The short answer
BS EN 13241 is the product standard for industrial, commercial and garage doors and gates. It sets out the performance characteristics a door is declared against, such as wind resistance, thermal transmittance and safe opening, and the paperwork that comes with it. As the owner, you should receive a declaration of performance and maintenance instructions with every new door, and keep them.
On this page
What the standard covers
BS EN 13241 is the harmonised European product standard, adopted in the UK by BSI, for industrial, commercial and garage doors and gates. It covers doors intended for areas where people go, whose main use is giving safe access for goods and vehicles: roller shutters, sectional doors, high-speed doors, folding and sliding doors and gates, whether manual or powered.
It does not cover everything. Pedestrian automatic doors have their own standard, and fire and smoke resistance are assessed under a separate product standard, BS EN 16034, which sits alongside BS EN 13241 for fire-rated industrial doors.
Performance characteristics
The standard lists the properties a door can be declared against. Not every property applies to every door; a value only needs declaring where it is relevant to the intended use.
| Characteristic | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Resistance to wind load | Class showing the wind pressure the door withstands; matters on large, exposed doors |
| Thermal transmittance | The U-value, used to show compliance with energy rules such as Approved Document L |
| Water tightness and air permeability | How well the closed door keeps out rain and draughts |
| Safe opening | That vertically moving doors cannot fall in an uncontrolled way |
| Mechanical strength and stability | The door and its fixings carry the loads they meet |
| Operating forces | For powered doors, linked to the safety requirements in BS EN 12453 |
| Release of dangerous substances | Materials in the door |
Where no value is determined for a characteristic, the documentation says so (“no performance determined”). That does not mean the door suits any use; it means nobody measured it.
The paperwork you should get
For every new door, the maker or installer should provide:
- A declaration of performance listing the declared values against BS EN 13241.
- Marking on the door, usually a label naming the maker, the standard, the year and an identification number.
- Instructions for installation, use and maintenance, including the safety checks and service intervals.
- For powered doors, a declaration of conformity under the machinery rules, and a record of the force test carried out on commissioning to BS EN 12453.
Keep all of it for the life of the door, together with every service report. It is the evidence that the door was right when fitted and has been looked after since.
Changing a door changes the paperwork
A like-for-like repair, such as a new spring or a few laths, keeps the door within its original declaration. A substantial change does not. Motorising a manual door, changing its weight, or changing its safety controls can make it, in effect, a new powered door that needs reassessing, testing and new documents. Ask the engineer before you add a motor to an old shutter.
How it fits with the law
BS EN 13241 is a product standard: it governs how doors are made and placed on the market. Your duties as a user come from health and safety law. Regulation 18 of the Workplace Regulations 1992 requires powered doors to have safety features against trapping and an emergency stop, and the regulations require doors to be maintained. A door built to BS EN 13241, commissioned to BS EN 12453 and serviced regularly is how most sites meet those duties.
Checking a quote
When comparing quotes for new doors, ask each firm to confirm that the door will come with a declaration of performance under BS EN 13241, what thermal and wind values it declares for your size, and that commissioning includes a recorded force test. Our pages on sectional overhead doors and fire shutters cover the values that matter most for each type.
If you would like doors specified and priced to the standard, describe the openings and we will find a specialist who covers your area.
Where our information comes from
- BSI, BS EN 13241 Industrial, commercial, garage doors and gates: product standard, performance characteristics
- BSI, BS EN 12453 Safety in use of power operated doors: requirements and test methods
- The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, regulation 18
- DHF (Door and Hardware Federation)