What we do in the Scottish Borders
- Healthcare and care settings. Automatic doors for surgeries, clinics, wards and care homes, set up for gentle opening and closing where vulnerable people use them. See care homes and healthcare.
- Door openers at home. Automatic openers for front, back and internal doors in homes across the Scottish Borders, arranged around the person using them and their carers. The survey is free and the quote is fixed. See home door openers.
- New automatic entrances. Sliding, telescopic, curved, folding and revolving doors for shops, offices and public buildings in the Scottish Borders, each starting with a free site survey and a fixed, itemised written quote. See new automatic doors.
- Repairs to most makes. Fault-finding and repair of sliding, swing, folding and revolving automatic doors, with the visit price agreed in writing before an engineer attends and any parts quoted first. See automatic door repairs.
Towns we list in the Scottish Borders
Automatic doors and the law in Scotland
Under the Equality Act 2010, service providers and employers in Scotland must make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, which can include altering a physical feature such as a heavy entrance door.
Scottish building standards guidance (the non-domestic Technical Handbook) expects an accessible entrance door to give a clear opening of at least 800 mm, says powered doors improve accessibility as long as they add no new hazard, and expects signage, sensors that hold the door open long enough, and guarding against collision or entrapment.
In Great Britain a new or converted powered door must meet the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 before it is first used, and can carry the UKCA or the CE marking. Workplace law (the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992) expects powered doors to have suitable and effective features to stop them trapping anyone and, where needed for safety, to open by hand unless they open automatically if the power fails. Doors at work must also be kept in efficient working order under a suitable system of maintenance.
Doors on escape routes and fire doors are covered by the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006. In Scotland, fire safety regulations say sliding or revolving doors must not be used for exits specifically intended as emergency exits, and Scottish guidance allows automatic and revolving doors on an escape route only where they fail safely to outward opening, or have a monitored fail-safe system that opens them on power failure, sensor failure and fire alarm.
Questions from the Scottish Borders
Can work in the Scottish Borders be done outside opening hours?
Yes. Early mornings, evenings and weekends can be arranged for shops, surgeries, offices and schools that need their entrance during the day. Tell us your preferred times when you enquire. Any extra cost is set out in the written quote or the agreed visit price before the work is booked.
Can you fit automatic doors to listed buildings in the Scottish Borders?
Often, yes, with the right consent. Changes to a listed building, or to a shopfront in a conservation area, usually need approval from the local planning authority. Slim operators and automating the existing door can reduce the visual impact. Our guide to shop doors, planning and listed buildings explains what to check.
How often should automatic doors in the Scottish Borders be serviced?
There is no fixed legal interval. We recommend a trained engineer checks the safety functions at least once a year, with service intervals set by the manufacturer's instructions and how heavily the door is used; busy doors are often serviced more often. Each service visit is priced in writing first and ends with a written record.
Do automatic doors in the Scottish Borders open when the fire alarm sounds?
They can, if they are linked to the fire alarm. Doors on escape routes are set up to open, break out or be openable by hand, as the fire strategy for the building requires, and fire doors that are held open must close automatically when the alarm operates. We set doors up to match the strategy you give us.
What types of automatic door can you install in the Scottish Borders?
Sliding, telescopic, curved, frameless glass, folding, swing and revolving doors, plus hermetic doors for controlled environments, break-out doors for escape routes and entrance lobbies. We also fit accessible operators to existing doors and openers in private homes. Browse new automatic doors to compare the options.
Who is responsible for automatic doors on escape routes in the Scottish Borders?
The person responsible for fire safety under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 for those premises. Scottish guidance allows automatic doors on escape routes only where they fail safely to outward opening or have a monitored fail-safe system that opens them on power failure, sensor failure and fire alarm.