EMERALD COAST FIRE DOOR INSPECTIONS

Its the law that all public occupancies that have fire doors and Means of Egress doors must be inspected once a year. Our job is to make business aware of what is required to keep them in good standing with local and state inspection agencies.  We inform our clients when their doors are not compliant and recommend solutions in our reports.   It is the responsibility of the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction), like the fire marshal, to enforce these codes.

The question is are you ready when the fire marshal comes to inspect your doors?  Ignorance of the law is no excuse when it comes to public safety code violations.  Property owners are responsible to have their fire doors inspected and maintained annually.  The AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) has the legal responsibility to see if those fire doors and Means of Egress doors have been inspected and maintained.  Business owners are liable in the event of a fire tragedy involving personal injury or death.  Property owners should have their doors inspected to protect themselves for several reasons.

a) The cost to have fire doors inspected annually is an exceedingly small fraction of the cost to defend a lawsuit. It is better to have evidence of preventive due diligence that is documented in an annual report than having to rely on an insurance liability policy.

b) To stay up with the most recent code requirements that change every 1-3 years depending on the code. A Fire Door Assembly Inspector like ourselves should be used. There are three major codes that cover fire door inspections here in Florida. NFPA 80, NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, and the International Building Code.  Did you know Florida adopted new editions of NFPA 80 and NFPA 101 in December 2020?  To know which one applies and what to look for requires a qualified up to date trained specialist.  We do a one hundred- and one-point inspection on every fire door we inspect.

c) Fire door inspections save lives and prevent fire from spreading.  For example, failing fire doors contributed to the fire in the 24-story west London tower block in 2017, which killed 72 people.

d) Fire door inspections keep the maintenance current and save on costly repairs because of neglect.

1. We are local and can offer more competitive pricing than out town firms.

2. Our inspections include pictures of every door and are electronically recorded and stored with a secure server with easy access for property owners.

3. Using a third-party fire door inspector helps insulate the property owner from any conflict of interest.

4. To avoid the appearance of impropriety Emerald Coast Fire Door Inspections does not do repairs on doors it inspects that were deemed non-compliant.

5.  Additionally, we will do re-inspections of door repairs for a fee in order to bring them into compliance at the customer’s request. 

Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a ton in cost.  

Knowledge is power, not a liability.

We do Door Inspections for the following

occupancies under NFPA 101 Life Safety Code and NFPA 80:

• Assemblies/Churches 

• Education (Academies, Kindergartens, Elementary and Secondary Schools and Colleges)

• Day Care (Child and Adult)

• Health Care (Hospitals and Nursing Homes)

• Ambulatory (4 or more outpatient)

• Residential Board & Care (personal care services)

• Residential occupancies

- 1 & 2 family dwelling

- Lodging/Rooming 

- Hotels 

- Dorms 

- Apartments 

• Mercantile – businesses that sell merchandise like dept. stores, supermarkets, shopping centers

• Business – transacts business other than the sale of merchandise (accounting office)

• Industrial – manufacturing plants

• Multiple use occupancies like malls

• Detention/Correctional centers

 1) If I do not have my doors inspected, can I plea ignorance in liability. No. You are responsible and liable regardless of your decision to have them inspected or who does the inspection under the law.

3) What is the relationship between the local AHJ and a door inspector? They are allies, not competitors. An up to date and thorough inspection report helps the local AHJ be more efficient and informed about his responsibility. The truth is that local AHJ’s have so many areas of fire inspection and locations to inspect they cannot possibly spend the time and in-depth study in every area as a specialist. A smart AHJ will use a fire door inspection service like any other specialist (elevator inspections, electrical inspections, alarm inspections, etc.) to help lessen his liability and be more competent and efficient. In our practice we attempt to meet with local fire marshals (AHJ) to find out what their priorities are on fire door inspections since they have so much enforcement discretion.

4) Liability is not determined by local politics . Ultimately, if a lawsuit is ever brought, it will come down to the facts and what the law requires. Enforcement codes are written for a reason. That reason is because the State adopted them to make them law for the health and safety of its residents.

5).  Your inspection reports are the confidential property of the landowner, property manager or one requesting the report.  It is not given to anyone else, including the AHJ.  It is up to the person requesting the report to give it to the AHJ.