Door standards
February 1st 2004

National sales and marketing manager at BID Group, Damian Gilbertson looks at the new harmonised European Product Standards for industrial doors (prEN 13241-1) With over 20 years industrial door experience, BID Group manufactures, supplies and installs industrial doors, rapid roll doors, dock levellers, gates, barriers and automatic doors all of which are designed to match the requirements of the forthcoming, harmonised European safety standards. Essentially, the new harmonised European Product Standards will provide products with a passport, allowing them to pass freely throughout Europe without manufacturers having to prove that they meet the legal requirements in each member state. When it is fully in place, all doors will carry CE marking. The industrial doors available from BID Group are all designed for improved safety. BID Klimate, a trading division of BID Group specialising in the design, manufacture, service and repair of High Speed Doors has recently launched the Ardent Range: Ardent, Ardent Oversize and Ardent Sidewindoor. Ardent is an external crash resistant, high speed roll door with manual re-set after impact. Ardent Oversize is a special door for large openings above 5m with manual re-set after impact. Ardent Sidewindoor is a horizontal bi-parting high speed roll door, specially designed for high traffic areas. Rather than relying on complex tensioning machinery, the Ardent range uses gravity to tension the doors, reducing the risk of serious damage to a doors operation from strikes to the bottom rail and safety edge the most frequently damaged part of any rapid roll door. The Ardent features polycarbonate end cassettes fitted to each end of the bottom rail. Designed to snap on impact, they can be quickly unclipped and reinstalled without replacing the entire bottom rail. To prevent the safety edge spiral cable from being trapped in the door, the Ardent uses an energy chain specially designed to carry cable at high speed, extending life span to 10 million open/close cycles. Two photoelectric cells (PEC) to detect vehicles approaching the door, ensuring it door remains open, are supplied as standard. PEC configurations are also available to detect pedestrians. User control can be through an induction loop, remote control, movement detection or other type of activation to suit the operating environment. There are a number of safety measures outlined by the European Door and Shutter Federation for manual and power operated doors. These are: Safeguard against dropping of vertically operating door leaves Vertically operating door leaves shall be safe-guarded against dropping, or uncontrolled out-of-balance movement in the event of a failure of a single component in their suspension or balancing systems. Resistance to wind load Resistance to wind load of a defined class means that at the prescribed load the door shows no collapse or permanent deformation or derailment or the like that can influence the functional and safety performance. Dangerous substances Materials in products shall not release any dangerous substances in excess of the maximum permitted levels specified in the relevant European material standard and/or any national regulation. Unintentional movements due to wind Doors of a type which can cause injury or damage if they move under the influence of wind or similar extraneous forces shall be able to be retained in their terminal positions. Crushing, cutting, shearing Closing gaps which are accessible during the leaf movement shall be eliminated or safe-guarded up to a height of 2.5 m above floor level or other permanent access level. Precaution for transparent surfaces Transparent elements in leaves shall be designed so that they remain fully secured under normal operating conditions. No sharp splinters, cutting edges or other dangerous part shall occur if the transparent material should break. Installation and use A door shall be able to be installed and maintained such that it performs satisfactorily and safely in its intended situation and under its expected conditions of use. All of BID Group door products carry the CE mark, which identifies door products that conform to the requirements of the European Directives. The CE symbol has to be accompanied by documentary evidence to confirm which characteristic(s) and where applicable, to what level they are covered by the mark. This information can be detailed on a label to accompany the mark or presented in handover documentation. For CE marking to be applied, production must comply with the specifically identified CE marking requirements in the harmonised standards.

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