If you run a community hall in Kendal or anywhere else in Cumbria, August is the best month to get your fire doors inspected. The building is likely empty between summer and autumn programmes, giving you clear access to every door, corridor, and escape route without disrupting hirers or events.
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, every non-domestic premises must have a "responsible person" who takes charge of fire safety. For a community hall, that is usually the chair of the management committee or the trustees collectively. This person must carry out a fire risk assessment, maintain fire safety measures, and make sure the building is safe for everyone who uses it.
Many volunteer-run halls in Kendal, Staveley, and the surrounding South Lakeland area don't realise that this legal duty sits with them rather than with the local council or the hirers. It applies whether the hall hosts two events a month or two a week.
According to Building Regulations Approved Document B, fire doors in community buildings should be rated to at least FD30, meaning they resist fire for 30 minutes. They must also be fitted with self-closing devices so they shut automatically when released. Intumescent strips and smoke seals around the frame are standard requirements, swelling in heat to block fire and smoke from passing through gaps.
Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places a duty on the responsible person to maintain all fire safety provisions in working order. Fire doors count. A door that doesn't latch, has damaged seals, or has been wedged open with a chair won't perform when it matters.
Community halls have a few characteristics that make fire door issues more likely than in a staffed workplace. Volunteers change frequently, so knowledge of what should and shouldn't be done to fire doors gets lost. Budgets are tight, so maintenance gets deferred. And halls are shared spaces where different groups have different habits.
Here are the problems we see most often when carrying out fire door inspections across Kendal and South Lakeland:
Doors propped open. This is the single most common issue. A fire door held open with a wedge, a fire extinguisher, or a doorstop gives zero minutes of fire resistance instead of thirty. If ventilation is needed, overhead hold-open devices linked to the fire alarm are the compliant solution.
Damaged intumescent strips. Older halls often have strips that have been painted over, chipped away, or are missing entirely. Without them, hot gases pass around the door edge within minutes.
Self-closers removed or broken. Groups hiring the hall sometimes find closers inconvenient when carrying equipment in and out. The closer gets removed "temporarily" and never refitted.
Gaps around the frame. Warping is common in Cumbrian buildings where humidity shifts with the seasons. A gap of more than 3mm between the door and frame means the door won't contain fire as rated.
A propped-open FD30 door provides no fire resistance at all. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person can face enforcement action if fire doors are not maintained in working order. Check every fire door in your hall before hirers return in September.
September brings a rush of activity. Dance classes, youth groups, WI meetings, parish councils, and community suppers all start up within a few weeks of each other. Once that timetable is running, finding a clear day to inspect and repair fire doors becomes much harder.
August gives you a window. The hall is likely sitting empty for at least a couple of weeks. You can get a professional fire door inspection done without cancelling bookings or working around events. If any doors need repairs or replacement, there's time to get the work finished before the first hirer walks through the door in September.
If your hall hasn't had a fire risk assessment reviewed recently, August is a good time for that too. The assessment will flag fire door issues alongside everything else: alarm testing, emergency lighting, escape route signage, and extinguisher servicing.
BFP covers the whole of Cumbria, from Kendal and the South Lakes up to Carlisle and across to the west coast. If your community hall committee wants fire door inspections sorted before autumn, get in touch during August while the calendar is clear.
Fire doors should be checked regularly as part of your ongoing fire safety maintenance. A quick visual check every month by a committee member is good practice, with a full professional inspection at least once a year. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to keep fire safety measures in working order, and annual professional inspections help demonstrate compliance.
Yes. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, every community hall must have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. The responsible person, usually the chair or the trustee committee, is legally required to carry this out and review it regularly. The assessment covers fire doors, alarms, escape routes, signage, and staff or volunteer training.
You should not prop open a fire door with wedges, extinguishers, or doorstops. A propped-open fire door provides no fire resistance. If you need the door to stay open for ventilation or access, the compliant solution is an overhead hold-open device connected to the fire alarm system. The device releases the door automatically when the alarm activates, so the door closes and performs its fire resistance function.