Guide
Three numbers on a small metal tag decide what a door can do in a fire. Here is how to read them.
Call 0485 032 510Get the inspection arranged
Tell us the building and roughly how many doors, and we will arrange the inspection.
Fire Doors Brisbane — firedoorsbrisbane.com.au — arranges these inspections with a QBCC-licensed contractor across Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands and the Gold Coast.
Published 3 November 2026
A fire resistance level, or FRL, is written as three numbers separated by slashes. Each is a time in minutes, measured in a standard fire test.
In order they are structural adequacy, integrity and insulation.
Structural adequacy is how long a loadbearing element keeps carrying its load. A door carries no load, so for a door it does not apply and is written as a dash.
That is why fire door ratings start with “-/”.
Integrity is how long the door stops flames and hot gases passing through it or around it. In –/60/30, the door holds back flame for sixty minutes.
Integrity depends heavily on the gaps and the seals. That is why a door with the right label can still fail if the gaps have opened up or the seals are painted.
Insulation is how long the unexposed side stays below a set temperature rise, so that things on the far side do not catch fire from the heat. In –/60/30 that is thirty minutes.
The rating a door needs comes from the wall it sits in and the building's approval, not from the door itself. A stair, a fire compartment and an apartment entry can each have different requirements.
So the question is never “is this a good door”. It is “does this door carry the rating this opening was approved with”.
On the compliance label, usually a metal tag on the hinge edge of the leaf and another on the frame, fixed when the doorset was made under AS 1905.1.
If the label is painted over or missing, the rating has to be shown another way. The tags and labels page explains why that matters.
A smoke door is built to stop smoke, not fire, and does not carry a fire resistance level. The smoke doors page explains the difference.
Tell us the building and roughly how many doors, and we will arrange the inspection.
Call 0485 032 510