Covering Reading and nearby
We cover the whole of the RG1, RG6, RG30 and RG31 postcode districts, along with nearby towns in Berkshire. You book each visit for safety and compliance upgrades directly with us, and a specialist automatic door engineer working under our management travels to your site on the agreed date.
Shopping centre and transport entrances in Reading are often on escape routes, so doors there are usually break-out or fail-safe types set up to match the fire strategy for the building. Any work on them is planned with the building's management so the route stays usable.
Nearby towns we also list for safety and compliance upgrades (straight-line distance): Woodley (3.8 miles), Wokingham (6.6 miles), Crowthorne (9.7 miles), Yateley (9.9 miles), Bracknell (9.9 miles), Sandhurst (11.0 miles).
What to think about for safety and compliance upgrades in Reading
- Escape route doors must open, break out or be openable by hand as the fire strategy requires. Check what yours says before choosing which upgrades to make.
- If your building in Reading has one main entrance, battery backup lets the door open safely in a power cut, so there is always a way in and out.
- Shared entrances in office blocks need agreement on who pays for upgrades. The inspection report helps landlords and tenants agree the scope before work is ordered.
- Older shopfronts in Reading often have narrow side screens with large gaps beside the sliding leaves. Light curtains or guard screens can protect them without changing the frame.
- Busy retail and public buildings in Reading may prefer upgrade work out of hours. Most single-door upgrades are completed in one visit, so disruption is limited.
Safety and compliance upgrades in Reading: guide prices
The site survey is free, including the measured drawing and a fixed, itemised written quote. Guide price: from £195 ex VAT.
| Item | Guide price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Add or replace a safety or activation sensor | £195 – £495 | per sensor fitted, ex VAT |
| Side-screen protection or guarding | from £295 | per door, ex VAT |
| Battery backup for power-cut operation | £395 – £695 | per door, ex VAT |
| Programme switch with key | £145 – £345 | fitted, ex VAT |
| Upgrade package for an older door | £795 – £2,495 | typical, after an inspection, ex VAT |
Standards and rules in England
Standards are not retrospective, so an older door does not become unlawful when a standard is updated; a site-specific risk assessment shows whether any upgrades are sensible. BS EN 16005 is the current standard for the safety in use of powered pedestrian doors, and BS 7036-0:2014 is the British code of practice for risk assessment and risk reduction used alongside it. Standards are not law in themselves, but they are the recognised benchmark for showing an automatic door is safe to use, and we set up, test and document doors with reference to them.
Whoever motorises a manual door, or builds an automatic door from separate parts, may take on the manufacturer’s legal duties for the finished door: a risk assessment, a technical file kept available for the authorities, a Declaration of Conformity, the conformity marking and instructions. You receive the Declaration of Conformity and the instructions at handover. 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.
How it works
- Get in touch. Call, email or use the form with the address and what you have in mind. If you are not sure which type of door suits, describe the entrance and we will suggest the options worth considering.
- Survey and advice. The survey costs nothing and carries no obligation. The engineer checks the site and explains which options suit the entrance, the people using it and the budget, before anything is priced.
- Quote in writing. You receive a fixed, itemised quote for safety and compliance upgrades in Reading, covering equipment, installation, testing and handover, with the lead time and payment stages set out clearly.
- Install, test, explain. The engineer installs and commissions the door, tests the sensors, safety functions and emergency behaviour, and walks you through the controls. The handover pack records what was installed and tested.
Book a free upgrade survey in Reading and find out which changes will make your older automatic door safer for the people using it.
Safety and compliance upgrades in Reading: questions
Can you quote from our existing inspection report in Reading?
Yes. Send us the report and we will price each recommended action. If the door has changed since the report was written, or a finding is unclear, the engineer checks it on the free survey before the quote is finalised, so you only pay for what the door needs.
Is there a guide price for safety and compliance upgrades in Reading?
Our guide starts from £195 excluding VAT (per door), the same guide price we use across the UK. The free site survey in Reading confirms the price as a fixed, itemised written quote, and the guide price tool gives you a range before anyone visits.
Is it cheaper to upgrade or replace our old door in Reading?
Upgrading is usually cheaper when the door and operator are sound. If the operator is old and several upgrades are needed, a new drive unit with new sensors may be better value overall. The survey compares the options, and the quote can show both so you can decide.
Our door in Reading has no battery backup. Do we need one?
It depends on whether the door is on an escape route and what the fire strategy for the building requires. Doors on escape routes usually need to open, break out or be openable by hand if the power fails. The person responsible for fire safety in the building should confirm the requirement.
What happens to the old door when a new one is fitted in Reading?
If the work replaces an existing door, frame or operator, removal and disposal are listed in the quote. The old door comes out only when the new one is ready to go in, so the opening is not left empty for longer than necessary. Making good to the surrounding wall, floor or ceiling is included where the quote says so.
Can automatic doors be fitted to a listed building in Reading?
Often, yes, but listed building consent is normally needed for changes that affect the character of the building, inside or out. Slim operators, concealed fixings and automating the existing door can all reduce the visual impact. Speak to the conservation officer at the local planning authority early; we can provide drawings and specifications to help.
Do businesses in Reading have to fit automatic doors?
No law says every building must have automatic doors. Under the Equality Act 2010, service providers and employers must make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, and building regulations guidance in England calls for a powered door where an entrance door would otherwise be too heavy to open. An automatic door is often the simplest way to meet both.