The Monthly Fire Door Check in BC

Most building owners know their rolling fire doors get a drop test from a technician. Fewer know the BC Fire Code also puts a monthly job on the owner's side: operate the doors in fire separations and keep them working. Here is what the code text says, word for word where it matters, and how to run the check on overhead and rolling fire doors.

When a fire inspector walks a warehouse or a parkade, the first thing they ask for is usually not the annual service report. It is the fire safety plan and the record that shows the building is following it. For doors in fire separations, that record should include a monthly fire door check. This article explains where that duty comes from and how to do it without turning it into a half-day job.

Where the monthly fire door check comes from

BC does not publish its own consolidated fire code. The provincial page on the BC Fire Code says users read the National Fire Code of Canada 2020 (NFC) together with the Schedule of BC amendments in Ministerial Order FSA 2023 1, which took effect March 8, 2024. The Schedule doesn’t change the article that matters here, so the national wording applies as written.

That article is Division B, Article 2.2.2.4, “Inspection and Maintenance”. Its Sentence (3) reads:

“Doors in fire separations shall be operated at intervals not greater than one month to ensure that they are properly maintained in accordance with Sentence (1), as specified in the fire safety plan prepared in conformance with Section 2.8.”

Three things follow from that sentence:

• It’s an operating test. Looking at the door isn’t enough. The door has to be run.
• The interval is a maximum. “Not greater than one month” means monthly or more often.
• It ties to the fire safety plan. The plan prepared under Section 2.8 is where the building writes down who does the check and how.

One caution for owners inside the City of Vancouver: the city has its own building by-law and a Fire By-law, and the provincial building code page notes that BC Codes don’t apply in the City of Vancouver. We quote the NFC and BC Fire Code here. If your building is in the city, confirm the matching clause with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services.

What “maintained” means in Sentence (1)

The monthly run isn’t a goal in itself. It’s there to prove the door still meets Sentence (1), which says defects that interfere with closures in fire separations must be corrected and the closures kept “operable at all times” by:

1. keeping fusible links and other heat-actuated devices undamaged and free of paint and dirt,
2. keeping guides, bearings and stay rolls clean and lubricated,
3. making necessary adjustments and repairs to door hardware and accessories to ensure proper closing and latching, and
4. repairing or replacing inoperative parts of hold-open devices and automatic releasing devices.

Read that list with a rolling fire door in mind and it’s almost a checklist already: the fusible link at the head, the guides the curtain runs in, the hardware that lets the door close and latch, and the release device that drops it. A swing fire door in a stairwell has a shorter list, but the same idea applies.

The 24-hour rule for self-closing doors

Sentence (2) adds a tighter interval for one group. Doors in fire separations that must have self-closing devices are to be inspected “at intervals not greater than 24 h to ensure that they remain in the closed position when not in use”. The exception is doors fitted with hold-open devices that conform to the building code. In BC, the Schedule says code references to the “NBC” are read as the BC Building Code, and its hold-open article (3.1.8.14) requires release on a fire alarm signal where the building has a fire alarm system.

In practice: a self-closing corridor door that people prop open needs a daily look. A door on a listed hold-open that releases on the alarm doesn’t fall under that daily rule. It still gets the monthly run.

Nothing in the path: Sentence (4)

Sentence (4) is the one inspectors cite most often in industrial buildings:

“Closures in fire separations shall not be obstructed, blocked, wedged open, or altered in any way that would prevent the intended operation of the closure.”

For overhead and rolling fire doors, the usual offenders are:

• pallets, racking or a parked forklift under the curtain line,
• a hose, cord or conduit run across the opening,
• a chain or padlock added to the hand chain or the release so the door “can’t drop by accident”,
• a bent bottom bar or guide from a forklift strike that nobody reported.

“Altered in any way” also matters when a door has been modified. Article 2.2.2.1 says replacement closures must conform to the building code, and Article 2.2.2.2 says damage that affects the fire-protection rating must be repaired so the rating is maintained. A field weld or a non-listed part can be enough to raise the question.

BC’s extra rule: the “FIRE DOOR KEEP CLOSED” sign

The national code stops at Article 2.2.2.4. BC adds Article 2.2.2.5, Fire Door Signs, in the Schedule. Every door used as a closure with a required fire-protection rating needs a permanent sign reading “FIRE DOOR KEEP CLOSED” on the side you can see when the door is open. There are exceptions, including a door “fitted with an acceptable hold-open device designed to be released by a signal from a fire detector, fire alarm system or sprinkler system”. Most rolling fire doors are held open in normal use and close on a release signal, so check which category yours falls in before you order signs. A missing sign on a swing fire door is a quick fix to catch during the monthly walk.

