Inspect fire doors as complete assemblies, then control every repair

Source facts: the rated opening performs as an assembly

NFPA 80, 2025 edition, covers fire doors and other opening protectives, including installation, inspection, testing, and maintenance. Its inspection provisions treat the door leaf, frame, glazing, hardware, closing and latching functions, clearances, and other required elements as an assembly. An inspection is not satisfied by finding a label on the hinge edge.

For swinging fire doors, the standard’s minimum verification items include visible and legible labels; no open holes or breaks in the door or frame; intact and secured glazing; secured, aligned, working components without visible damage; no missing or broken parts; acceptable clearances; operational self-closing; correct closing order where a coordinator is installed; positive latching; no auxiliary hardware that interferes; no field modification that voids the label; required edge protection, gasketing, and seals; and compliant signage. Inspection and testing requirements vary by assembly type.

NFPA 80 is applied through the adopted code, approved design, listing, and authority having jurisdiction. The edition in force may differ from the linked edition. Inspection frequency, inspector qualifications, acceptance of repairs or field labeling, and record requirements must be confirmed for the property. This article does not determine whether a particular opening is required to be rated.

DSE recommendation: manage each opening by identity and evidence

Begin with a fire-opening register, not a stack of tags. Assign each opening a stable identifier and record building, floor, room or barrier, door type, rating and label information, leaf count, frame, glazing, hardware, hold-open or automatic-closing arrangement, access-control functions, drawing reference, installed modifications, and responsible owner. Reconcile the list to approved life-safety documents and a field walk.

Prepare the opening. Remove ordinary obstructions only when safe, identify known deficiencies, and coordinate alarm releases, security monitoring, elevator or smoke-control interfaces, and occupant impacts. Do not disable a life-safety function merely to make the inspection convenient.

Inspect from both sides. Look at the entire leaf and frame, labels, penetrations, fasteners, hinges, glazing, clearances, threshold condition, seals, protection plates, signs, auxiliary locks, wedges, hooks, floor mats, cables, and decorations. Photograph the opening identifier and each deficiency without obscuring labels.

Exercise the real motion. Open and release the door through the approved test positions. Verify smooth travel, complete closing, correct coordinator sequence, and secure latching without someone pushing the leaf. Test automatic-closing or hold-open release only under the authorized life-safety procedure.

Separate security from egress and rating. Confirm that electrified locks, strikes, contacts, transfer hinges, request-to-exit hardware, door position switches, and added cabling do not introduce an unapproved hole, binding, altered latch, or interference. A security event showing “closed” does not prove the fire latch engaged.

Control every correction. Route adjustment, repair, glazing, drilling, fastening, signage, hardware replacement, and field modification to qualified parties using listed or approved methods. Preserve product instructions, parts, field-evaluation documentation, and authority approvals where required.

Close the deficiency. Record the defect, risk handling, responsible party, due date, repair, and functional retest. Do not mark an opening complete because a work order was closed; verify the assembly after the work.

Between formal inspections, teach facilities and security teams to report propped doors, damaged closers, objects in the swing, loose hardware, blocked latches, removed labels, new holes, or repeated access-control faults. Do not ask unqualified staff to certify the assembly; ask them to recognize change and protect the condition until a qualified evaluation occurs.

Trend defects by type and contractor. Repeated clearance, closer, strike-alignment, or unauthorized-attachment issues often reveal a maintenance or change-control problem larger than one door. Preserve the accepted inspection, repair, and retest record with the opening history. The goal is a door that closes and latches as its approved assembly was designed—not a checklist that says a leaf was present.

Official references

National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 80, Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives, 2025 edition.

NFPA Technical Committee on Fire Doors and Windows, Second Draft Report supporting the 2025 edition, including inspection criteria.