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Discovery
Your enquiry, existing report or action list, photographs and site information.
Programme Guide
Fire Door Lead Times: What Affects Ordering and Programme?
The time between deciding a fire door needs replacing and having it fitted depends on decisions made before the order and on confirmation from the supplier afterwards. This guide explains what has to be settled, why a dependable date follows a confirmed scope, and what you can send to avoid avoidable delay. It does not give standard lead times, because there is no single figure that would be reliable for your order.
The Sequence From Enquiry To Fitting
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Scope and survey
Confirming which doors are being replaced and measuring the openings.
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Specification
Performance, configuration, finish and hardware agreed.
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Quotation and approval
Client approves scope, price and any submittals.
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Order and confirmation
Order placed; supplier or manufacturer confirms its date.
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Programme and fitting
Delivery and installation sequenced with site access.
Formal Report Versus Works Scoping
A formal fire door inspection report, arranged through our external specialist partner, identifies defects and recommendations. It does not usually contain the precise measurements needed to order a doorset. Our site visit is separate: it confirms scope and takes measurements for pricing and ordering. It is not an inspection and does not produce a report. Knowing which you are waiting for helps you see where time is going.
Factors That Affect Ordering
None of these always lengthens the programme; each is something that has to be decided before an order can be placed and confirmed.
- Opening measurements: confirmed on site rather than estimated
- Performance: the fire-resistance and smoke-control requirement for the opening
- Configuration: single or pair, glazing, and overpanels or side panels where specified
- Finish: paint, veneer, laminate or factory finish, and colour
- Ironmongery: compatible hinges, closers, locks, panic hardware and signage
- Interfaces: access control, hold-open devices or monitoring, and who connects them
- Evidence and submittals: product information the client or a third party needs to see first
- Supplier or manufacturer confirmation of the order and its date
Approvals And Sign-Off
Many programmes wait on approvals rather than on manufacture. A client may need committee, landlord, freeholder or leaseholder agreement; a design team or building control body may need to see information; listed buildings may need consent. Those responsibilities sit with the client and their advisers. A programme should show where it depends on them.
Delivery, Access And Phasing
Once a delivery date is confirmed, fitting has to match site access. In occupied buildings, doors may be fitted in phases around residents, trading hours or bookings, and delivery may be staged so materials are not stored on site for long. Changes after ordering, such as a different finish or added hardware, can affect both supply and fitting dates.
What You Can Send To Avoid Avoidable Delay
- The formal report or FRA action list, with door references
- Photographs of both faces, the frame, hardware and any labels
- Any known specification or previous product information
- Finish and hardware preferences, decided before ordering
- Who approves the quotation and any submittals, and how long that usually takes
- Access windows and any dates the work must avoid
What A Quotation And Programme Should State
- What the order depends on: approval, deposit, submittals or final measurements
- That the delivery date is subject to supplier confirmation after ordering
- The sequence of works and access assumptions
- Client responsibilities and their timing
- How changes after ordering will be handled
Frequently Asked Questions
Start A Fire Door Programme
Send the report, photographs and your preferred finish and access windows. We will confirm the scope and provide a written quotation with its programme assumptions.