Hi folks, I'm going to be fitting an motorised gate opener to my driveway gates. The actual installation and commissioning is not something that is outside of my skills and I'm comfortable with what needs to be done from an actual hands on perspective. My worry (and question) is around the paperwork...having had a trawl of the world wide t'interweb, it appears there are untold numbers of EU directives and BS standards that need to be adhered to if the installation is done by/for a company. As a private individual, installing the system on my private property, what standards and directives do I need to adhere to and what documentation do I need to produce at the end of it to satisfy any legal requirements? Cheers,
you don't need to adhere to any standards at all, there is no requirement to produce any documentation, nor are there any legal requirements it might however be wise to ensure that any visitors, unsuspecting or not, are able to enter and exit without injury
Hi FM Sean is not strictly correct with his answer. You need to install the supply to the gates to the 17th Edition Regulations BS 7671. If this involves the addition of a new circuit (and I suspect it does) and as this work will be outside it will notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations. You will need a minor works certificate for the circuit as minimum. You then need to follow the manufacturers installation instructions for the installation and commissioning of the gates. Hope that helps Kind regards BS
as the OP is doing it all himself, in his own home, he can do anything he wants he would be best advised to follow some regulations, but he isn't legally bound to, nor is he required to notify the works, and as the gates are existing he has no need to gain any permissions
Sorry Sean, Bazza's quite correct. As this would be a new installation, the supply to the gates, has to comply with the 17th Edition regs. The OP cannot bypass these, just because he intends doing the work himself. He could get a qualified electrician to run the supply, then installl the gates himself, but these would have to be checked and tested by the electrician, to ensure the whole installation complies with the regs.
JJ, the regulations you have mentioned, are they statutory, mandatory or advisory ? as a clue, EAW is statutory
Hi FM Sean is correct that BS 7671 is not stautory, but it is what is called an ACOP (approved Code of Practice) and in the event someone gets hurt through your work would be used to assess your installation. May I also draw your attention to this article from the HSE http://www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins/electricgates2.htm wjich quotes the British Standard for gates. Kind regards BS
I'm getting a sparky to connect the electrics up and certify them because unfortunately my years of electrical and electronic engineering experience don't qualify me to do this myself. The question was around the actual gates and automation rather than Part P with the electrics. The various directives such as the EU Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, the standards such as BS EN 12453:2001, 12445:2001, 12978:2003, 1760-2:2001, 12604:2000, 12605:2000, 12635:2002 amd ISO 13857:2008 (and any of the others I may have forgotten) and CE certifying the finished gates. Do I have to perform the force testing that is mentioned in one of these? Do I have to perform a risk assessment? In a nutshell, as a DIYer, do I have to certify that the gates I'm automating are compliant with all of the directives and standards relating to automated gates? Given the BS documents mentioned above are £150 a pop, I'd rather not have to shell out £1200+ just to have some light bedtime reading. I think from the posts, the answer is no I don't but if someone was injured by the gates my work would be measured against those standards and if it didn't comply then I would be held responsible....would that be correct? @Sean_ork silly question but what's the difference between statutory and mandatory?
in this context the word mandatory was used to indicate something that a local building control may require, which may differ across the country - but with no legal standing, where as a statutory requirement, such as electricity in the workplace, does have a legal standing unless you are intending to design and home build a automated system for your existing gates, you should be able to rely on the providers of auto gate kits to have already have their products approved, and have been sensibly designed to avoid injury/harm via the use of interlocks and sensors http://www.theelectricgateshop.co.uk/
Hi Froz. Are pedestrians going to be using these gates to get in & out? If so, that is a completely different kettle of worms.
They will indeed, although it's a private residence and not a place of work so it's not heavily traffic'd.
Ahh Bazza, it wasn't a reference to you mate. I was referring to an old time poster (who many will fondly??? remember) called Ban All Sheds,,, or BAS for short.
Nah. He thinks you are a bas... Cough - only kidding For pedestrian use, I think you'll be expected to have a goodly number of sensors on the gate, and not just rely on the gate's own 'strain' response. These could be proximity detectors such as infra-red, or possibly even edge sensors fitted to the leading edge of the opening gate. All these bits are standard add-ons, and the gate's controller will already have the circuits to accept them. I fitted Liftmaster openers to my own gates a few months back, and the instructions do say that alternative pedestrian access should be provided... Needless to say, I haven't.
Ice Cold Primate, no way do I think your BAS. BAS was a bit argumentative at best, downright cantankerous at worst. His dummy regularly flew out of the pram.
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