The legalities of Installing a roller shutter garage door

[Russell]

We (my son and I) have just installed a powered roller shutter door to our garage and it is looking good and working well.  According to the literature that came with it because it has a motor it is classified as a machine and therefore it is an illegal installation unless it has a Declaration of Conformity with a CE mark applied.

What does this mean in practice and will we have the HSE police descending on us shortly?  Can we issue documents to ourselves?  Or just not be worried?

It is against the law to install a power operated door in the UK without complying with the Machinery Directive.

To comply  the motor and controller must have a Declaration of Incorporation from the manufacturer and the installer must provide a Declaration of Conformity and apply a CE mark .......

Thanks

R

[aidan.f]

Well,
The good reason for this is that automatic doors and gates have killed people. Does the door have detectors to automatically reopen if you get underneath it? Reqired if the device operates semi automonously, you drive out, and rhe door closes after you have left. Probably not required if you have to continue to hold a local switch to control it.

[valkyrie]

Certificate of Incorporation is what you get with machinery that isn't safe in itself because it needs to built into a system with other stuff to make it safe. The CE mark for the finished installation isn't important unless you intend to sell the roller shutter door. I wouldn't worry about CE marking, what you need to think about is what (if anything) your door needs to make it safe.

Things that the door supplier might not have included that you need to comply -

1. A means of isolating the electrical supply, i.e. a switch in the mains supply. Or a dedicated MCB in your consumer unit.

2. Something to stop you getting your fingers caught in the drive mechanism. Sometimes these doors don't have much in the way of guarding on the drive because they assume it'll be mounted up out of reach. Could be an issue on a domestic garage if it's reachable and unguarded.

3. Something to stop the door coming down on somebody and hurting them. This is usually either a pressure sensitive strip along the bottom of the door or just a "hold to run" control so that it only goes down when you've got your finger on the button.

[Wobbly John]

I would guess the Elfin Safety police will wait until you try to sell or rent out the property, or someone has an accident.

[Russell]

The 'sysytem' was supplied complete with all that is needed.

The control box came supplied with a 13A plug fitted and is connected to a spur.
Assembly is encased in a full box so only the door can be seen moving.
The lower door slat incorporates a detector which talks to the control box which stops and reverses the door a few inches if an obstacle is encounted.  If said detector ceases to function the door operates in dead man mode.
There are warning/illumination lights inside and out that switch on if the door is operated.
The door operates from RF key fobs, key switch or local buttons.

The door as installed is therefore safe so do I need to do anything?