The short answer
Service a commercial automatic door at least every six months, and every three months if it is a high-traffic entrance. UK law does not set a fixed interval. It requires the door to be kept safe and in good repair, and the right interval comes from the manufacturer's instructions and your risk assessment. Between visits, your own staff should check the door regularly.
Service intervals by how busy the door is
Wear follows the number of cycles. A quiet office door opens far less often than a supermarket entrance that cycles all day, so it needs fewer visits. The intervals below are what we recommend for commercial sites.
| Door use | Typical sites | Service every |
|---|---|---|
| Standard commercial | Offices, surgeries, schools, internal doors | 6 months |
| High traffic | Supermarkets, shopping centres, hospitals, stations | 3 months |
| Harsh conditions | Dusty warehouses, trolley routes, exposed or coastal entrances | 3 months, or as the risk assessment says |
If the manufacturer's instructions ask for more frequent visits, follow them. If you have a door that serves disabled users or an escape route, the risk assessment should drive the interval, not the calendar.
Is servicing automatic doors a legal requirement?
No law names a service interval, but the duty to maintain is clear. In England, Wales and Scotland, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, regulation 5, require equipment to be maintained "in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair", and where appropriate to be subject to "a suitable system of maintenance".
Regulation 18 goes further for powered doors. They must have "suitable and effective features to prevent it causing injury by trapping any person", and where needed for health or safety they must be operable by hand unless they open automatically if the power fails. Sensors and safety edges only do that job if someone tests them.
Powered pedestrian doors also count as machinery. The Automatic Door Suppliers Association (ADSA) puts it plainly: the law does not say the doors must be serviced, but failing to maintain them so they are safe in use would lead to a prosecution if there was an injury.
BS EN 16005 or BS 7036: which standard applies?
- BS EN 16005 sets the safety requirements for power operated pedestrian doorsets. It applies to doors installed from April 2013, and to older doors after significant changes such as a different operator.
- BS 7036 applies to doors installed before April 2013 that have not been significantly changed.
- BS 7036-0:2014 is the UK code of practice for risk assessment and risk reduction on powered doors.
Standards are not law on their own. But according to ADSA, they are always referred to as best practice in court when someone has been hurt by a powered door. If an older door cannot meet the current standard, the owner should record a risk assessment explaining why and what has been done to reduce the risk.
What a proper service should cover
A service is more than a squirt of lubricant and a sticker. On every visit our engineers work through:
- Safety sensors and detection zones, tested so the door sees people before it moves towards them
- Opening and closing force and speed, checked against the limits for that door
- Emergency and power-failure functions, including breakout and battery backup where fitted
- Drive unit, belts, rollers, tracks and floor guides for wear and alignment
- Locking, access control interfaces and hold-open settings
- Glazing, seals and door leaves for damage
- Safety signage, so users know the door is automatic
- A written record in the site log, with any faults and recommended work
Keep those records. Under PUWER, where machinery has a maintenance log, the log must be kept up to date, and it is the first thing an insurer or investigator will ask for after an incident.
Checks your own staff should make between services
ADSA advises occupiers to carry out frequent safety checks of their own. They take a couple of minutes and catch most problems early:
- Walk towards the door: it should open in good time, not at the last moment
- Stand in the doorway: it should not close on you or touch you
- Look at the tracks and floor guide: clear of grit, cardboard and debris
- Check the signage is in place and readable
- Listen for grinding, knocking or a motor straining
These checks do not replace a service by a trained door technician. If a door fails any of them, take it out of use and call an engineer.
Signs a door needs attention now
- Opens slowly, hesitates or stops part way
- Reopens by itself or will not stay closed
- Bangs into the end stops or closes harder than it used to
- Does not react to people, or reacts late
- Shows an error code, or needs resetting to work
- Will not lock at night or will not release in the morning
A door that will not close or lock is a security problem as well as a safety one. Our emergency repairs line is answered 24/7.
Automatic door servicing from CRB
We service and repair sliding, swing and folding automatic doors on commercial sites, including GEZE, Dorma, Record, Tormax, Besam and Stanley doors we did not install. Engineers work from our Rotherham depot across Yorkshire, with local pages for automatic doors in Sheffield and automatic doors in Leeds.
If you look after several sites or a mix of doors and shutters, a planned maintenance contract puts every door on the right interval with one log. For roller shutters, see our roller shutter maintenance guide.
Questions facilities managers ask us
- How often should automatic doors be serviced?
- At least every six months for most commercial automatic doors, and every three months for high-traffic entrances such as supermarkets, hospitals and stations. The law does not set a fixed interval. The manufacturer's instructions and your risk assessment do, and a busy door wears faster than a quiet one.
- Is it a legal requirement to service automatic doors?
- The law does not name a service interval, but it does require the door to be kept safe. Regulation 5 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires equipment to be maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair, and regulation 18 requires powered doors to have effective features to prevent people being trapped. The Automatic Door Suppliers Association (ADSA) notes that failing to maintain a door so it is safe in use can lead to prosecution if someone is injured.
- Which British Standard covers automatic doors?
- BS EN 16005 covers safety in use of power operated pedestrian doorsets and applies to doors installed from April 2013, or older doors that have had significant changes. Doors installed before then fall under BS 7036. BS 7036-0:2014 is the UK code of practice for risk assessment and risk reduction.
- Can our own staff check an automatic door?
- Yes, and they should. ADSA says occupiers should carry out frequent safety checks, but those checks do not replace inspection and maintenance by a trained door technician.
- Do you service automatic doors from other manufacturers?
- Yes. We service all major brands, including GEZE, Dorma, Record, Tormax, Besam and Stanley, whether or not we installed the door.
- What happens at an automatic door service?
- The engineer tests the safety sensors and detection zones, checks opening and closing force and speed, tests emergency and power-failure functions, inspects the drive, belts, rollers and tracks, checks locking and signage, and records the results in the site log.
Sources
Book an automatic door service
Tell us the site, the number of doors and the make if you know it. We will book a service and give you a written record for your log.