Fire Door Inspection & Certification SWMS

Fire door inspection and certification is a building-code-mandated activity requiring trained inspectors to assess fire-resistant door sets against AS 1905.1 and NCC 2022 Specification C3.4 performance criteria. The work involves measuring perimeter and threshold gaps, testing intumescent seals, verifying self-closing devices, inspecting hinges and hardware, and documenting defects on certified compliance schedules — typically across occupied commercial, healthcare, aged-care, and residential buildings. Inspectors work at height on ladders, in tight stairwell landings, around live door swings, and in dusty plenum spaces above ceilings where fire collars and penetrations are checked. Because the task occurs in operational buildings with public movement, involves repetitive manual handling of testing tools, and triggers WHS Regulation 2025 duties for safe systems of work in occupied premises, a documented SWMS is mandatory before any inspector enters site. The SWMS also forms part of the auditable certification chain relied upon by building surveyors and essential safety measures registers.

Hazards identified

7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.

1. 1Elimination — schedule inspections during planned building shutdowns or out-of-hours periods to remove occupant interaction and live door-traffic exposure entirely where building function permits.
2. 2Elimination — confirm via pre-1990 building register and material sample register whether fire door cores contain asbestos; defer drilling tasks until licensed removalist engaged.
3. 3Substitution — replace step-ladder access with mobile elevating work platforms for door head inspections above 1.8 metres where corridor width and floor loading permit.
4. 4Substitution — use digital gap-measurement gauges and borescope cameras instead of manual feeler gauges to reduce hand exposure to closing door edges.
5. 5Engineering — install temporary door-hold-open magnets or wedges with spotter present to neutralise self-closer spring tension during hardware inspection and seal testing.
6. 6Engineering — deploy localised HEPA-filtered dust extraction at the drill point during any defect rectification involving door core penetration or seal replacement.
7. 7Administrative — issue site-specific pre-start brief from this SWMS, verify inspector competency to AS 1905.1 Annex requirements, and log sign-on register before any inspection commences.
8. 8Administrative — establish exclusion zones using A-frame barriers and bilingual signage in occupied corridors, with floor warden coordination in healthcare and aged-care facilities.
9. 9PPE — cut-resistant Level C gloves, safety glasses to AS/NZS 1337.1, P2 respirator to AS/NZS 1716, steel-cap footwear to AS/NZS 2210.3 and high-visibility vest.
10. 10PPE — disposable Type 5/6 coveralls when accessing ceiling plenums or undertaking drilling on door cores of unknown composition, with decontamination procedure before doffing.

Applicable Codes of Practice

Worked example

A two-person inspection crew arrives at a 14-storey aged-care facility to complete the annual fire door certification programme covering 186 door sets across resident wings, plant rooms and stairwells. At the 7:30am pre-start in the loading dock, the lead inspector opens this SWMS on a tablet and walks the offsider through the hazard register. They flag that the building's 1987 construction date triggers the asbestos control — the facility manager confirms the door core register shows post-1995 replacements on levels 3 to 14, but levels 1 and 2 retain original cores, so any drilling on those floors is deferred. The crew identifies the door-closer spring hazard as the highest live risk and agrees to use magnetic hold-opens with the offsider spotting during every closer release test. Both sign the SWMS register. Mid-morning on level 9, a resident with dementia wanders into the exclusion zone around an open stairwell door; the inspector pauses work, returns the resident to staff, and the crew adds a control on the fly — requesting a floor nurse escort for the remaining resident-wing inspections. The amendment is noted on the SWMS revision log, re-signed by both workers, and uploaded to the compliance portal before resuming. The defect schedule and amended SWMS form part of the certification handover pack to the building surveyor.

Related legislation

• WHS Act 2011 (model)
• WHS Regulation 2025
• National Construction Code; AS 5113 — Combustible cladding

Frequently asked questions