Leasehold

Where a report pairs an overhead closer with a floor spring, what stays open about a communal door that stands open?

What stays open is whether either device is actually closing the communal door, because that door stands open. An overhead closer is the box or arm at the head of the door. A floor spring is a closer set in the floor, with the leaf pivoting on it. Naming both does not say which is fitted, whether one has been disconnected, or why the door stands open. A door left standing open is not demonstrating self-closing. The survey has paired the two devices with that observation. It has not tested a closer.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the fuller explanation?

Communal doors are often held open by a wedge, a catch or a failed closer. An overhead closer can be seen and, if someone tries it, felt. A floor spring is mostly hidden, so a report can name it from the pivot at the heel of the door without proving it works. If both words appear, the survey may be listing possible hardware rather than confirming two working machines. The door standing open is the fact. Which closer should have shut it, and why it did not, stays unresolved.

Ask the managing agent which closer is fitted and why the communal door stands open. Tell the solicitor the survey did not test self-closing and did not decide who maintains that common door. A fire-door inspection, if the lease or the block's fire risk assessment expects one, is a different product. Do not read the pair of names as that inspection. The report has left the mechanism and the reason for the open door undecided.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Which of the overhead closer and the floor spring did you actually see?
Was the communal door wedged, or simply not shutting?
Did you operate either closer, or only name the hardware?

What are the typical next steps?

Treat the open communal door as untested self-closing.
Ask the managing agent which closer is fitted and why it stands open.
Tell the solicitor the survey did not decide who maintains the door.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

Can both closers be fitted on one door?

Sometimes a door has been converted from one type to the other, so both can be named while only one remains in use. The report pairs an overhead closer with a floor spring and does not say which is working. The communal door stands open, so neither has been shown to close it. The survey has not stripped the hardware.

Does a door that stands open fail a fire check by itself?

Not from this report. A communal door standing open is a reason to ask why, not a completed fire-door test. The survey named closer hardware and did not operate it. Whether the door is even required to self-close is a question for the fire risk assessment and the lease. The observation is not that assessment.