What Is a PPM Contract?
A planned preventative maintenance (PPM) contract is a standing agreement with a specialist contractor to carry out scheduled inspections and maintenance of your fire doors at agreed intervals throughout the year. Unlike reactive maintenance — where you call a contractor only when something is visibly broken — a PPM contract ensures your doors are regularly assessed and defects are addressed before they become serious compliance failures or safety risks.
For fire doors, a well-structured PPM contract typically combines the annual FDIS-certified survey requirement with the quarterly competent-person checks required by the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, and includes a standing arrangement for remedial works identified through those inspections.
What Does a Fire Door PPM Contract Cover?
The scope of a PPM contract varies between providers, but a comprehensive fire door PPM agreement from a specialist like Fire Doors Pro typically includes:
- Quarterly visits for competent-person checks of all communal fire doors — assessing self-closure, latching, visible damage, seals, and signage
- Annual FDIS-certified surveys covering all doors (communal and flat entrance) with full door-by-door digital reports and photographic evidence
- Priority-banded remedial works instructed directly from the inspection report, with agreed response times per priority level
- Digital documentation accessible on demand — suitable for building safety files, golden thread requirements, and fire authority audits
- A dedicated account manager as a single point of contact for all fire door compliance matters across the portfolio
Some PPM contracts also include routine lubrication and adjustment of closers and hinges during each visit, significantly extending the service life of hardware between full replacements.
How Is This Different from Reactive Maintenance?
Reactive fire door maintenance — fixing problems as and when they are reported — creates three significant problems for responsible persons:
- Compliance gaps: Many fire door defects are not obvious to untrained building users. A painted-over intumescent seal, a slightly worn closer, or a 5mm gap at the door head will not be reported by a resident. These defects accumulate silently until an inspection or, worse, a fire, reveals them
- Documentation gaps: Reactive repairs, often carried out by general maintenance contractors, are rarely documented in the level of detail required to demonstrate fire door compliance. A ticket system that records "fixed door closer in flat 14" does not constitute a compliant inspection record
- Cost spikes: Neglected fire doors deteriorate faster. A closer that would have cost £80 to adjust at a scheduled visit costs £350 to replace six months later when hydraulic failure renders it non-functional
A PPM contract replaces these problems with a predictable, budgeted compliance programme where defects are caught early and addressed promptly.
Who Needs a Fire Door PPM Contract?
A PPM contract is particularly well-suited to:
- Landlords with multiple residential blocks — coordinating quarterly visits across multiple sites without a standing arrangement is operationally impractical
- Housing associations with portfolio-wide compliance obligations and RSH consumer standard requirements
- Commercial building owners and managing agents whose fire risk assessment requires regular fire door inspections and who need a single, auditable contractor relationship
- Property managers responsible for multiple clients' buildings who need a consistent, documentable compliance service they can demonstrate to clients
For landlords with a single small block, an annual FDIS survey plus a standing instruction to a remedial works provider may achieve a similar outcome without the formal PPM contract structure — though the structured PPM approach is generally more cost-effective over time.
What to Look for in a Fire Door PPM Contract
Not all PPM contracts are equal. When evaluating providers, look for:
- FDIS certification: The annual survey element should be carried out by an FDIS-certified inspector. Ask to see the inspector's FDIS accreditation details
- Defined response times for remedial works: The contract should specify how quickly the provider will attend to immediate, urgent, and planned defects identified in inspection reports
- Digital reporting: Reports should be issued digitally in a format that can be stored in your building safety file and accessed on demand. Paper reports sent by post are inadequate for modern compliance requirements
- Transparent pricing for out-of-scope works: PPM contracts typically cover the inspection and minor adjustments. Significant remedial works — replacing closers, doors, or seals — should be priced transparently at pre-agreed rates
- Portfolio-wide capability: If you manage multiple sites, ensure the provider can cover all of them under a single contract with consistent reporting standards
The Cost of a Fire Door PPM Contract
PPM contract pricing varies based on the number of doors, the frequency of visits, and the scope of included remedial works. For a typical residential block with 30–40 fire doors, an annual PPM contract including quarterly visits and an FDIS survey typically starts from £800–£1,200 per year. This compares favourably with the cost of a single enforcement notice or the legal costs of a compliance dispute — and is typically far less than the cumulative cost of reactive repairs carried out at call-out rates.
Our fire door maintenance contracts are priced on a per-door basis and cover all inspection requirements under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. Contact us for a portfolio-wide quote.
Key Takeaways
- A PPM contract combines scheduled inspections with a standing remedial works arrangement — replacing reactive, ad hoc maintenance
- It satisfies the quarterly communal and annual flat entrance inspection requirements of the 2022 Regulations in a single, coordinated programme
- Digital documentation from PPM inspections directly supports golden thread and building safety file requirements
- Landlords, housing associations, commercial building managers, and property managers with multiple sites benefit most
- Look for FDIS certification, defined response times, digital reporting, and transparent remedial works pricing