You hit the fob on a wet morning in Chelston and the gate grinds, hesitates, then carries on. Most owners shrug. Gate safety specialists have been warning in the trade press that this is exactly the sign that gets ignored until somebody gets hurt, and the message keeps coming back to the same point: a powered gate is machinery, and machinery needs looking after.
Here’s the legal bit, minus the waffle. The duty of care sits with the owner, or whoever controls the property, under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The benchmark for crushing, shearing and impact risk is BS EN 12453:2017, and the Gate Safe guidance says much the same in plainer English. New installations should also meet the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 and carry UKCA marking.
Take a sliding gate like the wrought iron run you see on driveways around Marldon and Cockington. The pinch points are the leading edge where it meets the post and the gap along the track. Photocells should sit at roughly 300mm and 700mm off the ground, and a rubber safety edge on the leading face should stop the motor the moment it touches something. If either has been knocked, taped over or unplugged to stop nuisance tripping, the gate isn’t safe. Full stop. Swing gates have their own trap, the shear point between the leaf and the pier on the hinge side.
Safety firms say twice a year for a proper check, and that’s a sensible interval. An engineer should test the force the leaf puts on an obstruction, prove the photocells and edges, clean the track or grease the hinges, look over the motor and limit switches, and make sure the release key still frees the gate by hand in a power cut. Cheap insurance against a burnt-out motor. Cheaper still than a claim.
If your gates around Torquay haven’t been looked at in a while, Automated Gate Company supplies, installs and services automated gates and garage doors across South Devon, and offers yearly service contracts to keep the motors running sweetly. Have a look at automatedgatestorquay.co.uk.
