The New BS EN16005 standard has now been in place since April. The feed back from industry sources are suggesting that many of the major automatic door manufacturers have not been implementing the new standards.
The Automatic Door Suppliers Association (ADSA), whilst being heavily involved in formulating the new standard with other agencies still have not delivered their promised interpretation of the standard for the British market.
ADSA have stated the interpretation of the standard BS EN16005 for British installers will not be ready for another year! For many of the Automatic Door installers this has left them with the responsibility of complying with a standard which is not entirely clear in many respects.
At a guidance meeting on BS EN 16005 towards the end of June 2013 a straw poll was taken among the 80 delegates which indicated that a clear majority was still undecided about how to comply with the standard.
One of the major concerns was around low energy doors. Whilst the Low Energy option has been perfectly adequate for many years it now seems installers are required to fit safety sensors to Low Energy installations!
The fitting of Sensors to low Energy installations was regarded as not necessary and therefore was met by a large number of installers with indifference initially. Once the debate regarding responsibility for any accident lies with them their views changed slightly.
The main concern was the cost of fitting Sensors which seems unnecessary. Installers were of the opinion that a low Energy Automatic door installation with sensors would make the cost prohibitive and they might lose work because of this. In a uncertain economic climate with budgets under scrutiny, it could make potential customers put off the installs of automatic door operators and automatic doors to a much later time when the economy changes.
The industry participants need to decide quickly if the standard is to be implemented across the industry and provide for a “level playing field” for all.