Q&A: A bedroom door won't latch — scored the same as an entry door?

A question I hear often in this work: "The entry door latches fine, but a bedroom door inside the unit won't latch at all. Does the inspector score that the same way?" Managers ask it because the two doors feel like different categories — one is security and fire, the other is just a door. I'll post the full answer as the first reply. Add how your inspectors have treated interior door latches at your properties. — Admin

The answer, in plain words: no — they are not scored the same, and the distinction matters. Entry doors carry the heavy requirements: where a door must self-close, latch, and resist fire spread, a latching failure is a serious finding. An interior bedroom door that will not latch is still recorded — doors are expected to open, close, and latch as intended — but it is generally a lower-severity finding than an entry or fire door failure. The practical trap is treating 'lower severity' as 'ignore it': interior latches repeat across sampled units, and repeated small findings add up. The fix is usually a strike-plate adjustment or a latch replacement — minutes of work on a turn. Fix both, but triage the entry door first, every time. How does it play out at your properties? — Admin