Fire door frame installation
Frames and jambs, installed and backfilled the way the tested system requires — including the frames that turn out to be hollow when somebody finally checks. Across Sydney.
Nobody inspects the frame until something goes wrong
A fire door gets looked at every year. The frame it hangs in usually doesn’t — until an inspection finds it’s been packed with nothing, or fixed back to nothing, or damaged enough that the door can’t sit right in it any more.
A frame that was never backfilled properly looks exactly like one that was. The difference only shows up in a fire, or in a defect report.
A new door in a bad frame is a new door in a bad frame.
The frame is half the system
STEP 1
We look at what’s actually there
Including what’s behind the frame, which is usually the question.
STEP 2
We tell you whether it can stay
A sound frame is worth keeping and we’ll say so. One that isn’t gets priced honestly.
STEP 3
Installed and backfilled to the tested system
Then the door, then the tag and the documentation.
Backfilling is the part that gets skipped, because once the architrave is on nobody can see whether it was done. But the frame, the fixings and the backfill are all part of what the doorset was tested as. Done a different way, or not at all, and the test result behind the door doesn’t describe what’s actually in your building any more.
What frame work includes
- Assessment of the existing frame, including the backfill where it can be reached
- Removal of the existing frame where it has to go
- Frame supplied and installed to the tested system the opening requires
- Backfilling done the way that system requires
- Painting, as part of a new frame installation
- All the compliance documentation
Can the existing door be kept?
Usually not — and it’s worth knowing why, because it changes the shape of the quote.
Even small differences in where the hinges sit and where the handle lands mean the old leaf no longer works in the new frame. A fire door isn’t something that can be re-drilled and re-hung to suit; the leaf and the frame were made to go together. So in practice a frame problem is a doorset job rather than a frame job.
We’ll always tell you if yours is the exception.
Asbestos
Some older doors and frames contain asbestos. If yours do, removal is a separate job and a separate charge — we’ll tell you before anything is touched, not afterwards.
Painting the frame
A new frame goes in painted. Painting is part of a standard frame installation, not an extra.
Repainting an existing frame that’s staying where it is — remedial work rather than a replacement — is the one that isn’t standard. We can do it as an add-on; say so when you’re getting the quote and it goes in the price rather than turning up later.
Getting in
Access is what actually delays fire door work — not the doors. Here’s how we handle it.
STEP 1
We propose a date to the strata manager
Not to residents. The strata manager holds the relationship with the building, so the date goes to them first.
STEP 2
We prepare an attendance register
The units, in order, with times. It’s the document the whole day runs on.
STEP 3
The strata manager sends it out
They hold the resident contact details, so the notice goes out from them.
STEP 4
Residents come back to us directly
With preferences or changes. We accommodate them ahead of the day wherever we can.
We don’t hold your residents’ personal details, and we don’t ask for them, unless they’re given to us specifically so we can coordinate access. Everything else goes through the strata manager.
If we can’t get in on the day
A re-attendance fee applies — a technician and a booked slot have still been spent. We would much rather avoid charging it, which is why we push to get changes sorted before the day rather than on it. If something shifts, tell us early and we’ll do our best to work around it.
What compliance actually means here
Why backfill is a compliance item and not a finish
The material behind the frame is part of what was tested. It isn’t packing, and it isn’t optional. It’s also invisible once the job is finished, which is exactly why it’s worth knowing who did it.
In a masonry wall we backfill with non-shrink grout. In lightweight construction, the backfill is plasterboard strips.
One thing worth knowing before anyone quotes you
The two aren’t equally fixable after the fact.
A masonry frame that was never grouted can usually be backfilled retrospectively — the grout can go in without taking the wall apart.
A lightweight frame that was never packed properly can’t. Getting to it means opening up the wall, and sometimes taking the doorframe out altogether.
So the same defect — “frame not backfilled” — is a modest job in one building and a significant one in another, and which you’ve got is decided by what the wall is made of. It’s worth establishing that before a price is agreed, not after.