How to run the monthly fire door check on a rolling or overhead fire door

The code says the door must be operated. It doesn’t prescribe a method, and a full drop test is a different job (we cover it in our fire door drop testing guide). For the monthly owner-side check, a practical routine looks like this:

1. Clear the path. Walk the full width of the opening. Nothing under the curtain line, nothing in the guides.
2. Look at the head. Is the fusible link there, clean and unpainted? Is the hood dented?
3. Operate the door the way your fire safety plan says: through its normal operator or hand chain, a full open and close. Listen for grinding, and watch for the curtain catching in a guide.
4. Check it closes fully and seats at the floor with no daylight under the bottom bar.
5. Swing doors: open, let go, confirm the closer pulls the door shut and the latch catches.
6. Write it down. Date, door, who did it, result and any defect.

What not to do during the check

Don’t trip the release or cut a fusible link to “test” the drop unless the person doing it is trained on that door model. The reset of an automatic closing device is model-specific, and a door left half-reset can fail to drop in a real fire. That’s what the drop test visit is for.

A simple log layout

Date	Door ID / location	Path clear	Link / release OK	Opened and closed fully	Sign present (BC 2.2.2.5)	Defect / action	Initials
2026-10-01	RFD-2, warehouse to office	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A, alarm release	None	JM
2026-10-01	Stair door S-3	Yes	N/A	Closer slow	Yes	Closer adjustment booked	JM

The table is only an example layout. Use your own door IDs from the fire safety plan.

How the monthly check fits with the rest of the fire door work

Owners mix up three separate jobs:

• The monthly fire door check: an operating check under NFC 2.2.2.4(3), done by the building as set out in the fire safety plan.
• The daily look at self-closing doors without code-conforming hold-opens, under 2.2.2.4(2).
• Technician service and drop testing: installation of closures is tied to NFPA 80 by BC Building Code Article 3.1.8.5, and an annual drop test may be required by your insurer, your fire safety plan or a service contract. Note that inside NFC 2.2.2.4 itself, the NFPA 80 testing reference in Sentence (5) is written for fire dampers and fire stop flaps, not doors. Our fire door testing reference covers the technician side.

Where a rolling fire door is tied into the fire alarm, NFC Article 6.8.1.1 also requires interconnections between fire protection and life safety systems to be tested and maintained to CAN/ULC-S1001. That’s a coordinated test with your alarm contractor, not part of the monthly run.

When the check finds a problem

If the door won’t run, closes crooked, stops short of the floor or the release looks damaged, treat it as a defect under Sentence (1): it has to be corrected. Log it, tell whoever holds the fire safety plan, and book a repair. We service rolling fire doors and fire shutters and fire-rated sectional doors such as the Raynor FireMax. If a forklift caused the damage, include photos with the report. They help the repair and any insurance claim.

This article is general information drawn from the code text, not legal advice. Your fire safety plan and the local fire authority have the final word on how your building meets the code.

Fire door questions we hear from owners

How often do fire doors have to be operated in BC?

At least once a month. NFC 2020 Article 2.2.2.4(3), adopted without change in the BC Fire Code 2024, says doors in fire separations shall be operated at intervals not greater than one month, as specified in the fire safety plan.

Does the monthly check replace the annual drop test?

No. The monthly fire door check is an operating check by the building. A drop test of an automatic closing door is a separate technician job that may be required by the insurer, the fire safety plan or a service contract.

Do rolling fire doors need a FIRE DOOR KEEP CLOSED sign?

BC Article 2.2.2.5 requires the sign on doors used as rated closures, but one exception is a door fitted with an acceptable hold-open device designed to be released by a signal from a fire detector, fire alarm system or sprinkler system. Check which applies to your door.

Can we chain a fire door open during a busy shift?

No. Article 2.2.2.4(4) says closures in fire separations shall not be obstructed, blocked, wedged open, or altered in any way that would prevent the intended operation of the closure.

What is the 24 hour rule?

Sentence (2) says doors in fire separations that must have self-closing devices are inspected at intervals not greater than 24 h to confirm they stay closed when not in use, unless they have hold-open devices that conform to the building code.

Need a hand with your fire doors?

Call (604) 206-5727 or use the contact page. We answer around the clock for commercial door failures across Metro Vancouver.

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