Fire door hardware
Closers, latches, seals and panic hardware — matched to the door’s tested system, not just to what fits the hole. Supplied and installed across Sydney.
The commonest way a compliant door stops being compliant
Nothing has to break. A closer gets replaced with one that was on the shelf. A handle set gets swapped after a break-in. Somebody adds an electronic lock so the door can be held open for deliveries. Each of those is a sensible decision taken by a sensible person, and each one can take a door outside the system it was tested as.
The door still looks fine. It just isn’t the thing the test certificate describes any more.
Hardware is the part of a fire door most likely to be changed by someone who doesn’t know it’s part of the fire door.
Matched, supplied, fitted
STEP 1
We identify what the door was tested with
From the tag, and from what’s on the door now.
STEP 2
We supply hardware that matches that system
Not the nearest equivalent.
STEP 3
Fitted, and the documentation updated
So the paperwork still describes the door you actually have.
A fire door is rated as a system — leaf, frame, hardware, seals and the install, tested together. Hardware is the part of that system that gets changed most often and questioned least. Matching it isn’t fussiness; it’s the difference between a door that’s certified and a door that merely closes.
What we supply and fit
- Door closers
- Latches, locksets and handles
- Smoke and fire seals
- Panic and exit hardware
On a replacement or a maintenance visit
Existing hardware is reused where it’s compliant and in good condition, or supplied and installed new where it isn’t.
The brands we work with
All the main ones — Lockwood, Dormakaba, Legge, Schlage, Carbine, Sabre and others. We’re not tied to a single supplier, so we’re not steering you toward whatever we happen to stock.
The brand isn’t the constraint, though. What decides whether a given closer or lockset can go on your door is whether it belongs to the system that doorset was tested under — and a well-known name on the box doesn’t settle that by itself.
Mag locks and hold-open devices
We can do both — subject to confirming on site that what’s proposed suits the door and the system it was tested as.
That’s deliberately not a yes over the phone. Electromagnetic locks and hold-opens are where fire doors most often go wrong, because they change how the door behaves in exactly the situation it exists for. Whether a given arrangement works depends on what’s actually on the door, what it was tested as, and how the building’s fire system releases it. So we’ll come and look first.
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
“It fits” is not the test
Hardware is selected against the system the doorset was tested under, not against the hole in the door. Two closers that look identical can belong to different tested systems. If hardware has already been bought for a job, send us what it is before it goes on — it’s a much cheaper conversation before than 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. Hardware that doesn’t belong to the door’s tested system is one of the commonest reasons a door that looks fine doesn’t support one.
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
Not sure what’s on your doors?
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
Can you match hardware to a door you didn’t install?
Usually. The tag is the starting point, along with what’s already on the door. If the door has no tag at all, that’s a bigger problem than the hardware and we’ll say so.
Someone’s already bought hardware for the job. Can you fit it?
Send us what it is first. If it belongs to the door’s tested system, yes. If it doesn’t, fitting it would take the door out of compliance, and we’d rather have that conversation before it goes on.
The closer keeps getting disconnected because the door slams. Can that be fixed?
Usually, yes — that’s an adjustment rather than a fault, and it’s one of the most common things we find. A disconnected closer is a compliance failure caused by an ordinary annoyance.
Do you supply hardware without installing it?
Not at present. We supply hardware as part of work we’re doing.
Which brands do you use?
All the main ones — Lockwood, Dormakaba, Legge, Schlage, Carbine, Sabre and others. We’ll use whichever belongs to the door’s tested system rather than whichever we happen to stock.
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 a photo of the door
Or the tag, or the line in the defect report about the closer. We’ll tell you what it needs — and if what’s on there is fine, we’ll tell you that too.