Garage doors can be very secure but it’s not as simple as asking how secure garage doors are in general. It depends on a multitude of factors, such as the age of the door, the design of the door, and whether it functions as it should. In short, a garage door can be very secure indeed but only if it meets all of the correct criteria.

If you’re looking for a secure garage door, think about the following:

• The design. A roller shutter door or a sectional door will be very secure, as will an up and over door with a good lock. Make sure there are no gaps where it would be easy to force the door open.
• The age. When garage doors get older, they should be replaced. Older doors can be weaker and more vulnerable.
• The material. A door made of metal or timber can be very secure. Check individual ratings to be sure.

Glazing is an additional feature that can be added into a roller door, giving you natural light and a better appearance. This can in turn give you a more uplifting aesthetic – one that members of staff will appreciate and that visitors might also enjoy. If you want to make a good impression, glazing can help.

Glazing will suit some facilities and types of roller door and won’t work with others. These are some of the pros and cons:

Pros – you will be able to enjoy more natural light and this could be beneficial if you are using your space as part of a retail area or showroom. People who visit your premises will appreciate the better aesthetic.

Cons – there will be a higher cost associated with installing glazing, especially if you require a more specialist type such as safety glass. It might also make it easier to break in, so if security is your primary concern glazing may not be suitable.

Working in an industrial environment means you need specialist equipment and applications to carry out your work effectively. The right doors will be instrumental in this, allowing a manufacturing or industrial facility to keep running in the way it should. Fast action roller shutters are often the favoured type of roller door, simply due to their convenience, practicality and all-round benefits. They also happen to be highly secure and very energy efficient, giving all-round options for excellent entry points.

Fast action roller shutter doors might be used in applications where there is a lot of activity. High volumes of traffic can dictate the need for a fast action door that can be opened and shut quickly. They will be more efficient and better equipped to deal with the pressures of a busy industrial environment than other kinds of doors.

Where might a fast action roller shutter be used?

Often, a fast action roller shutter will not be the only type of door. They might be used for quick and simple access at one particular point of the building. A high-speed door might well be used in conjunction with another type of door at the property perimeter, such as a steel roller door or a sectional door. This allows for multi functionality; the high-speed door will operate quickly and speed up processes, and the other type of door will fully secure the premises. That’s not to say that fast action doors cannot be secure. They will offer good levels of security, but other doors are more suited to security purposes and different kinds of doors should be used together for optimum results. That being said, there are some higher security options on the market that may be sufficient. It will all depend on the exact specifications required.

When might a fast action roller shutter door be specified?

It’s usually deemed sensible to use fast action roller doors when traffic levels are high and activity is constant. They will open and close using electric mechanisms to make entry and exit more streamlined and efficient. This allows the continuous flow of foot or vehicular traffic to carry on, whilst also securing the premises once more as soon as the person or vehicle has passed through the door. This might be in a building such as a warehouse, where there is lots of movement of stock, people and vehicles like forklifts.

It’s also normal for fast action roller shutter doors to be used where temperature is important. This could be due to the stock that is being kept inside – maybe it needs to be kept at a constant temperature. The fast opening and closing action of an electric high speed door means that heat doesn’t escape and the door will keep on letting traffic through without compromising on heat and thermal efficiency. This type of door might also be specified if energy saving is important and keeping the temperature from falling too low will be beneficial for the premises. It’s possible to really improve energy efficiency in this way.

There are certain fire safety and security standards that you will have to meet as a responsible business owner, and making sure that all people in a building are accounted for is one of the most important. It’s the basics of fire safety that you should know how many people are in a building at any one time, and you are aware of that number should you have to evacuate.

You may have a method of people signing themselves in, which will mean they are marking themselves in at reception. This might be by signing a book, or you may have an electronic means of them doing this. There is also the option of a key fob system, where people will be recorded automatically as they swipe in. If you have guests in the building, you will either need to allocate them temporary key fobs, or get them to sign in manually.