Automatic Doors

Automatic doors are no longer a luxury reserved for supermarkets and airports. For any commercial premises with significant footfall — a busy high-street retail unit, a medical centre, a hotel lobby, or a multi-occupancy office building — automatic door systems offer a compelling combination of accessibility compliance, operational efficiency, and customer experience that increasingly represents the expected standard rather than a premium option.

Sigma Shop Fronts designs, installs, and maintains automatic door systems for commercial clients across the UK. We work with sliding, swing, and folding automatic configurations, using drive units from established European manufacturers who certify their products to the relevant harmonised standards.

Automatic Sliding Doors

Sliding automatic door systems are the most common configuration for retail entrances and busy public-facing premises. They operate by translating the door leaf along a track above the aperture, driven by a low-voltage DC or brushless motor controlled by a drive unit that continuously monitors the safety sensor field. A bi-parting arrangement — two leaves meeting in the centre — provides the largest possible clear opening width from a given aperture, making it the preferred solution for wheelchair access and high-volume pedestrian flow.

Our sliding door systems are installed with activation sensors covering the approach zone and safety sensors covering the opening zone in accordance with BS EN 16005:2012, the harmonised European standard for power-operated pedestrian doorsets — safety in use. This standard defines minimum sensor fields, maximum closing forces (no greater than 150 N dynamic and 25 N static), maximum closing speeds (0.5 m/s standard, 0.3 m/s for low-energy applications), and the minimum break-out force for emergency egress. Compliance with BS EN 16005 is required for all power-operated doors in public buildings and is referenced in Approved Document M of the Building Regulations.

Automatic Swing Doors

Swing automatic doors are preferred where an existing shopfront frame is retained and a sliding track overhead would be architecturally intrusive, or where the entrance is narrow and a bi-parting sliding arrangement is not feasible. The drive unit is concealed within the door frame or overhead closer case, and the door can be programmed to hold-open, swing-and-return, or operate in push-and-go mode where a gentle push from the user completes the automatic opening sequence.

Low-energy swing door operators — sometimes marketed as "push and go" systems — fall under a specific sub-clause of BS EN 16005 governing low-energy automated doors. They are particularly appropriate for healthcare premises, care homes, and residential buildings where a high-speed automatic entry would be hazardous or inappropriate.

DDA and Accessibility Compliance

Automatic doors make a direct contribution to compliance with the Equality Act 2010. The Act's reasonable adjustment duty requires that physical features which disadvantage disabled people are removed or altered. A power-operated entrance door eliminates the physical effort of pulling a heavy door, removes the need to hold a door open for a wheelchair user, and removes the cognitive and physical challenge of managing a door and a wheelchair simultaneously.

BS 8300:2018, the British Standard for the design of an accessible and inclusive built environment, recommends automatic doors at principal entrances to public buildings and specifies minimum clear opening widths of 800 mm for single doors and 1500 mm for bi-parting sliding sets. We design all our installations to exceed these minimum dimensions where the structural opening permits.

Safety Systems and Certification

Every Sigma Shop Fronts automatic door installation is completed with a full safety test record documenting sensor fields, closing forces, closing speeds, and emergency egress performance. The completed door is labelled with the installation date, drive unit serial number, and the name of the responsible installer, in accordance with the Automatic Door Suppliers Association (ADSA) Code of Practice.

Following installation, we provide a handover document including the user manual, sensor field diagrams, emergency override procedures, and our recommended maintenance schedule. Annual safety inspection and maintenance by a competent person — as defined in BS EN 16005 — is a requirement for continued compliance, and we offer maintenance agreements structured around this obligation.

Integration with Access Control and Fire Alarm Systems

Automatic doors can be integrated with access control readers for out-of-hours security, with intercom systems for controlled access, and with the building's fire alarm panel. On receipt of a fire signal, the door can be configured to either open and hold (to facilitate evacuation) or to close and hold on the latch (where the door forms part of a smoke control lobby). The correct fail-safe position is determined by the fire strategy for the building, and we liaise with the fire engineer or building control body where this is not already specified.