How often do fire doors have to be inspected?

NFPA 80 describes a periodic visual check and an annual inspection and test of fire door assemblies, with a written record kept for the authority having jurisdiction. Whether that binds your building depends on the edition your jurisdiction adopted, your occupancy and your AHJ — and some occupancies are held to more. The tool shows that reference with its edition and the date it was last checked; it does not tell you what you owe.

What does a fire door inspection record need to show?

Which building, which doors, the date, who inspected them, what was found on each, and what was done about it. This log prints all of that per door — the identity and location, the observations, the failed items named individually, and the corrective action — so an open item can be found again rather than being one line saying a door failed.

Is this checklist the NFPA 80 inspection criteria?

No, and the tool says so on the screen and on the printed record. The standard's enumerated criteria are the standard's own copyrighted text. This checklist is operational: the things a maintenance person can honestly observe on a walk — whether the door closes fully and latches, whether it is propped or blocked, whether the leaf, frame, glazing, gasketing and label are intact, whether there are field modifications you can see. Work from the standard, or from your inspector, for the criteria themselves.

Fire door inspection log

Operational checklist

Walk the doors, record what you found on each, and print the dated record — with every failed item named.

The building

Facility name *Date *

AddressInspected by

The checklist here is OPERATIONAL — the things a maintenance person can honestly observe on a walk. It is deliberately not presented as the enumerated criteria NFPA 80 itself lists for an annual inspection: that text is copyrighted and was not available to be checked against a primary source when this shipped, and an enumerated list reproduced from memory onto an inspection record would be worse than none. Work from the standard, or from your inspector, for the criteria themselves. Where the annual inspection has to be carried out by a qualified person is a question for your AHJ.

Where the reference figures come from

Fire door visual — not propped, unobstructed, undamaged, labels visible. Walk the fire doors. None propped open with a wedge or a trash can, nothing stored against them, no holes drilled through them, and the certification label on the edge still readable. NFPA 80 §5.2 (periodic), 2022 edition · record: log · retention: 3 years · checked July 2026

Annual assembly inspection & functional test (13 criteria). Each fire door assembly is tested against a 13-point list — it must close from any position and latch on its own, with correct clearances, intact hardware and no field modifications. Written report with every door numbered. NFPA 80 §5.2.1 (annual, 13 criteria), 2022 edition · record: written record for ahj · retention: 3 years · checked July 2026

This is the national consensus baseline, with the edition each figure was checked against. Whether it applies to your building — and at what frequency — depends on the code edition your jurisdiction has adopted, your occupancy, your equipment's listing, the manufacturer's instructions and your authority having jurisdiction. Confirm it with them. This tool records what you did; it makes no determination that any facility is compliant.

The doors

One card per door. Your list is kept for this building, so next time you open the tool and start checking rather than typing.

Door IDLocationType

Visual check

Self-closing device closes the door fully from the open position

Latching hardware secures the door when closed

Not propped, wedged, blocked or held open by anything unapproved

Door leaf undamaged — no holes, breaks or missing parts

Frame, hinges and hardware secure, aligned and undamaged

Glazing and vision light frames intact and secureN/A on a door with no vision light.

Gasketing and edge seals present and intact where fittedN/A where none is fitted.

On a pair, the inactive leaf closes before the active leafN/A on a single door.

Label is legible and has not been painted over or removed

No field modifications you can see — no added holes, no site-fitted hardware

Any signage on the door is the kind permitted on a rated assemblyN/A where nothing is fitted to the door.

Issue foundCorrective action

Notes

An operational checklist, and why it says so

NFPA 80 enumerates the criteria for an annual fire door assembly inspection. That text is copyrighted, and it was not obtainable from a primary source when this tool shipped — so the list here is not presented as it. Reproducing an enumerated standard from memory onto somebody’s inspection record would be worse than not having one.

What the checklist does contain is the things a maintenance person can honestly observe on a walk: whether the self-closer shuts the door fully, whether it latches, whether it is propped or blocked, whether the leaf, frame, glazing, gasketing and label are intact, whether the inactive leaf of a pair closes first, and whether there are field modifications you can see. Work from the standard, or from your inspector, for the criteria themselves.

What the reference rows say

Annual assembly inspection & functional test (13 criteria). Each fire door assembly is tested against a 13-point list — it must close from any position and latch on its own, with correct clearances, intact hardware and no field modifications. Written report with every door numbered. NFPA 80 §5.2.1 (annual, 13 criteria), 2022 edition. Record: written record for ahj. Retention: 3 years.

N/A is a real answer

A single door has no inactive leaf, a door with no vision light has no glazing to check, and plenty of assemblies carry no gasketing. Marking those N/A is the honest record; forcing a pass teaches people to tick boxes, and a sheet of unbroken passes is the first thing an experienced inspector distrusts.

The rest of the facility log family

The doors sit alongside the extinguisher, emergency lighting, alarm device and generator logs. The compliance calendar puts all of them on dates with the code behind each.

A record of inspections you carried out. CompliMaint issues no certifications and makes no determination that any door, assembly or facility is compliant — your authority having jurisdiction does that. Everything runs on your device.

Part of Assisted living — Your state's own requirements — drills, training, filings, postings, records — each cited, each with the tool that produces the document, and one place that says what is due next.

Emergency Preparedness Plan Builder — Built to the published requirements for your facility type and location.
Fire Drill Record & Log by State — The drill record, carrying your state's own frequency rule.
Survey Readiness Checklist by State — What a surveyor will ask for — and what you can't yet produce.