The Fire Door Association at the Fire Safety Event

The Fire Door Association was at the Fire Safety Event at the NEC this year, and its Business Development Director, Andrea Taylor, took the opportunity to present to visitors at the UKTC stand – setting out where the fire door sector currently stands, why the Fire Door Association exists and what it is doing to address gaps the sector has identified.

Away from the presentation itself, some of the most valuable moments came from the conversations with people from across the sector.

The conversations were encouraging – genuine interest in what the Fire Door Association is building, recognition of the gaps it’s addressing and enthusiasm from people who have been waiting for exactly this kind of body to exist. It was a reminder that the appetite for change in this sector is real.

The evidence is stark

The theme for last year’s Fire Door Safety Week campaign, which ran from 22 – 26 September 2025, focused on ‘Fire Travels Fast’. New research conducted by the British Woodworking Federation for Fire Door Safety Week revealed a sharp rise in public concern about the fire risks posed by lithium-ion batteries, particularly those found in e-bikes and e-scooters – with over half (59%) of owners saying their fire risk fears have grown since getting one. In addition to this more than a third of people spotted issues with fire doors in their homes.

Then Sentry Fire Safety Group published a white paper in March this year, based on Freedom of Information requests sent to all 296 local authorities in England. 88% responded. The findings should concern anyone working in or around fire safety: 66,860 known non-compliant fire doors currently sitting unaddressed in England’s social housing.

Only 46% of front entrance doors inspected even once since the Fire Safety (England) Regulations came into force in January 2023 – three years ago. Just 36% of fire doors across social housing meeting the minimum FD30 standard and 49% of local authorities with no plan in place to repair or replace the doors they already know are failing.

Alongside this, the FDM Roundtable Report – published in May 2025 with a foreword by Dame Judith Hackitt – found that 85% of respondents on the Constructionline register did not believe the Building Safety Act 2022 applied to them.

What the sector itself is saying

The Fire Door Association’s own Industry Consultation Survey drew responses from 12 different professions – from specifiers and architects through to housing providers, facilities managers and responsible persons.

73% felt the fire door sector was not currently aligned. 69% of respondents had over ten years of experience in the sector – this is not a question of ignorance. It is a question of fragmentation.

The sector’s biggest frustrations: lack of consistent collaboration, no recognised registration for inspectors and fitters, and costs being prioritised over safety.

What the sector said it needed: total alignment across the supply chain, transparency, governance, accountability and clarity.

The Fire Door Association’s response

The Fire Door Association will operate across five areas, each one a direct response to a gap the sector has identified. Membership spanning the entire fire door lifecycle – from Design and Specification to Resident Representatives.

Education, in strategic partnership with FDM Training & Development, raising competency standards across the sector. Standards and Compliance engagement, helping members understand and apply the regulations that govern fire door performance in practice, not just on paper. Industry Representation – the fire door sector has never had a unified voice, and the Fire Door Association is that voice.

Plus, Testing and Certification support, because a certificate is the beginning of the conversation, not the end of it.

The Fire Door Association–FDM partnership drew particular interest. Dame Judith Hackitt visited FDM’s facility in Bury in May 2025 and described what she saw as an exemplar of good practice – hands-on, practical training with rigorous assessment, extending across the entire supply chain. Her conclusion: we should be flagging good practice far more. The Fire Door Association intends to do exactly that.

The Fire Door Association exists for the people in this industry who do feel that weight. Who carry it every day and who want a body beside them that takes it as seriously as they do.

The fire door industry isn’t lacking in knowledge, or even in solutions. What it has lacked is coordination, urgency and leadership. That is what the Fire Door Association is here to provide.

To register your interest in membership, email: admin@firedoorassociation.com