Garage Door Laws — Help Ensure Consumers Safety

Several garage door laws have been made for consumers’ safety because till date many kids have been injured due to unsafe garage doors. Earlier garage door manufacturers have no standard regulations and requirements to follow while designing and manufacturing these doors. To make these doors safe the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act 1990 was passed which requires that all residential garage door operators manufactured after January 1, 1991, should meet the entrapment protection provisions for garage door operators contained in the Underwriters Laboratories' (UL). These provisions are being codified by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)*.

Instead of buying garage doors from bargain sales and other non-competitive manufacturers, you should buy your garage doors from reputed and certified manufacturers. While buying any garage door you should be very careful as these bargains could be dangerous because these products are not certified and approved for safety and quality. Additionally, we also know that these doors will last for years, generally not something we buy every year, so can be thought of one time investment. Moreover, cost of replacement could be considerable in terms of money as well as efforts. Even for maintenance and replacement you should contact licensed professionals, as proper fitting is as crucial as the door mechanism itself. While buying new garage door, it is always better to buy from a reputed garage door company like Martin Doors and Wayne-Dalton because their products are safe and meet every garage door law as specified by CPSC.

New safety laws enforce manufacturers to make doors and openers safe, and should therefore equipped with all required safety features. According to new laws all garage door operators must provide a reversing system to reverse a downward moving door within two seconds after the door hits a two-inch high test block placed on the floor in the door's path. Additionally, to make the garage doors safer, new law also requires that manufacturers must provide purchasers of garage door operators with a cautionary label to be placed where it can be seen clearly. Generally, it consists of instructions to detach the operator from the door, and cautions users about the potential risk of injuries. Similarly, a second label instructs homeowners how to disconnect the unit from the door in emergency conditions. As per the new requirements, the CPSC also directed the staff to draft proposed rules for certification and record-keeping requirements for firms that manufacture or import garage door operators. We as a consumer and a good citizen should follow these requirements and should buy products only from certified and approved companies to help make society a safer place to live.

About The Author:

John Wright is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.garage-doors-n-openers.com. Find everything you need to know about free garage plans, commercial and residential openers, installation tips, and more.