The tested system
A fire door isn’t rated on its own. It’s rated as a system — leaf, frame, hardware, seals and the way it’s installed — tested together. Change one part of it and you can’t rely on the test result any more. That’s why hardware is matched to the door rather than to what fits, why backfilling is done a particular way, and why there’s a limit on trimming.
The tag
A fire doorset carries a tag identifying what it is and what it was tested to. No tag, no evidence — and a certifier has nothing to work from.
Who signs it off
Jonathan Hyde holds FPAS accreditation for Fire Safety Assessment (F049133A). Shire Fire Doors Pty Ltd is a licensed builder, 462155C.
Don’t take our word for it. FPA Australia keeps a public register of accredited practitioners and updates it as accreditations change. Search F049133A and you’ll see the measures Jonathan is accredited to assess, and whether that accreditation is current today — not just on the day this page was written.
The annual statement
In NSW, most buildings need an Annual Fire Safety Statement, and the fire doors form part of it. The frame is part of the door for that purpose, whatever the defect report calls it.
The standards themselves are published by Standards Australia. Everything above is a plain-English summary, not a substitute for them.
For fire protection companies
Send us the door work
It comes back tagged, certified and right the first time, and the certificate goes out in your name. We don’t approach your client and we don’t put our name on your job.
And if you’re stuck on a door, just call. We give fire companies advice on doors fairly often, and we don’t charge for it.
For strata managers, owners and builders
Inspection found a problem with the frames?
We’ll look at what you’ve actually got, tell you what needs doing and what doesn’t, and give you a price before you commit to anything.
Common questions
How do you know if a frame is hollow?
It’s found on inspection, and it’s more common than people expect. If a defect report has flagged frame condition, send it through — that’s exactly the work this page is about.
Can you replace the frame without replacing the door?
Usually not. Hinge positions and handle locations rarely line up closely enough between an old leaf and a new frame, and a fire door can’t be re-drilled to make them. Budget for the doorset rather than the frame alone, and we’ll tell you if yours is the exception.
Do you do frames in masonry and in lightweight walls?
Both. The difference is what goes in behind the frame — non-shrink grout in masonry, plasterboard strips in lightweight — and it’s worth knowing which you have, because it changes what a retrospective fix costs.
Does the wall have to come apart?
In masonry, usually not — grout can generally go in without opening the wall up. In lightweight construction, getting to a frame that was never packed properly does mean opening the wall, and sometimes taking the frame out. We’ll tell you which you’re facing before the job starts, not once the architrave is off.
What if we can’t get access on the day?
A re-attendance fee applies — a technician and a booked slot have still been spent. We’d much rather avoid charging it, which is why we push to get changes sorted before the day rather than on it. Tell us early and we’ll do our best to work around it.
Do you hold our residents’ contact details?
No. We propose a date to the strata manager and prepare the attendance register; they hold the resident details and send it out. Residents come back to us directly with preferences. We don’t hold personal information unless it’s given to us specifically so we can coordinate access.
What happens if the damage is worse than the defect report says?
We note what the repair actually needs and quote it for your approval. Nothing extra gets done on the day without you agreeing to it.
Can you sign off our Annual Fire Safety Statement?
Jonathan Hyde holds FPAS accreditation for Fire Safety Assessment, F049133A. Rather than take our word for it, search that number on FPA Australia’s public register — it shows the measures covered and whether the accreditation is current today.
Three ways to get an answer
A full audit
Every door inspected and recorded, standalone. You get the findings whether or not we do the remedial work.
A free inspection on one defect
If something’s been flagged and you want to know what it actually needs, we’ll come and look at that one thing at no charge.
A quote from photos or a report
Send what you’ve already got and we’ll price from it. You don’t need us on site to get a number.
Send us the defect report
Or a photo of the architrave, or the line in the report you don’t understand. We’ll tell you what it needs — and if the frame can stay, we’ll tell you that too.