BM Trada fire doors and real world audits: what every facilities manager should know in 2026

Protest ES Ltd
3 days ago
5 min read

Most facilities managers and estates teams already know the brand name BM Trada. You see the Q Mark plugs on door edges. You see “BM Trada certified installer” in tenders. On paper, it looks like the safest option.

But here is the uncomfortable truth.

In a real audit, or worse an inquest, no one stops at the logo. They pull leaflets, test evidence, installation records and maintenance logs. They open doors, measure gaps, check seals and look at the workmanship behind the certificate.

This article is about that gap between theory and reality. What BM Trada actually gives you. What auditors and insurers really look at. And how to use BM Trada fire door products and installers as part of a robust real world compliance strategy, not a badge you hope will protect you later.

What BM Trada actually covers, in practical terms

BM Trada is a third party certification scheme for fire door manufacture, installation and maintenance. The key word is “scheme”. It is a framework that sits on top of the base standard, not a replacement for it.

In practice, that means:

Doors are tested and certified to defined performance standards.
Installers are audited and must demonstrate they understand correct installation methods.
Maintenance providers are assessed on how they survey, repair and document their works.

For you as the duty holder or FM, the value is simple. If you specify a BM Trada certified door set, installed and maintained by approved contractors, you have a clear chain of evidence that the product and the workmanship should meet the intended fire performance when correctly used and maintained.

The catch is in that one phrase: “when correctly used and maintained”.

Where things go wrong on real sites

If you talk honestly to facilities managers, they rarely say “we did not know about BM Trada”. What they say is:

“We assumed the doors were fine because they had plugs.”
“The original installation was audited, then years of ad hoc works happened.”
“We inherited a mixed estate and do not know which doors are certified and which are not.”
“We have a long list of fire door remedials and no clear way to prioritise them.”

On the ground, we see the same patterns again and again:

Certified doors that have been “value engineered”

Vision panels changed, hardware swapped, smoke seals painted over, threshold details altered. Each small change can invalidate the original test evidence.
Inconsistent installation quality

Some cores installed perfectly, others with oversized gaps, foam where mineral wool should be, or frames packed with whatever was on the van that day.
No clear link between drawings, product schedules and what is actually in the wall

The door schedule might say “BM Trada FD60S” but the leaf and frame on site tell a different story.

This is why any serious fire door strategy has to go beyond specification and talk about inspection, remedial works and ongoing control.

How auditors and fire risk assessors actually look at BM Trada doors

When a competent auditor or fire risk assessor walks your building, they are not just looking for a logo. They are looking for alignment between:

What the door says it is
How it has been installed
How it is currently performing in context

Typical checks include:

Certification plugs or labels that match the leaf and frame
Correct intumescent and smoke seals, continuous and undamaged
Appropriate fire rated hinges and hardware, properly fixed
Gaps at the head and jambs within tolerance, and threshold details that make sense
Evidence that any site specific modifications have been tested or approved

A BM Trada mark helps. It shows there is at least a recognised scheme in play. But if the gaps are 7 mm, the seals are painted, and someone has swapped in domestic hinges, the door will still be recorded as non-compliant.

That is where a structured inspection programme comes in.

Turning BM Trada certification into real protection

BM Trada is at its best when you combine three elements:

Certified products from reputable manufacturers
Installation by a certified fire door contractor
Routine, documented inspections and remedial works

For multi-site estates and busy FMs, that means putting in place a simple but disciplined cycle:

Baseline survey
Commission a thorough fire door inspection across your estate. Log each door set with location, rating, certification status and defects.
Structured remedial plan
Use the survey data to create a prioritised fire door remedial works programme. Start with life safety critical issues and high risk areas like stair cores, protected routes and sleeping risk.
Certified installation for replacements
Where doors are beyond economical repair, use a BM Trada certified fire door installation service. That closes the loop and gives you a clean, documented starting point.
Regular re inspections
Build annual or biannual inspections into your wider passive fire strategy, alongside fire stopping and fire compartmentation checks. This is how you catch damage and unauthorised modifications early.

The FM’s deeper fear: facing an inquest

The technical details matter, but most facilities managers have a simpler, more human fear.

They imagine a serious incident. A fire where smoke spread faster than expected. A corridor that did not protect occupants for as long as it should. An investigation in which someone pulls years of records and asks one question.

“Who was responsible for these fire doors?”

This is not about scare tactics. It is about recognising the emotional burden that sits behind the job title. The FM who wants to sleep at night knowing they have done the right thing, even if budgets are tight and buildings are complex.

BM Trada, used properly, is part of the answer to that fear. It gives you traceable products and contractors. It supports a story that you selected recognised schemes and kept your systems under review. Combined with good documentation and a sensible remedial plan, it shows you took your duties seriously.

How Protest ES Ltd support BM Trada based strategies

At Protest ES Ltd, we see BM Trada as one tool in a wider compliance kit, not a magic shield.

For clients, that typically looks like:

A complete fire door inspection across priority buildings, carried out by qualified inspectors.

A clear, costed fire door remedial programme that separates must do now defects from medium term improvements.

BM Trada aligned fire door installation where replacements are required.

Integration of fire doors with wider fire stopping and fire compartmentation strategies.

The result is not just doors with the right plugs, but a portfolio where you can show your board, your insurer and any future investigator that you have a live, evidence based approach to passive fire protection.

Practical next steps for facilities managers in 2026

If you want to move from “we have some BM Trada doors” to “we have a defensible fire door strategy”, here is a simple starting plan:

Choose one or two priority buildings or risk groups.
Commission a full fire door inspection and request a digital register.
Ask for a remedials plan that separates critical and non-critical works.
Use the findings to update your fire risk assessment and board level risk register.
Repeat across your wider estate over a realistic time frame.