CERTIFIED FIRE AND EGRESS DOOR ASSEMBLY INSPECTOR

Its the law that all public occupancies that have fire doors be inspected once a year. Our job is not to make a business comply with the requirement but to inform our clients of what is required. We are a business that basically offers competent advice on how to keep your fire doors compliant with existing codes. What the customer does with that information is up to them. Our job is to simply inform them so they can stay out of non-compliant trouble and protect themselves from liability.  It is the job 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 those 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 have been inspected and maintained.  Liability can run both ways in the event of a fire tragedy involving personal injury or death.  However, since the AHJ has so much discretion in what is acceptable and what is not regarding the inspection, more of the liability risk will likely fall on the property owner since his responsibility is more definite and clear.  Property owners should have their fire 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 preventative 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 CFDAI (Certified Fire Door Assembly Inspector) like ourselves, must be re-certified every three years in updated code editions. 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 CFDAI (Certified Fire Door Assembly Inspectors). Schooled at DHI (Door Hardware Institute) and committed to staying certified to be current on the most updated codes. This is a higher certification than the normal FDAI.

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

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

4. We can do more than inspect. EMCFI also owns and operates a licensed locksmith business in Florida and Alabama as well as being a national CFDAI.  We can teach your maintenance personnel how to repair and maintain your fire doors and keep them in code compliance.

5. Using a third-party fire door inspector like ourselves removes the appearance of any favored impropriety.

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

7.  Emerald Coast Fire Door Inspections can be made available to companies who wish to have a group meeting to create a knowledgeable maintenance department to keep their fire doors in good condition. 

8.  Additionally, we do re-inspections of doors repaired 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 fire doors inspected, can I deny knowledge and liability. Not so. You are responsible and liable regardless of your decision to have them inspected by law.

2) Fire door inspection services are all about making businesses spend more money. No so. We are a voluntary advisory service that saves money and keeps our clients informed. The analogy is like accusing driver’s education programs of being more about making money than creating safe drivers to obey the law.

3) What is the relationship between the local AHJ and a fire door inspector? They are allies, not competitors. An up to date and thorough fire 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 in fire inspection. 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 or connections. 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) Fire door inspection reports alert the AHJ or fire marshal to the condition of the business fire doors. This is only true if the AHJ inspects and request your reports. Your inspection reports are confidential between you and the inspection company because you are the client. Anyone who acquires information about your fire doors compliance comes from you or the AHJ.