How an Automatic Door Installation Works, Step by Step

An automatic door installation is mostly decided before anybody arrives with tools. The survey sets the specification, the specification sets the operator, and the operator decides how the entrance behaves for the next decade. This guide walks through the work the way we actually run it, so you can tell a thorough job from a fast one.

What an automatic door installation involves

A complete automatic door installation covers five stages: survey, specification, fitting, commissioning and handover. Skipping any of them is what produces an entrance that runs badly from the first week. The physical work is the shortest part. Most of the outcome is decided on paper, which is also why a quotation built without a site visit is usually the one that changes later.

It helps to be clear about what is being bought. You are not buying a door; you are buying a door, a drive unit, a sensor arrangement and the setting-up that makes the three behave as one. Take away the last of those and you have components rather than an entrance.

Stage 1: the survey

Every automatic door installation starts with measurements taken on site, not from a photograph. We record the structural opening, the clear passage width the building needs, the floor condition, the power supply and the traffic the entrance carries.

Two findings matter more than the rest. The first is leaf weight, because mass decides which operator can start and stop the door safely on every cycle. The second is whether the opening sits on an escape route, because that dictates break-out and fail-safe behaviour rather than leaving it to preference.

The survey also establishes what is above the opening. A header has to be fixed to something that can carry it: a lintel, a steel beam or a properly designed sub-frame. Shopfronts that have been altered over the years often have less structure there than the drawing suggests, and finding that out on fitting day is expensive.

Stage 2: specification and order

The specification turns the survey into a written scope naming the operator, the leaf arrangement, the glass, every sensor and what the building must provide. Ours separates equipment, installation and commissioning so each is visible. If you are comparing prices, read what drives automatic door installation cost before choosing on the total alone.

System choice is settled here too. A sliding entrance, a swing operator on an existing leaf, a telescopic arrangement for a wide opening in a narrow shopfront, or a revolving or hermetic door all lead to different work on site. Our automatic door systems page sets out where each one fits, and the MC-125 sliding operator covers most retail and office entrances we are asked about.

Stage 3: the fitting

On the day, the automatic door installation follows a fixed order: header and fixings, track, carriages, leaves, drive unit, then sensors and any access control. The header carries everything, so its fixings are checked against the structure rather than assumed. Leaves are hung and moved by hand before power is applied, because a door that binds when pushed by hand will bind under an operator too.

Where an existing entrance is being replaced, the old equipment comes out first and the opening is re-measured before the new track goes in. Buildings move, and a structural opening is rarely exactly what it was when the previous entrance went in.

Who does what on the day

Our technicians bring the equipment, the fixings and the tools, and they are responsible for everything from the header up. The building provides access, a working power supply at the header position, and a clear area to work in. Where glazing is being replaced at the same time, sequencing matters: glass arrives after the track is aligned, not before, so a heavy panel is not standing on site waiting for adjustment work.

On trading sites we agree the sequence in advance so the opening is secured at the end of each day. A shopfront that cannot be locked overnight is not an acceptable outcome, and planning for it costs nothing if it is discussed before the booking.

Stage 4: commissioning

Commissioning is where an automatic door installation becomes safe rather than merely functional. Opening and closing speeds, hold-open time and obstruction force are set for the traffic the entrance actually carries. Activation and presence sensors are aimed and walked through the full sweep, including the threshold, and obstruction detection is tested with an object rather than trusted from a controller display.

Force, speed and sensor coverage are set against the relevant South African standards, published by the SABS. Where a client asks for a faster door than the setting allows, we explain the trade-off rather than simply turning it up. Speed is the first thing people ask for and the first thing that causes an incident.

Stage 5: handover

An automatic door installation ends with a record, not a handshake.

You should receive the commissioned settings in writing, a demonstration of the manual release, the warranty terms and a recommended service interval. Our operators carry a 24-month warranty, and the settings record is what lets the next service visit start from a known state instead of guesswork. Staff turnover is high on most sites, so we show more than one person how to release the door by hand.

How long an automatic door installation takes

Site time depends on the system and on what is already there. A swing operator fitted to a sound existing door is the quickest job we do. A telescopic entrance with four leaves takes the longest, because there is more to align and more to set.

