Surveying is very important to any quotation or perceived problem with a door as there are some many variables as well as personal interpretation. A list of possible requirements is –

  • Customer requires comparable quotation
  • Customer needs to have 3 quotations as part of their organisation’s way of measuring value for money or the cheapest cost
  • New automatic door installation following an Access Audit
  • Fire escape not operating
  • Aluminium door not locking
  • Refurbishment
  • New premises
  • Change of use of a building
  • Conversion and adaption of existing manual door to automatic
  • Security door with combined access control system
  • Safeguarding requirement

These are the most common which we have been asked to survey and quote over the years. Our ethos is that we want to provide you with a fixed quotation taking everything into account so that there are not any additional costs to you when the job is completed. BH Doors will always stand by their quotation unless the customer alters the specification or requirement which is why the survey is important.

Is it ‘fit for purpose and it’s intended use?’

This is the most important statement for your door system after investing time and effort on a solution as there are many situations that will affect your quotation –

  • Type of building – industrial, commercial, school, leisure centre, offices
  • Size of opening / door leaf(s) – large or swing doors are susceptible to wind loading and also can loose heat / cooling when in the open position effecting the ventilation system
  • Building location – hilltop, west facing, coastal
  • Door location – main entrance, external, internal, fire escape
  • Usage – how many operations in a day
  • Operation – sensors, access control, push pads, different operations for day and night
  • Environment – cold, hot, clean / sterile
  • Users – elderly, infirm, disabled, young
  • Risk assessment – different types of doors can create different risks, such as a swing door opening towards a person, a revolving door not wide enough for wheelchair access. Large heavy doors are slow to open, who is going to use the door, location of any activation devices, interfaces with fire alarm for emergency escape, Door size and weight making it difficult to open.
  • Compliance – it is important to verify that a particular door system complies with the relevant regulations, meaning that the risks are either eliminated or reduced to a safe level. Also, it should provide a long-term solution and above all work safely following the manufacturers guidance and be maintained / serviced accordingly.

All of these can contribute to your specification and quotation cost which is why BH Doors recommends a site survey.

Why are BH Doors different?

We have to understand your needs and the needs of your business / organisation to provide our products and services to you. It is a ‘people thing’ to us, getting to know our customers by their first names and vice versa. Knowing that when you call you have a problem and we will provide a solution, it’s a relationship between people and companies working together. If you would like to find out more about our installations see here

We believe that preventative maintenance servicing reduces the failure of equipment. This is backed up with the level of service you require as we understand that when a door fails it affects your business.

Our ethos is that we care about our customers, have pride in the work we carry out and be accountable at all times. This is why we understand that anybody in a position of ensuring that a building functions correctly and works to a budget requires:

  • Fixed costs
  • Agreed call out response times
  • Minor repairs included
  • Pre-planned service visits
  • Same or next day response to emergency call outs
  • Qualified, competent and directly employed engineers
  • Eliminate or minimise disruption during working
  • Health and safety compliant designating safe working area
  • Risk assessments and safe working practices
  • Compliance documentation for records
  • Condition reports of equipment for planning future budgets
  • Prior warning of end of life / obsolete equipment with solutions for replacement / upgrading
  • Accountability of communication and workmanship

What you need when we are working on your site

  • Communication
  • Scheduled appointment, not turning up unannounced
  • Our yellow safety barriers being deployed to designate a safe working area and letting you know we are working
  • Removing covers of operators to gain access for inspection
  • Opening panels and moving items to gain access
  • Cleaning the equipment and components
  • Checking expiry dates on components such as battery packs
  • Testing the operation in all modes
  • Testing for compliance
  • Risk assessing the equipment taking into account it’s environment
  • Recommendations for risk elimination or reduction
  • Documentation for records

If you would like to read more articles see here, or our recent work see here