Specification
Rating and configuration
The required fire resistance, smoke control, single or double configuration, leaf size and any glazing. Larger or higher-performance doorsets need compatible components throughout the assembly.
Cost Guide
Fire Door Costs for Commercial Premises: What Drives a Quotation
In commercial buildings the total cost of fire door work reflects several things together: the doorset specification, the opening around it, the hardware and any connected systems, access and programme constraints, and the records the client needs afterwards. This guide explains those drivers so you can brief a contractor properly and compare quotations fairly. It does not publish prices, because Parsec quotes against the actual scope.
Why Commercial Quotations Differ From Residential Ones
A house or HMO usually has a run of similar single doors. A commercial building often mixes single and double doors, cross-corridor pairs, stair doors, plant and riser doors, glazed doors on circulation routes and doors on escape routes fitted with panic or emergency exit hardware. Each type carries different labour and material content.
Commercial work often brings its own constraints, such as trading hours, security, site inductions, permits, tenant agreements and close-out documentation for a facilities team or landlord. Residential work has constraints too; the point is that whatever applies to your building should be stated. Those items are real costs and should be visible in the quotation rather than hidden in a single rate.
The Main Cost Drivers
Hardware
Escape and security ironmongery
Panic and emergency exit devices, locks, closers, selectors on pairs, and kick or push plates, which must all be compatible with the doorset's tested or assessed specification.
Interfaces
Other systems
Access control, maglocks, hold-open devices linked to the fire alarm and door monitoring. The split between the door contractor and the system installer must be agreed.
Opening
Frame and surrounding wall
Frame condition, the wall construction, fire-stopping around the frame and making good. Unknown frame condition is a common reason for a provisional item.
Programme
Hours, phasing and access
Out-of-hours or phased working, keeping escape routes usable, lift and loading access, parking, inductions and permits.
Records
Close-out information
Door-by-door completion records, photographs, product information and the reference format your facilities or asset system requires.
Repair, Remedial Work Or Replacement
A defective commercial fire door is not automatically a replacement. Closer adjustment, hinge renewal, seal replacement, gap correction and some hardware changes can often be carried out on a sound, identifiable doorset at a fraction of the disruption of replacement.
Replacement becomes the realistic option where the leaf or frame is badly damaged, alterations cannot be supported, the construction cannot be established for the required performance, or repair would not reasonably restore the assembly. A good quotation states the proposed route for each door rather than applying one decision to the whole building. Our repair cost guide and installation and replacement cost guide explain how each route is built up.
What A Commercial Quotation Should Include Or Exclude
Comparing quotations is only possible when each one states the same inclusions and exclusions. Ask for these items to be listed explicitly.
Usually included
Within the door works scope
Labour per door reference; doorsets or components to the agreed specification; ironmongery within scope; removal and disposal of replaced items; protection of the working area; completion records.
Often excluded or provisional
State clearly either way
Decoration; wall or ceiling making good beyond the frame; access-control, alarm or electrical connections by others; asbestos-related work; out-of-hours premiums; repeat visits for doors not made available.
Labour, Materials And VAT
Labour reflects the number of door references, their type, the working pattern and how many visits access will need. Materials reflect the specification: doorsets, frames, glazing, seals, hinges, closers and escape hardware compatible with the assembly. Splitting the two helps a client see why a pair of escape-route doors costs more than a plant-room single.
Every figure should say whether it is net of VAT or includes it, with the VAT treatment shown. We cannot advise on your organisation's VAT position; check that with your accountant.
Multi-Site And Phased Commercial Programmes
Where an organisation has several premises, or one large building with tenants, a consistent door reference format and a schedule per site keeps quotations comparable. Phasing by floor, zone or tenant can reduce disruption, but each phase adds mobilisation and visits; that trade-off should be visible.
In a multi-let building, the quotation can also be split by the party instructing each door — see fire doors for commercial landlords.
Where findings come from a formal fire door report, that report is produced by the external specialist inspection partner. Parsec prices the works against the report or the fire risk assessment action list; our own pre-works visit only verifies dimensions, access and scope for pricing.
Quotation Input Checklist For Commercial Premises
- Formal fire door report or FRA action list, with door references
- Building address, floor plans or door location schedule
- Photographs of both faces, the frame, hardware and any labels for each door
- Known specifications, previous works records and product information
- Doors with access control, maglocks, hold-open devices or monitoring, and who maintains those systems
- Trading or operating hours, permitted working hours and any phasing constraints
- Site induction, permit, security escort and parking or loading requirements
- Tenant or landlord responsibilities where the building is multi-let
- Required close-out record format and who receives it
Related Pages
Related cost guides, services and commercial sector pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Get A Commercial Fire Door Quotation
Send the report or action list, door references, photographs and your working-hours constraints. We will review the scope and provide a written, door-by-door quotation.