Frequently asked questions

We provide fire stopping, fire doors, compartmentation surveys and passive remedial works across southern England. We are the passive fire protection business within the Pro Fire Safety Group.

Both are part of the Pro Fire Safety Group. Pro-Passive handles passive fire protection; Pro-Active handles active systems including fire alarms, extinguishers, emergency lighting and suppression.

We are based in Marlow and work throughout the South of England. Send us your site details so we can confirm access arrangements and programme the work.

Use our contact page with your site address, a description of the work and any existing surveys or drawings. We will confirm the scope and the information needed to prepare a quotation.

A compartmentation survey is the only reliable way to find out. Breaches are almost always inside risers, above ceilings and in plant areas — places nobody looks during a normal walk-round, and places where other trades work without anyone checking what they cut through.

Responsibilities depend on who controls the premises and the relevant fire safety duties. Owners, employers and managing agents may have responsibilities for different parts of a building. Confirm the scope with the responsible person and review the lease; a lease does not remove statutory duties.

Yes. Occupied buildings, schools and care homes often need works out of hours or in phases, and we programme around occupation rather than the other way round.

Frequently. Where a contractor has breached a compartment line and moved on, we survey what has been affected, price the remedial works and reinstate the line.

Before-and-after photographs of every seal, logged against its location and the system used, plus the certification for the works. Where we find defects outside the scope of the works, we tell you rather than sealing around them.

Inspection frequency depends on the building and its fire risk assessment, with additional legal duties for some premises. In multi-occupied residential buildings in England with storeys over 11 metres, communal fire doors require quarterly checks and flat entrance doors require annual checks on a best-endeavours basis. Read the government guidance.

Not always. A competent assessment should establish whether a doorset can be repaired using suitable components and supporting evidence, or whether replacement is necessary. The condition of the complete doorset matters.

A schedule with every door referenced and located, each defect photographed and rated by severity, and costs against each item so you can budget or phase the remedial works.

Yes. Blocks, schools and care settings usually need works out of hours or in phases, and we programme around occupation rather than the other way round.

Yes. They sit on the compartment line between the flat and the common escape route, which makes them one of the most important doorsets in a residential block and one of the most frequently altered by residents.

It depends on size, access and how much of the building is occupied. We will give you a timescale with the quotation once we know the property.

No. Surveys are often phased — starting with escape routes, risers and the areas of highest risk — and extended as budget allows.

We can be, and most clients prefer a single accountable contractor. There is no obligation. The report is yours and it is written so any competent contractor could price from it.

It depends on the building and how much work goes on in it. A building with regular contractor activity in the ceiling voids needs re-checking far more often than a static one. We will recommend a cycle in the report.

Accessible ceiling tiles, riser doors and plant room access, yes. Anything that would need intrusive opening-up is flagged as a recommendation rather than done on the day, so you stay in control of the disruption.

For anything beyond a handful of known defects, yes. Without a survey you are pricing what somebody happened to notice rather than what is actually there, and the work usually grows once we open things up.

Yes. If you already hold a compartmentation or fire door survey we can price the remedial works from it, as long as the items are located and photographed clearly enough to find.

Frequently. We survey what has been affected, price the remedial works and reinstate the line, and the photographic record is usually what settles who pays for it.

Yes, and usually should be. The schedule is prioritised so the immediate items can be done now and the rest planned across a budget cycle.

Yes. Occupied blocks, schools and care homes usually need works out of hours or in phases, and we programme around occupation rather than the other way round.