Driving best practice in fire door specification and competence

The Building Safety Act 2022 set a clear direction of travel for the construction industry with a focus on evidence, competence and accountability. For those responsible for specifying, installing and maintaining fire doors, this means demonstrating that the right products have been selected and, crucially, that they have been installed, inspected and maintained by competent people.

The BWF Fire Door Alliance’s (FDA's) new report, Competence, certification and compliance: How the Building Safety Act 2022 is reshaping fire door safety, explores how the legislation has shaped perceptions of third-party certified fire doors, specification, maintenance and inspection. It also, for the first time, considers how organisations assess the competence of individuals responsible for fire door installation and maintenance. 

The findings reveal that while more professionals recognise the value of third-party certified fire doors and traceability, gaps in specification and understanding of legal competence risk holding back progress. 

Embracing the direction of the Building Safety Act 2022
Our latest research found that on average 54% of fire doors are third-party certified (TPC). This is positive; however, it also highlights a key area for growth and education to drive this figure higher and increase best practice.

Fire door third-party certification ensures that the door manufacturer or processor is audited by an independent third-party organisation to provide evidence that the product is tested appropriately and produced to a consistent standard. This provides crucial verification of product performance and assurance over consistency and quality, to help ensure peace of mind that the fire door is fit for purpose and complies with fire door regulations to protect lives and property.

Importantly, third-party certification also supports traceability throughout the construction supply chain by providing information about the door’s component parts and manufacturing details. This information can be shared throughout the supply chain to maintain the building’s golden thread and support ongoing maintenance needs throughout its lifespan.

Against this backdrop, the reasons professionals give for choosing third-party certified fire doors provide an important indication of how the principles of the Building Safety Act 2022 are influencing decision-making throughout the fire safety sector.

The reasons for specifying or using TPC fire doors suggest that the understanding has broadened, with the key themes aligning with the overarching focus of the Building Safety Act 2022. For example, more than half of respondents (54%) said they specify or use TPC fire doors to fulfil their responsibilities and comply with fire safety rules and guidelines. While evidence of performance (46%) and a commitment to high standards and best practice (40%) were also highlighted as key motivations for choosing certified fire doors.

When compared against our previous data, an encouraging trend emerges, with the findings suggesting that these motivations have strengthened. In 2022, 47% of respondents, and 48% in 2023, cited meeting responsibilities and complying with fire safety legislation as the main reasons for specifying TPC fire doors, while proof of performance was also identified as a key factor in earlier findings and remains central in 2026. 

This growing emphasis on responsibility and compliance is also reflected in the evidence professionals seek during specification. The research found that people are increasingly looking for proof of performance, such as certificates and data sheets (47%) in response to the Building Safety Act 2022, compared to 35% in 2023.

Despite this positive direction of travel, there is a clear gap between awareness and the proportion of fire doors that are TPC.

Overcoming the barriers to third-party certification
It’s therefore crucial to understand why, despite that growing awareness, organisations are not currently specifying or using certified fire doors consistently.

When considering the reasons for not specifying or using TPC fire doors, cost remains the key barrier, with 29% of respondents stating this reason. However, this is a decrease from 42% in 2023 and 35% in 2022, suggesting the overall value of TPC may be becoming more widely recognised and in turn, the view of cost as a barrier is reducing. 

Broader areas also continue to influence specification decisions – 28% cite the availability of certified and competent installers as their main barrier, while 27% point to uncertainty around the data needed to demonstrate fire door performance. This highlights the need for greater awareness of how TPC supports performance in relation to the Building Safety Act 2022 requirements, as well as how to find competent individuals to install fire doors. 

Added to this, lack of client demand now stands at 25% – decreasing from previous years. While this is lower, it still suggests that some end clients may not yet fully understand the role TPC can play in helping dutyholders evidence compliance, traceability and performance.

Through the BWF Fire Door Alliance (FDA), we are working to close these gaps by helping improve industry understanding of third-party certification and its benefits. Our practical guidance, technical resources, educational webinars, and the BWF Fire Door Alliance ‘Be Certain, Be Certified’ and BWF Fire Door Safety Week campaigns, share vital knowledge and insights to support industry best practice of fire door specification, installation and maintenance.

Focus on individual competence
For the first time, our BWF FDA report also explores how competence is assessed. Fire doors are life-saving features, and if they are not installed or maintained by competent individuals, the performance of robustly tested third-party certified fire doors can be put at risk in the event of a fire. 

Concerningly, our research shows that many organisations are relying on misleading or incomplete indicators of competence. For example, while 51% of respondents review installer qualifications against the ICSG (SLG10) Specialist Timber Fire Door Installer Competence Framework and 45% look for an NVQ or apprenticeship, 42% would accept a diploma or certificate of achievement and 29% an online or e-learning course as sufficient evidence on their own. 

This highlights a clear need to distinguish more effectively between education and training, and evidence of competence. While training programmes such as e-learning courses or certificates of achievement play an important role in building knowledge and supporting professional development, alone they do not demonstrate occupational competence. 

Education provides learners with understanding and skills, but true competence is evidenced through practical application and assessment in real live work settings. Occupational qualifications such as apprenticeships and NVQs are designed to measure and assess that individuals can demonstrate their ability to perform consistently and effectively in their role over time in a real workplace setting – not through simulation in a set environment. 

Simulation fails to meet the occupational standards because it cannot replicate the live workplace pressures, unpredictable commercial challenges, and authentic team dynamics essential for proving true job readiness.

To maintain industry integrity, regulatory standards mandate that individuals are assessed on real, productive work to guarantee they are fully competent under genuine day-to-day conditions.

Competence must be treated as a measurable requirement to ensure compliance with the duties of the Accountable Person and the focus on individual competence in the Building Safety Act 2022. Through the BWF’s ongoing work with the Sector-Led Group 10, we’re committed to raising competency standards throughout the fire door safety sector, which ultimately underpin the performance of life-saving products across the UK.

Moving from awareness to action
It’s positive to see that third-party certification, traceability and robust evidence of performance are recognised as vital for compliance with today’s legislation. However, it’s clear that we now need to focus on turning awareness into consistent specification of third-party certified fire doors and embed evidencing of individual competence throughout the industry.

Only third-party certified fire doors installed and maintained by competent professionals will deliver safe buildings and instil confidence that fire doors will perform as intended when lives depend on them.

For more information visit:
firedoors.bwf.org.uk/competence-certification-and-compliance/

Helen Hewitt is CEO of the British Woodworking Federation (BWF).