How often should you service automatic doors?

05 August, 2024

If you have automatic doors at your premises, keeping them in good working order should be a priority. When well maintained, automatic doors will work reliably for many years. Servicing ensures that your doors are safe, with any potential issues identified and addressed before they become significant.

How often should you have your automatic doors serviced and what do you need to know about automatic door servicing legislation?

What is automatic door servicing?

Automatic door servicing ensures that your automatic doors provide smooth, reliable and safe operation. It’s carried out periodically, often two or three times a year, and involves a series of checks, adjustments and repairs.

Automatic door servicing will prioritise safety, ensuring that features such as sensors and emergency stop buttons are all functioning correctly. The doors and opening and closing mechanisms will be assessed to ensure they work smoothly without any hitches, such as checking the speed and timing of the door’s movements. These essential safety checks limit the possibility of accidents occurring and ensure that operators meet their responsibilities as set out in the relevant safety regulations.

Physical components of the door such as the tracks, rollers, and hinges, will all be checked for any signs of wear and tear. This is crucial in identifying any potential issues that left unchecked could become serious problems.

Appropriate lubricants will be applied to ensure parts can move freely, reducing friction that can lead to premature wear. This is essential for maintaining the smooth operation of automatic doors, as well as their longevity.

Misaligned doors will place added strain on the mechanical components and will not operate efficiently. Maintenance ensures that the doors are correctly aligned and operating smoothly. Sensors, tracks, and other parts will also be cleaned during the maintenance process to remove dirt and debris that could impair operation.

How often should you service automatic doors?

Automatic door servicing legislation does not stipulate the frequency with which servicing and maintenance should take place. Instead, it places a responsibility on the owners of the doors to ensure safety and accessibility. The frequency of servicing automatic doors is based on several factors, including its usage, and any specific requirements of the building in which it’s installed.

General recommendations advise that automatic doors, however often they’re used, should be serviced at least once a year. An annual check will ensure that door mechanisms, safety features, and control systems are all functioning correctly. It will also identify any potential issues before they become more significant problems.

Automatic doors in high-traffic areas, such as in shopping centres, hospitals, large office buildings, or transport facilities, may require more frequent servicing. This will usually mean quarterly or bi-annual inspections to ensure continuous reliable operations.

The door manufacturer will usually produce a recommended maintenance schedule, advising of specific servicing intervals based on the design and intended use of the door.

It’s important to ensure that your servicing and maintenance schedule is realistic and based on your actual needs. It should help you meet your obligations to ensure the safe operation of your automatic doors while reducing the risk of breakdowns and costly repairs.

Automatic door installation and maintenance specialists will be able to advise you about the most suitable servicing and maintenance schedule for your particular requirements.

What is the legislation around automatic door servicing?

While there is no single body of automatic door servicing legislation, their maintenance, operation, and upkeep fall under the remit of several pieces of health and safety legislation. These are:

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992
Health & Safety at Work Act 1974
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998

Other relevant legislation that governs the operation and maintenance of automatic doors in the UK includes:

The Equality Act 2010
The Building Regulations 2010 (Part M)
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Also relevant is the European Standard BS EN 16005:2012 which applies broadly to the safe operation of powered pedestrian doors in non-workplace settings.

While none of these regulations stipulate how often maintenance should be carried out, they do place responsibility on the owner or operator of the automatic doors to ensure doors are well-maintained and safe. Regular maintenance is a key part of this responsibility, ensuring accessibility and safety. Should an accident occur and it can’t be shown that regular maintenance has been carried out, the building owner or manager could be held liable.

By investing in regular maintenance and servicing you can ensure that you meet your regulatory obligations while maximising the lifespan of your automatic doors. What operators have to do to meet these requirements will vary depending on factors such as the location of the doors as well as foot traffic.

Automatic door servicing: How Safetell can help

As one of the UK’s leading automatic door installation and maintenance companies, we understand the importance of regular servicing and maintenance to our clients.

We work to ensure that our clients never experience automatic door failure. With our servicing and maintenance contracts, costly, unplanned, emergency expenditure can be avoided.

As a customer-focused automatic door service provider, we ensure you comply with the relevant automatic door servicing legislation, without paying for unnecessary products. Our ethos is only to replace parts as a last resort when fixing them is no longer an option. Because we’re system agnostic, we can always give the most appropriate advice on equipment regardless of its make and model.