keeps them that way.

Contracts run for three years and are priced per door, per month, so you have a fixed cost you can plan into your budget. There are three levels, so you can match the contract to the building.

Maintain Essential: scheduled fire door inspections with minor gap adjustment, hinge servicing and cleaning.

Maintain Plus: everything in Essential, plus intumescent seal replacement and closer adjustment.

Maintain Premier: everything in Plus, plus minor filler repairs and lock servicing.

Every visit is recorded with photographs, and you receive a report you can take to your board, governors or residents. Anything outside the contract is quoted separately before any work is carried out.

Frequently asked questions

What are the legal requirements for fire door maintenance?

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person must keep fire doors in efficient working order and good repair. In residential buildings over 11 metres, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 also require communal fire doors to be checked at least every three months, and best endeavours to be made to check flat entrance doors annually. Keeping records of inspection and maintenance is the clearest way to show you are meeting these duties.

Can fire doors be repaired, or do they need replacing?

Many fire doors can be repaired. Adjusting gaps, replacing seals, hinges or closers and carrying out minor repairs with compatible, tested materials will often bring a door back to standard for far less than replacement. Replacement is only needed where the door or frame is too badly damaged, has been altered beyond its certification or cannot achieve its required fire rating. We always tell you which applies before quoting.

What is the difference between one-off fire door maintenance and a maintenance contract?

One-off maintenance puts your doors right in a single programme of works, usually after an inspection or fire risk assessment. A planned maintenance contract keeps them right over time, with scheduled visits, routine maintenance included at a fixed cost per door and a report after every visit. Many clients start with one-off works and move onto a contract once their doors are back to standard.

Which British Standard covers fire door maintenance?

BS 8214 is the code of practice for timber-based fire door assemblies, covering their specification, installation and maintenance. Alongside it, every door should be maintained in line with its own test evidence and the manufacturer’s instructions, so that replacement seals, hinges and closers stay compatible with its certification.

How often should fire doors be maintained?

Fire doors should be inspected regularly, typically at least every six months, and every three months for communal doors in residential buildings over 11 metres, with maintenance carried out whenever an inspection finds an issue. Heavily used doors, such as those on busy school corridors, need attention more often. A planned maintenance contract builds this into a fixed schedule.

One-off works or a planned contract?

Tell us how many doors you have and what you need, and we will come back to you with a quote for one-off works, a maintenance contract or both, usually within one working day.

Get a quoteCall 0333 339 7225

Fire Door and Passive Fire Protection Services

Delivered by one team across Sussex, Surrey, Kent and Hampshire. Every service is part of the ARM Process, so you can start wherever your buildings need it.

  • Cutaway of a fire-resisting partition wall showing the insulation and lining layers

    Fire Compartmentation Surveys

    Detailed assessment of your building’s fire-resisting walls, floors and service penetrations to find breaches that would let fire and smoke spread, giving you a clear picture of what needs to be done to keep compartments intact.

  • Vanguard inspector checking an oak fire door in a residential building

    Fire Door Inspections

    Thorough, certified inspections of your fire doors to support you in your legal duties and to keep on top of any issues affecting their functionality as fire safety equipment.

  • Vanguard engineer fitting a new fire door

    Fire Door Installations

    Certified fire doorsets supplied and installed to their tested specification, from survey to sign off, so every door holds back fire and smoke as it should and suits the building it is fitted in.

  • Vanguard engineer carrying out maintenance on a fire door

    Fire Door Maintenance

    One-off maintenance works and planned maintenance contracts that keep your fire doors closing, sealing and performing as they should, year after year.

  • Cutaway illustration of firestopped service penetrations through a fire-rated wall and floor

    Firestopping Installations

    Compliant, clean firestopping applications to openings of services such as cables, pipes and ducting within fire-rated compartments to slow the spread of fire and smoke, supporting a safe escape in an emergency.

One connected programme, not three separate jobs

This service fits into the ARM Process: we establish where your buildings stand, put the physical work right, then keep you compliant year after year. Start at any stage, you are never committed to the next one.

Assess

Fire door inspections, fire risk assessments and fire compartmentation surveys that establish exactly where you stand today.

  • Fire door inspections
  • Fire risk assessments (Type 1 and Type 3)
  • Fire compartmentation surveys and plans
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Reinstate

Fire door remediation, replacement and firestopping, carried out against the findings rather than a generic scope.

  • Fire door repairs and upgrades
  • Fire door replacement and installation
  • Firestopping installation
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Maintain

Fire door maintenance contracts that keep your buildings compliant as they age, on a schedule that fits your budget cycle and reporting year.

  • Maintain Essential: inspections, gap adjustment, hinge servicing
  • Maintain Plus: adds seal replacement and closer adjustment
  • Maintain Premier: adds filler repair and lock servicing
Get a quote
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