AS 1851 fire door inspection and testing
Annual and six-monthly inspections, with records your certifier will accept. 237 passive fire certificates issued across 190 buildings since November 2024. Across Sydney.
The statement is due and nobody’s looked at the doors
The Annual Fire Safety Statement comes round whether the building is ready or not. The fire doors are part of it, and they’re the measure most likely to have quietly drifted out of compliance over twelve months — a closer adjusted, a handle swapped, a seal painted over, a door propped open so often that somebody disconnected the closer.
An inspection isn’t a formality. It’s how you find out in September rather than in the week the statement is due.
The doors don’t fail all at once. They fail one adjustment at a time.
Inspected, recorded, reported
STEP 1
We inspect to the routine service schedule
Every door, to the frequency the standard sets for it.
STEP 2
We record what we find
Door by door, with the defects described rather than just counted.
STEP 3
You get records your certifier will accept
Plus a clear list of what needs doing, and what doesn’t.
A defect list is only useful if it tells you what to do next. Ours separates what has to be fixed before the statement from what can wait, and says what each item actually needs — because a list that marks forty doors “non-compliant” without saying why is a list that turns into forty unnecessary quotes.
What an inspection includes
- Inspection to the routine service frequency the standard requires
- Every door recorded individually
- Defects described, with what each one needs
- A service report with photos, and an electronic door register
- Fire door jamb tagging where it’s required
How often
Annual and six-monthly, depending on the door and the building. We’ll tell you which applies to yours.
The inspection stands on its own
We separate the inspection from the remedial quote. The findings are yours whether or not we do the work that follows — an audit from us doesn’t commit you to anything from us.
Tagging — and the doors we won’t tag
We can tag fire door jambs on inspection.
We don’t tag existing doors, and it’s worth knowing why, because somebody else may offer to.
AS 1905.1 requires a tag to carry particular information about the door: the year it was manufactured, the core material, who installed it. On a door that’s already sitting in a building, that chain of custody usually can’t be established — nobody can prove what the door is made of or where it came from. A tag we can’t stand behind is worse than no tag at all, because it makes a door look evidenced when it isn’t, and the next person to inspect it will rely on it.
If a door has no tag, that goes in the record as a finding. It’s something a certifier needs to know, and it’s not something a sticker fixes.
What you actually get
A service report with photos, and an electronic door register.
The photos matter more than they sound like they should. A defect described in words is a defect somebody has to take on trust. A defect with a photo attached is one a strata committee can look at and approve a repair for, without anybody going back to site to prove it.
The register is the part your certifier works from — every door, individually, rather than a summary.
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
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 an inspection looks at the hardware and the seals, not just whether the door shuts.
Who does the inspecting
Two different accreditations sit behind fire door compliance, and they do different jobs. Most people have never had reason to know there are two, so here they are.
Doing the inspecting and testing is FPAS Inspect & Test. Jonathan Hyde holds it for fire and smoke doors at Complex level — accreditation IT49133, a national accreditation.
Signing off the Annual Fire Safety Statement is a separate accreditation again: FPAS Fire Safety Assessment, F049133A, which is a NSW one. Shire Fire Doors Pty Ltd is also a licensed builder, 462155C.
Complex level matters here. Under AS 1851, the routine service for fire and smoke doors runs at two frequencies — six-monthly and annual — and the accreditation levels are drawn along that same line. Complex is the one that covers the whole schedule rather than half of it.
Don’t take our word for either. FPA Australia keeps a public register for each and updates them as accreditations change. Search IT49133 on the Inspect & Test national register, or F049133A on the Fire Safety Assessment register. Both show what’s covered and whether it’s 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. Inspecting them properly and recording what was found is what makes that statement supportable.
The standards themselves are published by Standards Australia. Everything above is a plain-English summary, not a substitute for them.
For fire protection companies
Doors on your run?
The door work is where a specialist changes your result — the repairs your inspection turns up, and the audits that need Inspect & Test at Complex level.
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
Statement due?
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 often do fire doors have to be inspected?
Annual and six-monthly, depending on the door and the building. Tell us what you’ve got and we’ll tell you what applies.
Are you accredited to do the inspecting?
Yes — FPAS Inspect & Test, IT49133, at Complex level for fire and smoke doors. It’s on FPA Australia’s national register, which is public and kept current. That’s a different accreditation from the one used to sign the Annual Fire Safety Statement, and both are set out above.
What do we get at the end?
A service report with photos, and an electronic door register — every door individually, with each defect described and photographed rather than just counted. The list separates what has to be done before the statement from what can wait.
Can you tag our doors?
We tag fire door jambs where that’s required. We don’t tag existing door leaves — AS 1905.1 wants the year of manufacture, the core material and the installer on the tag, and on a door already in a building that usually can’t be proven. An untagged door gets recorded as a finding instead, which is what a certifier actually needs.
We’re a fire protection company — can you do the door inspections for us?
We can, and we do. But it’s usually not where we’re most useful to you. The door work that comes out of an inspection is where a specialist actually changes your result — the repairs, and the audits that need Inspect & Test at Complex level. If you want us on the inspections as well, ask and we’ll talk it through. And if you’ve hit something on a door you haven’t seen before, call us anyway — we don’t charge for advice.
Can you fix what you find, or do we need someone else?
We can do both — and we separate the inspection from the remedial quote, so you see what was found before you decide who fixes it.
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.
Book an inspection
Send us the statement date, or the last defect report, or just the number of doors. We’ll tell you what your doors need — and what they don’t.