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Security gates and automatic gates are increasingly commonly installed in large properties and developments. As a developer you have a duty of care to ensure that the gate is safe and installed correctly. There are a number of restrictions and regulations that must be followed to ensure that homes are provided with sustainable, safe, and secure access control measures.
Gates Within Housing Developments
Automated gates have a wealth of advantages including:
Scale of the problem
Survey activity by Jacksons Fencing, the company that originally founded Gate Safe has shown that many residential developments continue to feature – clearly unintentionally – unsafe electric gates.
In recent years, a major London residential property consultancy aware of the safety issues regarding automated gates, (following the publicity surrounding the £110,000 fines delivered to the two firms found guilty of breaching safety laws for the automated gates that killed five year old Karolina Golabek in Wales, 2010) took the responsible step of requesting an audit of gates featured on 19 of its clients’ properties.
Shockingly, almost 95% of the gates reviewed failed to match the current safety guidelines for automated gates. A further survey a few days later for another London property consultant covering six residential complexes comprising of six properties each, once again revealed a worrying 100% failure rate and these findings are consistent with other surveys carried out over the years. Indeed the industry estimates that more than two thirds of all automated gates installed in the UK do not comply with latest legislation and could pose a serious safety risk.
So what constitutes safe?
Anyone looking to incorporate automated gates on a housing development should ensure they source a registered gate automation engineer who has undergone the relevant specialist practical training to equip them with the required understanding of the steps to be taken to deliver a safe and compliant gate. All of Jacksons' gate engineers are trained to a minimum of DHF level 2 award in automated gate and traffic barrier safety. Using an installer with this level of qualification ensures that gates are supplied, installed, and maintained to comply with all current safety legislation and standards. As well as minimising injury, a safe automatic gate provides reliability and security for residents, which all helps to protect your reputation as a housebuilder.
At very least an automated gate must:
Choosing an Automatic Gate
Installing automated gates comes with a variety of benefits, from increased convenience to robust security that not only restricts access to the site, but also creates an effective screen from the outside world.
Gate Automation Maintenance
Our gate maintenance contracts are specifically designed to cover you under the appropriate regulations and ensure you receive optimum safe performance from your automated gates or barrier.
Gate Safety Checklist
Our gate automation safety checklist pinpoints the dangers of automated systems and outlines the key steps to follow when installing gates to avoid accidents and ensure the gate operates safely.
How to specify an electric gate
Follow our guide on how to specify an electric gate and ensure all the key stages of specification are covered, from type of automation, method of operation, usage frequency and safety devices.
Book a CPD
Learn more about gates, gate automation and safe gate installation by booking a CPD seminar, available across the UK.
Book A CPD
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