Door side
What we deal with
Holder or closer unit condition and fixing, keeper plates, arm geometry, the door's closing and latching once released, leaf and frame condition, seals, and making good.
Technical Guide
Fire Door Hold-Open Devices & Free-Swing Closer Faults
Plenty of guidance explains why wedges are not acceptable and which devices exist instead. This page picks up the next problem: the device is already on the door, and a report or fire risk assessment says it is not working as it should. It is written for landlords, managing agents and estates teams trying to work out what is actually wrong and who needs to fix it.
Two Halves, Two Trades
Every automatic-release arrangement has a door side and a signal side. The door side is the holder or free-swing closer unit, its fixings, and the door's own ability to close and latch once released. The signal side is whatever tells it to let go — a wired fire alarm interface, a radio link, or an acoustic unit listening for the sounders.
Remedial items often go wrong because only one half is investigated. A door that fails to release may have a perfectly good closer and a failed interface, or a working interface and a door that releases but then stalls on a dragging leaf.
Signal side
What the alarm contractor deals with
The appointed alarm contractor handles the interface, wiring or radio link, acoustic unit set-up, cause-and-effect programming and alarm-side testing. Sister-operation Parsec Fire alarm servicing is commissioned separately from Parsec Fire Doors' door works.
Faults We Are Asked To Resolve
Does not release
Door stays open on alarm test
Holder not de-energising, a free-swing unit not switching to closing mode, or an acoustic unit not triggering. Diagnosed with the alarm contractor present or with a test arranged, before any part is changed.
Releases then stalls
Door lets go but does not close and latch
The device works but the door does not: dropped leaf, binding hinges, seals fouling, or a closer that has lost its power. This is door-side remedial work.
Overridden
Device disabled or bypassed
Holders unplugged, keepers removed, or a free-swing unit replaced with a wedge because it was noisy or failed. We establish why it was bypassed so the fix lasts.
Random release
Door drops at the wrong time
Nuisance releases lead occupants to defeat the device. Causes range from mounting and keeper alignment to interface or battery issues, so both halves are checked.
Unsuitable
Device on a door that should not have one
Where the fire risk assessor decides a door is not suitable for hold-open, the device is removed, fixing holes are made good in line with the doorset, and a standard closer is reinstated.
Damage
Fixings pulled from leaf or frame
Heavy doors held against a holder for years can tear fixings out. Whether the timber can be made good or the frame needs further work is assessed on site.
Hypothetical Examples
The examples below are illustrative only and are not records of specific jobs.
Hypothetical example
Stair door that releases but never latches
On an alarm test the holder releases correctly, but the stair door stops a few centimetres short. The interface is fine; the door has dropped on worn hinges and the seal is binding. The remedial is hinge renewal, rehanging and closer adjustment, then a joint release-and-close test.
Hypothetical example
Free-swing closers switched off in a care setting
Staff report that free-swing units kept failing, so doors are now wedged. The door-side check shows loose mountings and mis-set arms; the alarm contractor finds a separate power fault. Both are corrected and tested together before the wedges are removed.
What Good Close-Out Looks Like
Hold-open arrangements are only useful if they release reliably and the door then does everything an ordinary fire door must do. The close-out should therefore evidence two things for each door: that the device released on a proper test, and that the door then closed fully and latched from that position.
- Release tested with the signal side, not just by hand
- Door shown to close and latch from the held-open position
- Device and door referenced in the door-by-door record
- Any removed device recorded, with holes made good
- Batteries or consumables noted for future maintenance
Sources And Further Reading
BSI, BS 7273-4:2015+A2:2023 scope (accessed 26 September 2026) — covers the interface between release mechanisms and fire alarm systems, including acoustic and radio links, and does not itself decide whether a door should have one.
GOV.UK, Approved Document B, Volume 2 (2019 edition incorporating 2020, 2022 and 2025 amendments; collated copy also showing later 2026 and 2029 changes, which apply only from their own commencement dates) (accessed 26 September 2026) — guidance on fire doors and automatic release in buildings other than dwellings.
Related Pages
Closing and escape-route guides that sit alongside this one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hold-Open Doors On Your Action List?
Send the report items and identify your appointed alarm contractor. We price door-side works only; the alarm contractor handles alarm-interface checks and testing under separately agreed arrangements.