Commercial property managers with garage door openers need to know about a big change which is coming to the door industry on August 29th 2010. Following this all commercial door openers will be manufactured as “Constant Pressure to Close” operation only.
Many people are used to going up to a garage door wall switch, pressing close button and walk away. This type of operation will no longer be possible without having a safety reverse device installed and monitored by the electric door opener. The general cost for a commercial door safety reverse device starts around $250.00 depending on the size of the door, additional labor and material for our licensed electrician to install the wiring.
Previously we were under the impression that existing door openers were grand fathered in. However, this past week a long time customer of mine called to tell me that O.S.H.A. came through their building and explained to them the existing door openers needed to be set up with “constant pressure” to close because safety reverse devices were not presently installed.
There is catch to this new safety regulation that one might like to know. The regulation only applies to new units bearing the U.L. label. This is to say that if a Door Opener Manufacturer wants a U.L. label, they are forced to comply. If you aren’t familiar what a U.L label is, this is a brief blurb from their website… Underwriters Laboratories® is an independent product safety certification organization that has been testing products and writing standards for safety for more than a century. UL evaluates more than 19,000 types of products, components, materials and systems annually with 20 billion UL Marks appearing on 66,000 manufacturers’ products each year. UL’s worldwide family of companies and network of service providers includes 68 laboratory, testing and certification facilities serving customers in 102 countries.
Eventually photo electric eyes and safety edges will be required on all commercial door applications. This is already a federal requirement on all public or Federal/State owned buildings. If you have a door opener in your home you might be familiar with photo eyes. Since 1993 any new residential door opener installation has been required to include photo electric reverse devices, in compliance with U.L325.
If you have projects under way and door openers to be installed after the 29th it is very important to take these new regulations into consideration. Almost all new door openers can be converted to “constant pressure” however, not all door openers can be retrofit without significant expense. Older door openers that were not originally engineered with safety reverse capabilities in mind have limited electrical components and are almost impossible to retrofit.
Commercial door openers have a very, very long life cycle before inevitably being retired to the recycle bin. It can be advantageous to upgrade to a new opener which is built for just about everything you can think of when it comes to opening and closing the door.
Compliance to O.S.H.A. inspections is always an insurance must. If you need more information our would like us to come take a look at your door opener please email me. For Additional Information Please check out the press release below from Chamberlain/Liftmaster.
Mike Donovan
President
miked@worcesterdoor.com
[gview file=”http://worcesterdoor.com/documents/commercial-door-opener.pdf”]
