Fire Door Inspection Checklist (NFPA 80)
FIRE DOOR INSPECTION CHECKLIST
The 13 items NFPA 80 requires you to verify on every fire door assembly, once a year — with a printable form you can take to the door.
Printable inspection form
Three pages, letter size: a 13-item checklist with pass, fail, and N/A columns for a single opening; a deficiency log with corrective action and inspector sign-off; and a multi-door summary log for a building or wing.
What NFPA 80 requires
NFPA 80, Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives, requires every fire door assembly to be inspected and tested immediately after installation and not less than annually after that. The inspection has to be documented in a written record, signed by the person who performed it, and kept available for the authority having jurisdiction.
The record for each opening should identify the door and its location, the date, who performed the inspection, the result of every item, any deficiencies found, what was corrected, and what remains open. Periodic inspection records are kept for at least three years. The acceptance test record from the original installation is kept for the life of the assembly.
Who is allowed to do the inspection
NFPA 80 requires a qualified person — someone with knowledge and understanding of the operating components of the type of door being inspected. The standard does not name a specific credential, and it does allow a building owner or in-house staff to perform the inspection when their credentials are acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction. Formal training such as the Door and Hardware Institute's Fire and Egress Door Assembly Inspector (FDAI) program is one way to document that qualification.
This checklist is a self-inspection aid for facility staff. It is meant to help you find and correct problems between formal inspections, prepare for one, and understand what an inspector will look at. It is not a substitute for the annual inspection required by NFPA 80, and completing it does not by itself satisfy that requirement. Confirm with your AHJ who may sign your records.
The 13 inspection items
Check each item on both sides of the door, and record the result for every opening individually.
1 Labels are present and legible
Both the door and the frame carry a label from a testing laboratory. Labels must be readable and must not be painted over, filled, or removed. A missing or illegible label is one of the most common reasons an opening fails, and it usually cannot be corrected in the field.
2 No holes or breaks in the door or frame
Look for holes left behind when hardware was removed or relocated, and for cracks, punctures, or corrosion. Open holes must be filled by a method NFPA 80 permits — steel fasteners in existing holes, or an approved repair. Filling a hole with wood putty or drywall compound is not acceptable.
If this item fails: Hollow metal door and frame parts
3 Glazing, vision light frames and beads are intact and secure
The glass must be the listed type for the assembly, undamaged, and held in place by beads that are fastened properly. Replacing fire-rated glass with ordinary glass voids the label.
If this item fails: Vision and louver kits | Glazing tape
4 Door, frame, hinges and hardware are secure and undamaged
Check for loose screws, a sagging leaf, a bowed or twisted frame, worn hinges, and a damaged noncombustible threshold. The assembly has to be aligned well enough to close and latch on its own every time.
If this item fails: Hinges | Continuous hinges
5 No missing or broken parts
Every hinge screw, closer arm, vertical rod, strike, cover plate, and fastener must be present and functional. Missing screws in a hinge are a fail, not a nuisance.
6 Door clearances are within allowable limits
Measure with a door gap gauge on the pull side. For hollow metal doors and frames the clearance at the head, jambs, and meeting edges of pairs is 1/8″ plus or minus 1/16″. Wood doors rated more than 20 minutes allow 1/8″ maximum with no under-tolerance. Clearance at the bottom of the door is limited to 3/4″ above the floor or a noncombustible sill unless the listing is more restrictive. Limits change between editions of NFPA 80, so check the edition your jurisdiction has adopted.
7 Closer or spring hinges operate and the door is self-closing
Open the door fully, release it, and confirm it closes on its own. A closer that has to be helped, leaks oil, or has been backed off so the door will not close is a fail.
If this item fails: Door closers | Spring hinges
8 A coordinator sequences the leaves correctly (pairs only)
On a pair with an astragal or overlapping leaves, the inactive leaf must close completely before the active leaf. If the active leaf beats the inactive leaf, neither latches.
9 The door is self-latching in the closed position
Release the door from the open position and confirm the latch or bolts engage fully without anyone pushing or pulling on the leaf. A door that closes but does not latch does not protect the opening.
If this item fails: Locksets and exit devices
10 No auxiliary hardware interferes with operation
Remove wedges, kick-down stops, chains, rope, unlisted surface bolts, and anything else that holds the door open or blocks it from latching. Blocking a fire door open is never permitted.
11 No field modifications that void the label
Unlisted hardware, added louvers, cut-in vision lights, and unlisted glass are all label-voiding changes. Protection plates taller than 16″ from the bottom of the door must be labeled for the assembly.
If this item fails: Fire-rated louver kits | Vision kits
12 Gasketing and edge seals are present and continuous
Where the listing or the code requires smoke or intumescent seals, they must be in place, continuous, and the proper type for a fire door. Look for pieces that have been cut out, painted, or torn loose.
If this item fails: Gasketing and weatherstripping | Adhesive gasketing
13 Signage complies with size and attachment limits
Signage on the door face must cover less than 5% of the face and must not be attached with mechanical fasteners — no screws or rivets through a fire door.
Clearance limits at a glance
| Location | Hollow metal door and frame | Wood door rated over 20 minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Head and jambs | 1/8″ ± 1/16″ (1/16″ min, 3/16″ max) | 1/8″ maximum |
| Meeting edges of a pair | 1/8″ ± 1/16″ | 1/8″ maximum |
| Bottom of door | 3/4″ maximum above the floor or a noncombustible sill, unless the listing is more restrictive | |
Clearance limits and tolerances have changed between editions of NFPA 80. Verify against the edition adopted in your jurisdiction and against the assembly's own listing.
The failures we see most often
- Doors propped or wedged open. The single most common violation, and the easiest to fix.
- Doors that close but do not latch. Usually a misaligned strike, a worn latch, or a closer adjusted too weak.
- Holes from removed hardware. Old closer, pull, or bolt holes left open, or filled with the wrong material.
- Painted-over labels. Once the label cannot be read, the opening cannot be verified.
- Excessive bottom clearance. Often the result of new flooring installed over the old.
- Kick-down stops and surface bolts added after the fact by an occupant who wanted the door to stay open.
- Unlisted protection plates taller than 16″ installed without a label.
Replacement parts for a failed item
MDI Supply stocks labeled fire door hardware and hollow metal openings — closers, hinges and spring hinges, exit devices, locksets, coordinators, gasketing, glazing and louver kits, frame parts, and complete door and frame units. Send us your inspection notes and we will help identify the right listed part for the assembly.
Questions on a specific opening?
Send us photos and your label information and we will help you work out what the opening needs. Use our contact page or call 888.634.3667. Related guides: lock functions, door closers, door swings and handing. More technical documents are in the Resource Center.
Inspection criteria summarized from NFPA 80, Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives, Section 5.2. Items 1 and 13 were added in the 2013 edition. This page is provided for general reference and is not a code document — always work from the edition of NFPA 80 adopted in your jurisdiction and confirm requirements with your authority having jurisdiction.