Those hours cover fitting and commissioning only. Lead time beforehand depends on supply of the operator and the glass, and it is quoted separately so a trading shopfront can plan around it.

What goes wrong in an automatic door installation

Most failures trace back to one of five things, and all of them are avoidable:

• An operator sized below the leaf. The cheapest quotation is often the one that has undersized the drive for the glass.
• No presence sensing. Activation alone does not see somebody standing still in the opening.
• A header fixed to something that cannot carry it. This shows up as sagging and misalignment months later.
• Floor not checked. An uneven threshold makes leaves drag no matter how well the drive is set.
• No commissioning record. Without settings written down, every future adjustment is guesswork.

If an existing entrance already shows these symptoms, a repair visit can usually correct setting and sensor problems, but an undersized operator has to be replaced.

Retrofit or new opening

A retrofit reuses the structural opening and sometimes the frame, which keeps cost and downtime down. A new opening gives free choice of clear width and system, but adds structural work and usually a longer programme. The survey tells you which one you are actually facing: where the header cannot carry the load or the opening is out of square, a retrofit stops being the cheaper option.

There is a middle case worth knowing about. An entrance whose structure is sound but whose drive and controller are obsolete does not need replacing at all: the header stays and the working parts are renewed. That is modernisation rather than a new automatic door installation, and it is usually the better spend on a building that is otherwise in good order.

How to prepare your site

Four things make an automatic door installation go quickly, and none of them cost money:

• Clear the opening on both sides, far enough back to stand a leaf safely.
• Confirm the power at the header position, and tell us if the circuit is shared with anything that trips.
• Agree access times in writing, especially in centres with loading restrictions.
• Name one contact who can make a decision if something on site differs from the drawing.

The last one matters more than it sounds. Nearly every delay we see on an otherwise straightforward automatic door installation comes down to waiting for somebody to approve a small change.

Quick answers

• Start with a survey — opening, floor, power and traffic, measured on site rather than estimated.
• Cost follows the leaf — weight and width decide the operator, and the operator drives the price.
• Escape routes need break-out or fail-safe behaviour agreed before the order is placed.
• Sensors are itemised — activation and presence listed separately, never bundled as a package.
• Power-up is not the end — commissioning sets speed, hold-open time and force.
• Trading sites are sequenced so the opening is never left unsecured overnight.
• Swing retrofits are the quickest route to an accessible entrance.
• Wide openings often mean telescopic leaves rather than a single slide.
• Warranty is 24 months on the operator, with wear parts quoted separately.
• Handover includes the settings record and a manual release demonstration.
• Doors fitted by others can still be serviced by us, starting with a condition survey.
• Outside Gauteng work is scheduled in runs to keep travel costs honest.

Frequently asked questions

What to ask before you book an automatic door installation

Five questions separate a quotation you can rely on from one that will move. Ask them of every supplier, including us.

• What operator have you specified, and for what leaf weight? A quotation for an automatic door installation that names neither is not comparable with one that names both.
• Which sensors are included? Activation and presence do different jobs, and only one of them protects somebody standing still in the opening.
• What does the building have to provide? Power position, access times and a clear opening are the usual three, and they belong in writing.
• What happens if the opening differs from the drawing? The answer tells you whether the automatic door installation was priced on assumptions or on measurements.
• What do I get at handover? Settings record, safety test result, manual release demonstration and warranty terms.

A supplier who answers those five plainly will usually deliver an automatic door installation that still behaves correctly two years later, because each answer forces a decision to be made before the order rather than improvised on site. A supplier who cannot answer them is quoting a price for equipment, not for a working entrance, and the difference between those two things becomes visible the first time somebody stops in the opening with a trolley.

It is also worth asking who carries out the work. Some quotations cover supply only, leaving the automatic door installation to a subcontractor the supplier has never worked with. Ours is carried out by our own technicians, which is the only reason we can commit to the commissioning record and the 24-month operator warranty in the same document.

Getting a quotation

Send the structural opening size, a photograph of the existing entrance and an idea of daily traffic. That is enough for us to say which system fits and what an automatic door installation involves on your site. If the answer is that your opening does not need a new entrance at all, we will tell you that too. Request a quote or call 010 412 0062.