Driveway gate automation - safety mandatory?

[Sup9]

Hi all,
I have an automatic swing driveway gates which I think is probably 20-30 yrs old. The gates been playing up randomly and not closing at all in the last two days. I 've had engineer visiting in the past and another today they all say that my gates are not safety compliant so in order for them to repair the gate they will have to make it compliant too, which cost me 4-5k for repair and safety upgrades or 8-9k for brand new gates and system.

This is way over my budget for now and I was simply looking to replace the arms (might not cope well with the added weight as I put some wood cladding on the iron gate) and maybe upgrade the control board to give me open/close and partial open functions (currently only remote open).

Just wondering if I am being sales pitched and do I have other options to get them gates into working order without too much spending?

Thanks a lot for any comments and advices.

 

[bernardgreen]

If the control system has to be altered in any way then the gates and the controller have to comply with the stringent safety regulations.

A friend was driving slowly through a gate when the gate closed and hit the car and becam jammed under the wheel arch.. Either there was no detection loop or it had failed to detect the car was in the gate way.

Expensive damage to the car which the gate owner had to pay. Insurance would not cover it as the gate was "not compliant".

There have been several cases of children being crushed by gates that did not have have the required detectors.

£190,000 in fines and costs in one case Click HERE for details

 

[flameport]

all say that my gates are not safety compliant so in order for them to repair the gate they will have to make it compliant too

That part is correct.

4-5k for repair and safety upgrades or 8-9k for brand new gates and system.

Unless there is something very unusual about these gates, those prices are on the extremely high side of excessive.

 

[Sup9]

If the control system has to be altered in any way then the gates and the controller have to comply with the stringent safety regulations.

A friend was driving slowly through a gate when the gate closed and hit the car and becam jammed under the wheel arch.. Either there was no detection loop or it had failed to detect the car was in the gate way.

Expensive damage to the car which the gate owner had to pay. Insurance would not cover it as the gate was "not compliant".

There have been several cases of children being crushed by gates that did not have have the required detectors.

£190,000 in fines and costs in one case Click HERE for details

I actually got the gate working again as the quote I received was too much I decided to open up the control board enclosure and downloaded the manual for the CB. Did some reading and thought the swing arms must be fine as the chance of them failing at the time is low. So I looked at the safety device signals and disconnected the safety edge and it's all working! Turns out the safety edge is wireless and battery was out.

With what you mentioned above I assume whether or not I installed the gates I am now liable for them if anything happened? I 'm happy that I got them working now but will probably want to look at upgrading/enhancing the system to comply the regulations? But I'm in much better position as the site visits will not see me as desperately getting things sorted so may offer some sensible prices.

I also did some research and looks like I can minimise/eliminate the risk by adding some safety edges around the gate leaf, but not sure if it have to be installed by professional or I can do some DIY and still compliant with safety regulation for automated gates?

 

[Sup9]

That part is correct.


Unless there is something very unusual about these gates, those prices are on the extremely high side of excessive.

Thanks, I think when they saw my gates were wide open and I was quite concerned, they see the chance. I have the gate working again but will be looking for some quote to upgrade the system and at same time to compliant to safety.

 

[bernardgreen]

With what you mentioned above I assume whether or not I installed the gates I am now liable for them if anything happened?

Yes you are. That is based on the information I found when planning to "automate" the gates to my yard.

 

[SimonH2]

... and disconnected the safety edge and it's all working! Turns out the safety edge is wireless and battery was out.

I hope you mean you temporarily disconnected them and reconnected AND TESTED them after fitting new batteries ? It would be somewhat irresponsible to disable already fitted safety devices. Not ever having had them would be one things, but disabling ones that were already there could land you with a criminal negligence or even manslaughter charge should the worst happen.

 

[Sup9]

I hope you mean you temporarily disconnected them and reconnected AND TESTED them after fitting new batteries ? It would be somewhat irresponsible to disable already fitted safety devices. Not ever having had them would be one things, but disabling ones that were already there could land you with a criminal negligence or even manslaughter charge should the worst happen.

Yes, disabling the safety device was to find which component in the system was faulty. Since I found out it was due to the dead batteries I replaced with new batteries and connected all back as they were and tested they are working as supposed to. Thanks for reminding me!

 

[ericmark]

Be it gates or garage door, there is a huge difference between using a remote sitting in the car while watching them open and close to doing it either automatic or out of sight of user.

At least one of the Manchester deaths it seems there was no manual way to stop gates closing.

by the time officers stopped the gate's motor and physically wrenched back the gate, it was too late.

and I suppose the whole idea was to stop unauthorised assess so any public assessable buttons would defeat the whole idea.

It seems we as a nation have been poor when heath and safety of domestic items are looked at, my father-in-laws garage door had the close button inside the house so you could not see door when closing, it also did not report closed, so any item under the door it would start to close then auto re-open the number of times I knocked his door to tell him garage door was open when a small stick or stone caused it to reopen.

Because of where the door was, only real danger was to cats, getting trapped in garage. With mothers stair lift there were sensors every where, if it hit anything left on stairs it would stop, however the extending arm at bottom of stair lift, out of sight of anyone using it from top, did not have a single sensor on it. It would crush a cardboard box. Clearly the installers had not done their risk assessment, simple mirror on bend of stairs was all that was needed.

So if the gates need you to stand watching them, although technically still the same, in real terms your unlikely to crush child, dog, car or anything else as you are watching them. I note today raising bollards seem to have replaced vehicle gates I assume as unlikely to damage people. Also no need for a side gate for people to gain assess.

The question must also be asked, if the house catches fire, can the gate be opened to allow fire engine assess? i.e. no electric supply.

 

[festive]

Just to add here I added my own gate to my driveway at my previous residence, the sliding gate kit from Came was about 600 sheets which included the remotes and sensors. To be compliant it need an additional crush strip(on leading edge of gate) as it was a sliding gate. I think the electrics side was max £1000 (parts only) plus a few hours testing from installer.

Sounds to me like as usual someone is trying to take the **** here.

 

[bernardgreen]

This was a non fatal incident. The person was trapped ( and slightly squashed ) between the gate and the wall for over an hour before the gate could be dismantled to release him.