If you own a home with an automatic gate, this is useful to know. If you manage an apartment building, an HOA, a storage facility or any property where tenants and the public pass through a powered gate, it is worth knowing before an incident rather than after.
Two standards, two different jobs
UL 325 covers the operator: the motor and control system that moves the gate, and the safety devices attached to it.
ASTM F2200 covers the gate itself: how the physical gate is built and installed, independent of what drives it.
A gate can satisfy one and fail the other. A brand new compliant operator bolted to a gate that was fabricated without roller guards is not a safe installation, and neither standard on its own would catch that.
What changed in August 2018
This is the part most property owners have never been told.
Since 1 August 2018, UL 325 has required a minimum of two external monitored entrapment protection devices for each entrapment zone, in each direction of travel.
Three words in that sentence carry the weight:
- Two. One device is no longer enough. Previously many installations used a single photo eye, or relied on the operator's own force sensing
- External. Devices separate from the operator's internal force sensing. Force sensing alone stops the gate only after it has already made contact with whatever is in the way
- Monitored. The operator continuously checks the device is alive and working. If a photo eye fails or is disconnected, a monitored operator refuses to run rather than carrying on without protection
That last one matters most. An unmonitored safety device that quietly dies leaves a gate that appears to work perfectly and has no protection at all. Nobody finds out until something is in the way.
The device types
| Type | What it is | How it protects |
|---|---|---|
| Type A | Inherent force sensing, built into the operator | Reverses when it detects excessive force. Acts only after contact |
| Type B1 | Photoelectric sensor, a photo eye | Detects an object in the beam without any contact |
| Type B2 | Safety edge, a pressure-sensitive strip on the gate edge | Stops or reverses the moment it touches something |
The common compliant pairing is a photo eye plus a safety edge, or photo eyes covering each direction of travel. Which combination suits a given gate depends on where a person or vehicle could actually be caught.
What ASTM F2200 requires of the gate
These are physical construction requirements, and they exist because of specific ways people have been injured.
- Guards over exposed rollers. Rollers pull hands and clothing in
- Screening or mesh so hands cannot reach through a gate into a moving section
- No protrusions on the bottom of a swing gate. Anything sticking down catches a foot
- A slide gate that cannot fall over if it is disconnected from the operator. A disconnected slide gate is a heavy free-standing panel
- Gap limits. A slide gate and the fence next to it must not allow a 2.25 inch sphere to pass through, up to 48 inches from the ground. That figure exists because it is roughly a small child's arm
- Entrapment zones on swing gates between 4 and 16 inches must be protected
The gap rule is the one that surprises people. A perfectly ordinary looking slide gate running alongside an ornamental fence can create a shearing gap that closes on anything put through it.
What this means for a gate installed before 2018
It was very likely installed with a single safety device, or with force sensing alone, and that was acceptable at the time. It does not automatically become illegal the day a standard is revised.
What changes is the argument you are left with if someone is hurt. Standards are what an insurer, a lawyer, or an expert witness measures an installation against, and "it met the standard when it went in fifteen years ago" is a much weaker position on a property with tenants than on a private driveway.
Checking your own gate
Five minutes, no tools. This is not a compliance inspection, it is enough to tell you whether the question is worth asking.
- Count the safety devices. Look for photo eyes on posts either side of the opening, and for a rubber safety edge along the leading edge of the gate. Fewer than two external devices is the flag
- Test the photo eye. While the gate closes, break the beam with a broom handle, not your leg. It should stop and reverse
- Test monitoring. With the gate stationary, cover one photo eye lens completely and try to close the gate. A monitored system should refuse to move, or move only while you hold the button down. If it closes normally with a blinded sensor, it is not monitored
- Look at the rollers on a slide gate. Exposed and unguarded is a finding
- Look at the gap between a slide gate and the adjacent fence, at child height
- Check the bottom of a swing gate for anything protruding downward
If you manage property, document it
The single most useful thing a property manager can do is have the current state written down, with dates. What devices exist, what was tested, what was found, what was fixed and when.
An undocumented gate that is fine looks identical to an undocumented gate that has been failing for two years. A written record turns the first into a defensible position.
We include gate safety checks in commercial visits and put the findings in writing. How commercial service works.
What upgrading involves
Usually less than people expect. A second monitored photo eye pair, or a safety edge and a control board that supports monitoring, is often enough on a gate whose operator is otherwise sound. Where the operator is old enough that it cannot monitor devices at all, that becomes an operator replacement.
We will tell you which situation your gate is in and what closing the gap would take. We will also tell you if your gate is already in good shape, because on a fair number of properties it is.
Not sure what your gate has? Take a photo of the operator and both gate posts and text it to us. We can usually tell from that what devices are fitted and whether the operator supports monitoring. That costs nothing.
This article summarises published safety standards for general information and is not legal advice or a compliance certification. UL 325 and ASTM F2200 are maintained by their respective organisations, and the current published editions govern.