Proposed safety legislation causes controversy

When Chamberlain learned that Martin Door’s new “Soft Touch” door and operator system had received approval from UL — without any secondary external reversal system such as photo eyes — they were shocked, says Karasek. “We objected strongly and lodged several complaints with CPCS and UL. Essentially, UL reinterpreted 325 in such a way that they basically changed the standard without getting approval from the technical panel.”

Meanwhile, Giarratana and Dave Martin, chairman of Martin Door, stand by their contact safety technology, noting it has been tested rigorously by UL. “We met every comma and period in that standard – the approval took almost a year and it was very strenuous,” argues Giarratana. “[UL] took a very, very serious approach — at times we almost threw up our hands because they got so detailed about it, but that’s the way listings are.”

In a written response from Martin Door, Dave Martin points out that IRs are not infallible, and explains the safety features of their system. “The photo eye system works great if a person or object is moving through the door opening as the door begins to close. If a person or object is in the path of the closing door, outside the photo eye beam or straddling it, there is no protection against contact from the closing door. Photo eyes are installed several inches back from the door opening, outside the path of a closing door. Martin’s Soft Touch system automatically reverses the door when it meets 15 pounds of resistance in the down cycle and stops the door with 25 pounds of resistance on the up cycle—eliminating the risk of small children being able to ride the garage door.”

Chamberlain is not convinced, and stresses that their major contention is that UL has erroneously accepted it under a “poorly written loophole” to the requirement for an external secondary reversal system approved by the product safety testing and certification organization in the late 1990s — an exception, Karasek reminds, that was approved with the verbal agreement within the industry that only jackshaft operators (Martin’s system uses a trolley-based operator) would ever be allowed under that loophole.