Portcullis Gate Automation provide a one stop solution for all your commercial gate requirements, from bespoke design and manufacture to high security PAS 68 tested counter terrorism gate solutions. We offer 24 hour emergency callout services as well as pre-planned preventive maintenance contracts, with all works carried out in compliance with the Machinery Directive and HSE health and safety recommendations.
Commercial gates are generally made of metal and serve a purely functional controlled access purpose, protecting property, investment and assets. Which commercial gate to install depends on a number of factors including security concerns, safety requirements, site location, site layout, space restrictions, the intended functional use of the gate and the type and amount of traffic that will pass through the gate.
Surveying the layout of a site entrance for a commercial gate installation will heavily influence the type of gate to be installed. A narrow entrance with obstacles on either side may indicate a swing gate or electric bi folding gate as the ideal solution. A wide entrance with clearway needed in front and behind may indicate a sliding gate as the ideal solution. A corner entrance may need a combination whereby one half of the gate slides along one wall whilst the other half swings open towards the other wall.
As a commercial gate installation company in Kent and Buckinghamshire approximately 50% of our commercial gate installations are manual gates, with the other 50% being automated gates. Electric gates are an in-depth subject so with this is mind we have a dedicated page on commercial gate automation).
While electric gates must comply with the Machinery Directive manual commercial gates contain no machine driven parts therefore they are not strictly required to comply with the Machinery Directive. They should however still adhere to health and safety recommendations as set out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Using our vast experience and accreditations as a gate installation company in Kent our surveyors will discuss in-depth with you the functional requirements of the commercial gate together with any aesthetic requirements. They will also assess the level of security that must be achieved, carry out a full risk assessment and health and safety check, then work to provide you with the most beneficial solution; making sure all potential works are compliant with the Machinery Directive and health and safety recommendations as set out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
One example of the bespoke nature of Portcullis Gates commercial installations; a customer in Buckinghamshire required their large sliding gate changing to two smaller parting gates. This was to save valuable seconds in a high traffic flow application; a classic example of the benefits from using bi-folding gates.
A standard way to automate parting gates is to use a master motor opening one side linked in serial connection to a slave motor on the other side, the “master” commanding the “slave”. The problem is if the master motor breaks down the slave motor will stop working as well even though it is in perfect working order).
To ensure there was as much flexibility as possible to keep the gate working the customer requested that the motors on each gate work independently from each other, then if one gate were to fail the other would keep working while waiting for our reactive maintenance call-out. In the eyes of the gate it sees itself as two separate gates rather than one.
This is a perfect example of our service as a gate installation company where we use our technical expertise and know how to work with the customer to find the perfect bespoke gate solution. Please contact us for help with your bespoke commercial gate requirements.
Commercial Bi Folding Gates (Speed Gates) ↓ show more detail ↓
Speed is often a priority if the entrance to a commercial premises is busy, which is why electric bi folding gates (or speed gates) are booming in popularity in the commercial gate sector. They are a fairly recent addition to the gate industry but there are huge advantages in using them.
Often installing an electric swing gate or installing an electric sliding gate is not practical, for example if the entrance has width restrictions or is situated on a hill. This is where electric bi folding gates become a perfect solution.
An excellent example of a gate entrance where speed is paramount is a fire station entrance in London where the speed at which the fire engine accesses the entrance in or out is of the utmost importance; thus potentially saving lives in its functional operation. In this case the new Portcullis bi-folding gate would open much quicker than its swing gate and sliding gate counterparts. A bi -folding gate in this London fire station would provide the best commercial gate solution.
Certain commercial business premises may require bespoke high security gate solutions. Portcullis Gate Automation maintains such a solution at a British Telecom remote telecommunications site in North London, where an airlock gate entrance is used and regarded as an important counter terrorism security entrance solution.
Counter terrorism can be solved not only through brute strength but also through using multiple entrances, staggered entrances and chicane type entrances.
As a high security gate company, we at Portcullis Gate Automation have the knowledge, experience and technical expertise to provide you the with the best solution for your high security and counter terrorism requirements. Please contact us to discuss your high security gate requirements. For your high security gate or counter terrorism gate nationwide we are here to help.
As a gate automation company we design, supply, install and maintain all levels of commercial access control and CCTV. Access control is generally the way for example a gate is automatically opened, sometimes with great security in mind and other times with speed and ease-of-use in mind. It is anything electronic that controls a gate, for example intercom, keypad, proximity reader and remote control, from stand-alone single point access to a multi-point thirty door set-up.
Commercial access control is generally quite involved, commonly being office systems with 12 to 16 controllers, each controlling four doors, all linked and controlled through a computer, where it can be determined who has access to which doors. Access control tends to be an add-on to gate automation or CCTV, unless we are undertaking servicing and repair of existing works.
Commercial environments normally require a receptionist and gates are usually intended to be a part of that reception process. When approaching a controlled commercial gate you are required to use an authorisation process such as an input code or proximity reader or request to be given access through the gate. You will then be authorised access if the gate controller, human or computerised, agrees.
One interesting access control installation is using an aerial loop buried in the ground, whereby you have a type of credit card so that when you walk or drive up to it, it detects and opens the gate for you. Please contact us with any questions on commercial access control or commercial CCTV in Kent or beyond.
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