Summary of the British Standard BS 7036-1996

BS 7036:1996 is the Code of Practice for Safety at Powered Doors for Pedestrian Use.
Part 2: Straight and Curved Sliding Doors and Prismatic and Folding Doors
Safety during the opening cycle: (Where practicable, one of the following should be fitted.)
- A suitable barrier, the distance between the barrier and the fully open Door should be greater than 25mm and less than 100mm.
- A pocket screen of minimum height 1500mm
- Presence sensors
- Leaf opening speed should be limited to 500mm/s
Minimise body traps:
- If the gap between the face of the Door and the structure across which it slides is less than 100 mm, the gap between the rear edge of the Door in the fully open position and the fixed structure should be greater than 200 mm.
- If the gap between the face of the Door and the structure across which it slides is greater than 100 mm, the gap between the rear edge of the Door in the fully open position and the fixed structure should be greater than 500 mm
Minimise finger traps and drawing in hazards:
- When Door is fully open there should be gap of at least 25mm between the stile and jambs.
- The clearance between the face of the jambs and the face of the leaf glazing should be greater than 25mm.
- The Door should be stopped a minimum of 25mm short of a mullion or structural return, unless this area is protected by a pocket screen.
- When a folding Door is in the open position there should be a gap of at least 25mm between the hinge and the leading stile.
- Activation of the Door should start when the user is 1400mm from the Door when approaching the Door directly and 700mm when approached from the side.
Safety during the closing cycle:
- One of the following means should be used to prevent Doors shutting on traffic during the opening cycle:
- A hold-open beam positioned between the jambs at a height between 300mm and 600mm above FFL.
- Presence sensing safety devices should be used.
- Where the Hazard Analysis & Risk assessment concludes a significant amount of elderly, infirm, disabled or children will use the Door, then presence sensors should be used.
- Presence sensors should detect stationary traffic for a minimum of 30 seconds.
- The drive control systems should be adjustable to limit the maximum static entrapment force to 150N.
Means of Escape:
- If powered Doors are intended as a means of escape from a building then the Doors should be either:
- Capable of manual breakout in the direction of escape.
- Linked to the fire alarm system in order to open the Door on activation of the alarm.
Break-out:
- The Door should stop when break-out is used.
- The resistance to breakout should not be greater than 220N at the leading or meeting stile.
Power failure:
- A monitored back up system (i.e. Battery pack) should be used for main power failure operation. The system should self monitor and open the Door if a fault occurs.