Fire Door Frame-to-Wall Fire Stopping: What You Can and Can’t See

One thing I think gets misunderstood when inspecting fire doors is the difference between something you know is wrong and something you simply can't see. I've come across situations where people look at the architrave around a fire door and say: “We don't know what's behind that, so there must be a problem.” I don't agree with that. Unknown isn't the same as defective. If the architrave is still fitted and you can't see the frame-to-wall junction, all you can honestly say is that you haven't established what is behind it. That's different from proving there is no fire stopping. But if you remove the architrave and can actually see that the gap between the frame and wall hasn't been appropriately fire stopped, that's different. Now you've found something you can inspect, record and deal with. Start with what you…