Indupart What are the standards ?

June 2003 Many areas of the proposed rules and regulations for industrial doors are

not clear and have very grey areas. This is our interpretation of the current proposed regulations as of the 1st of June 2003.

‘Finger safe‘ panel requirementsAnti-fall devicesInsulation valuesAir leakageWind loadingsWater penetrationYour responsibility to ensure the customer operates & maintain doors correctly.

prEN13241 is new European standard which will shortly be introduced to cover all of the issues above. Within 9 months time it will also be published as a BSEN. At first it will be voluntary but after a further 12 months it will probably be compulsory (source:DSMA June 2003)

‘Finger safe’

We’ve all seen the specifications stating ‘finger safe’ panels etc, but what is the actual regulation relating to industrial doors ?

• BS en 12604 states ‘to prevent danger zones being reached by upper limbs where there is a high risk of trapping, the trapping hazard is to be eliminated under 2700mm’

• So how do doors produced by Indupart fare ?• Any standard lift door over 2500 mm high complies.• Any low headroom door over 2650 mm high complies.• Vertical lift panel doors do not hinge & therefore do not apply.• Wide jamb angle under 2700mm high prevent wandering

fingers straying between the vertical jam angle and the vertical side track.

Our opinionIn the main smart marketing as most industrial doors would not

have to meet the regulation due to their size. DevelopmentsIndupart’s foremost panel supplier is working on a finger safe panel

so non compliant doors can be brought in to meet proposed regulations.

Anti-fall devices

There has been a great deal of debate regarding the use of anti-fall devices such as cable break & spring break devices, some claiming they are law, others opting out.

BS en 12604, 2000 : Vertical sliding doors must have safety devices to prevent them dropping more than

300mm should one catastrophic failure occur.Indupart’s interpretation:• The majority of the industry for a long time have relied on the counterbalance

springs to prevent the door leaf from dropping.• In the main, Indupart supply sectional doors with two springs. If we only supply

doors with a single spring they will have a spring break device on them.• If one cable failed the door would stop & wedge in the opening (this is only our

opinion).Customers should take a view on a job by job basis, as the doors supplied by Indupart have a minimum 4:1 safety factor each cable.

• The end user should be made aware of risks & possible solutions concerning safety, as a rule Indupart show the extra over prices for spring & cable breaks when quoting new doors.

Insulation values

Most companies actually request an insulation (‘U’) value of 0.45 w/m2 oC on the panel, is this relevant ?

Indupart's interpretation & advice:• Strictly speaking the panel ‘U’ value is hardly relevant. The overall ‘U’ value of

the door is the most important point. According to building regulation (L2) the doors should be capable of achieving an overall ‘U’ value of 0.7 w/m2 oC

• Builders are aware that if the doors do not meet the required ‘U’ value, the extra insulation to make the building meet the overall envelope standard is a costly exercise.

• The thermal performance of our 610mm wide x 40mm thick door panels, including the effect of thermal bridges at panel to panel joints, has been calculated by the finite element method giving a ‘U’ value better than 0.7W/m2K.

• One of the major players in the industry actually states on the front of their quotation that their doors give a value of only 0.95 w/m2 0C on doors up to 5000 x 4000 this clearly does NOT meet the criteria.

• Due to the cold rolled joints in insulated roller shutter doors, they clearly do not meet the criteria.

• Designers/builders should be made aware that, whatever door is being installed, if steel is being installed onto steel then a cold bridge joint will be created, all quoted figures exclude this joint.

Air leakage

As the sectional door you are offering is insulated, it is obviously important that air leakage throughout the door is kept to a minimum.

Document L2 states the given rates for permissible air leakage through any new building & this is often quoted in relation to industrial doors.

Indupart's advice• Reading the proposed standards the criteria for doors is not clear so we sought advice from the

Department of Transport and Local Government who stated that ‘doors are not a part of the fixed structure, they are denoted as a machine & therefore do not have to comply with the air leakage criteria’.

• This said, Indupart have fixed rake tracks which need no adjustment & therefore offers a good quality panel seal against the EPDM jamb seal.

• There are top & bottom seals on the panels, as well as compression neoprene seals between each panel.

• Indupart have some theoretic figures for air leakage should your client insist on being provided with these.

• It should be noted that correct installation will play a big part in keeping air flow through the door to a minimum.

Water penetration

Apart from security, one of the main purposes of any kind of industrial door is to keep out the elements.

Indupart comment/interpretation

• The main area of concern regarding weather tightness is actually aimed at the joints between the panels.

• In the case of the Ward panel used by Indupart on the majority of doors supplied, it has a tongue & groove joint that has an integral neoprene seal

• Under test conditions for 5 minutes directed at the door panel & NOT at the fixing jambs, head or threshold, door panels maintained a water tight seal for 5 minutes @ 50 pa with a continuous water flow of 1 litres/minutes, nozzles placed every 400mm (classification class 3 BS en 12425: 2000)

• The perimeter seals mentioned in the ‘air leakage’ section also act as a weather barrier.

• The designer/builder has a responsibility to ensure that the floor, either slopes away from the door or has some form of drainage/weather bar.

• ALL TEST RESULTS ARE SUBJECT TO CORRECT INSTALLATION

Operation & maintenance

Ensuring your customer is fully aware of how to operate & maintain the door is the responsibility of the company that installed the door.

• Indupart carry full a full range of manuals to enable you to offer advice on how to gain longevity from your door.

• Spend some time with your customer making them aware how important correct operation of the door reduces the risk of doors/bays being out of action.

• Under normal circumstances (up to 10 operations per day) doors should be services every 6 months.

• Greater usage will require more frequent servicing – liken the door servicing to car servicing that it would be x000 miles or 1 year.

• Extreme usage (up to 50 operation per day) will require bi-monthly servicing.• In questionable circumstances an operations counter added to the door, with or with-out the

clients knowledge, can save irrational arguments relating to the frequency of effective servicing.

• Also like the car industry, improper service records invalidate warranties• It is worth noting that, unlike most continental suppliers, Indupart carry vast stocks of panels &

hardware that ensure that in the event of an emergency the parts to keep your customers door up & running can be despatched quickly & efficiently (in most cases same day if the need arises)

All Indupart Sectional Doors have Warning Stickers

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