Everything we know, written down.

Under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, responsible persons for relevant multi-occupied residential buildings must carry out quarterly checks of fire doors in communal areas and make best endeavours to check flat entrance doors annually. Requirements vary with building height and use, and other duties apply under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Building Safety Act 2022.

A fire door fails when it can no longer perform its function in a fire. In practice that means: it does not close and latch fully unaided; gaps around the leaf are outside tolerance; intumescent strips or smoke seals are damaged or missing; hinges, closers or locks are incorrect, loose or missing; the leaf is damaged or has unauthorised penetrations; or the door is held open by anything other than an approved, alarm-linked device.

No. Monitoring covers the failure modes periodic inspection cannot see — misuse, closure failure and gradual hardware drift between visits. Competent-person inspection still has a role, particularly for construction, seals and certification. What changes is that physical visits are targeted by evidence rather than scheduled blind.

For most multi-occupied residential buildings it is the person or organisation with control of the premises — typically the freeholder, landlord, managing agent or housing provider. The duty cannot be delegated away by appointing a contractor; it can only be discharged by carrying it out. That is why the evidence trail matters as much as the work.