Why automatic door compliance matters
A public entrance is used by everyone, including children, the elderly and wheelchair users. A compliant automatic door protects those users, reduces liability, and keeps your building usable and accessible. It is also simply good practice for any professional commercial fit-out.The core safety standard: EN 16005
The widely referenced standard for power-operated pedestrian doors is EN 16005, which covers safe force, speed, sensing and fail-safe behaviour. Building to it is the clearest way to demonstrate automatic door compliance – see our automatic door safety guide for how those features work in practice.Accessibility
Automatic doors are one of the best ways to make an entrance accessible: hands-free operation, adequate clear opening width and adjustable hold-open times let wheelchairs, prams and trolleys through comfortably.Emergency egress and fire
Doors on escape routes must let people out safely. Automatic doors are specified to fail safe-open on power loss and can be integrated with fire and access-control systems so egress is never blocked.Getting compliance right on your project
The practical route is a proper installation by a supplier who sets force, speed and sensing correctly and hands over a safe, tested door – then keeps it that way with servicing. MC Automations, our parent company, installs and services every automatic door, and is a member of the South African Glass and Glazing Association.Automatic door compliance FAQ
Which standard applies to automatic doors? EN 16005 is the widely used safety standard for power-operated pedestrian doors. Do automatic doors help with accessibility? Yes – hands-free, wide, adjustable operation suits wheelchairs, prams and trolleys.Talk to us about a compliant entrance
Coetz supplies, installs and services automatic doors across Gauteng, with supply nationwide. Browse automatic door systems or contact our team for advice and a free quote. Good automatic door compliance protects your users and your business. This guide is general information, not formal regulatory advice.
Getting it right with Coetz
When it comes to automatic door compliance, the details decide the outcome – the operator rating, the sensor package and a clean installation, all built to recognised automatic door technology safety principles. Coetz specifies each entrance to its real traffic and building rather than a one-size-fits-all kit, so the door opens smoothly and closes safely from the first day.
Coetz has years of experience with automatic entrances across South Africa, from single shopfronts to multi-door developments. We install to standard, commission every safety function, and back the entrance with service and genuine spare parts, so it keeps working long after the invoice is paid.
Planning early is the simplest way to keep a project on budget and on time. Getting the power supply, the opening and the safety package right up front avoids rework and return visits later.
Ready to move ahead? Tell us your opening size and traffic level, and we will recommend the best option and a clear, itemised price.
Budgeting for automatic door compliance in South Africa
Opening width, glass specification, sensor layout and access control are what separate one quotation from another, so compare them line by line rather than on the total alone. A free site measure confirms the opening, the power supply and the traffic before we commit to a fixed price, and the standard glazing is 6.38 mm laminated safety glass.
Sensors, safety and commissioning
An entrance is only as good as its sensors. Motion sensors open the door as somebody approaches and see movement rather than a standing person; presence sensors hold it open while somebody is in the opening, which is what stops a door closing on a person who has paused. Safety beams and a force limit reverse the leaf if something is in the way.
Commissioning sets opening and closing speed, hold-open time, force and the safety zones either side, and the settings are written down at handover so anyone adjusting the door later can see what it was signed off at.
Servicing, spares and call-outs
We recommend a professional service every six months, with more frequent visits for very busy entrances such as malls. A visit checks and realigns the sensors, inspects the belt, rollers and guides, re-checks opening and closing force, and replaces wear parts before they strand the door. Wear items are replaced as part of servicing rather than under warranty.
We stock the operators, sensors, drive belts and control boards we fit, so a repair does not wait on an imported part. Automatic doors are installed and serviced nationwide, with call-outs within 24 hours in Gauteng.
How long do automatic doors last?
Life depends on traffic, environment and maintenance rather than age. The MC-125 operator is tested to one million operating cycles, and a serviced entrance comfortably outlives an unserviced one.
How often should the door be serviced?
Every six months as standard. A supermarket door doing thousands of cycles a day may need more frequent visits than a quiet office entrance.
Glass, frames and finishes
Standard glazing is 6.38 mm clear laminated safety glass, which holds together if it is ever broken and takes the edge off outside noise. Tinted and performance glass are available, quoted separately, where solar gain or privacy matters, and toughened glass suits frameless and low-level applications. The framing is powder-coated in the colour that suits the building, so an entrance reads as part of the frontage rather than something bolted on afterwards.
Upgrading an existing entrance
An existing doorway can usually be automated without rebuilding the frontage. A swing operator suits a hinged door that is staying put; a sliding installation replaces a tired frontage and gives a wider, cleaner opening. The deciding factors are the strength of the head, the squareness of the opening and the route for power.
When something goes wrong
Describe what the door is doing and a technician can usually name the cause before travelling: held open points to sensors or a detection zone problem, reversing points to an obstruction or force limit, and noise points to rollers, belt or guides. Because the operators, sensors, belts and control boards we fit are held in stock, most of those are fixed on the first visit.
What happens when we report a fault?
We take the symptom over the phone so the right part is loaded, then attend — within 24 hours in Gauteng and within 48 hours elsewhere.
Can the hold-open time be changed?
Yes — it is adjustable at commissioning and afterwards, which is how sites run a longer hold during deliveries and a shorter one at quiet times.
Automatic door compliance in short
If you are pricing automatic door compliance, send the structural opening sizes and a photograph and we will specify the system, the sensors and the glass against the traffic the doorway really carries. Automatic door compliance are supplied, installed and serviced by one team, with spares held locally.
Ask us about automatic door compliance and we will confirm the opening, the power supply and the traffic flow before quoting a fixed price.
Automatic door compliance at a glance
- Pricing for automatic door compliance follows the opening width, the glass and the sensor layout.
- Ask us to confirm the opening before ordering automatic door compliance.
More about automatic door compliance
Understanding automatic door compliance helps you specify the right entrance the first time. The best results come from matching the operator, sensors and glass to the building and its traffic, then commissioning the door so it opens smoothly and closes safely. Cutting corners on any of these usually costs more later in call-outs and downtime, so it pays to get the specification right at the start.
Every site is a little different, so the automatic door compliance that suits a busy mall entrance is not the same as a quiet office door. Traffic volume, opening width, safety requirements and the look of the frontage all shape the final choice, which is why a short site assessment is always worth the time before you commit.
Coetz supplies, installs and services automatic doors across South Africa, and we are happy to advise on automatic door compliance for your project – from a single entrance to a multi-door development, backed by service and genuine spare parts.
Related: fire rated automatic doors and automatic sliding door breakout.
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