Q. Is there a legal requirement to have industrial doors and loading bay equipment maintained?
A. In our opinion, it is a legal requirement to have these types of products regularly maintained by competent persons.
Some of the legislation and codes of practice to consider are:
Health and Safety at Work Act
Provision and Use of Workplace Equipment Regulations
Construction Products Directive EN13241 and EN12635 2005
Machinery Directive (also EMC and LVD) for power operated doors
Our opinion is also shared by the trade association in the UK for doors, the DHF (formerly DSMA.)
Q. How frequently should I have my products maintained?
A. There is no simple rule, but typically it is dependent on frequency of use. We would recommend 2 visits per annum (minimum), up to a maximum of 6 visits for very high use critical products. At this frequency it may be necessary to consider different types of contracts or to introduce alternative measurements of use e.g. Counters.
Q. What should I expect to be carried out during a routine
maintenance visit?
A. checklist will be provided for each type pf product explaining what will be
carried out at each visit.
Q. Should a third party examiner test my products?
A. Although becoming more common particularly from insurance companies, there is
no requirement to have industrial doors (non-
Q. Should I carry out my own routine inspections?
A. Yes. Frequency and type of inspection is explained in the User Manual supplied with every product. These basic checks do not require any specialist knowledge, but will however assist in keeping the product in good operating condition.
Q. Can I prevent damage to my products?
A. Accidental damage will occur despite your best efforts. A starting point is to ensure all staff are adequately trained (this is an employers duty under PUWER) and know the procedure to follow if something does not work as it should. If regular damage occurs, a review of the operation should be considered. Simple upgrades to products e.g. Automatic opening of doors, traffic light warning systems can sometimes be sufficient to significantly reduce damages.
Q. Will I receive preferential treatment if I have a Preventative Maintenance contract?
A. Yes. Our aim is to look after customers that have taken out a contract with us. We offer preferential rates on the product, but more importantly we will treat all calls from our contract customers as priority.
Q. My contract is due for renewal what do I need to do?
A. Nothing. All of our contracts, unless specified, simply roll on. Our contracts are indexed linked so you already know what you will pay from year to year. If the number of products you have changes we will update our records and advise you accordingly.
Q. How do I know when my next service is due?
A. We will agree with you at the onset of the contract, the month visits shall be
carried out. This is confirmed nearer to the contract date by our planning staff
who will agree an exact date to suit you. If the date needs to change, this can be arranged providing reasonable notice is given.
Q. Who will carry out my work?
A. Our own directly employed Service Engineers carry out the majority of our work.
If, due to capacity, it is necessary to use a sub-
Q. What happens if my product breaks down?
A. Call our Service Centre and we will send an engineer as quickly as possible and hopefully undertake the repair on site. We have engineers based around the country, in vehicles and all carrying comprehensive van stock.