Safety - Maintaining Your Automatic Doors
The American Disabilities Act In Brief
It’s easy to not think about your automatic doors. They open and close thousands of times in a year. If you install a high quality door and maintain it regularly, it can last a decade or two, even in heavy use. But they can malfunction and that can mean more than just a repair bill or the cost of replacing the door if it is worn out.
Michael Panish is a building contractor and president of Construction Systems. He is often called as an expert witness in construction related lawsuits. He said in an article in Plaintiff Magazine, “One of the most frequent calls I receive from attorneys is about injuries sustained from an automatic door malfunction.”
The Americans With Disability Act lays out very specific guidelines regarding automatic doors which are listed below. If you fail to follow these requirements, you open your patrons and clientele to possible serious injury. Local, state and federal agencies are charged with ensuring these legal requirements are met and can impose fines for non-compliance.
C 4 Products has been installing and maintaining automatic doors for almost 40 years. That is our business. If you have any questions about your automatic doors and their safety, we can answer them. We can arrange to inspect your facility’s doors to see they meet the standards.
ADA Requirements
The ADA Requirements
Below is a list of requirements that your doors need to meet if they do not meet them already. If they are not met this opens your company/institution to legal action either because someone was hurt, a complaint was filed or an inspector has observed the below listed violations.
Automatic doors must have clear and current signage describing the doors function, such as if it is a sliding door or a push switch to activate door. Certain counties require a unified sticker with the following: “Caution automatic door-activate switch to operate.” This constitutes a knowing act to activate your automatic door.
If the door is activated via push button, the button must have clear signage depicting the international symbol of accessibility along with the words push to activate.
Doors that activate when manually pushed, no longer fall into code as a patron may lean against the door and fall when door becomes active.
Vestibule doors must have a means of egress at all times. This can be accomplished with a directional push button that opens interior and exterior doors separately for secure entry, or a single push button that opens both doors. If the vestibule does not have a means of egress this constitutes entrapment.
Automatic push/pull doors should never open or close faster than 5 seconds. They must also have a hold open time of at least 5 seconds.
Doors must open to a minimum of 90 degrees.
Push buttons must be at least 36 inches away from the swing edge of the door so as to not strike or entrap a person in a wheel chair.
Push buttons should be no higher than 48 inches to top of push plate. Bollard posts are manufactured to this height specification.
Inspections of doors are should be done yearly and documented for your reference if any issues arise.