Strong winds kept slamming the door open, ripping out the overhead door closer or its arm – and a door stop on the floor is not allowed

This was the challenge faced by those responsible for the town hall and civic centre in Neusäß

The people in charge of the Neusäß town hall were worried about the main entrance door: it is equipped with an overhead door closer that has a hold-open at 90°. This is because the civic centre is also the town hall, where many events, including cultural ones, take place throughout the year. And when many visitors stream into the building, the door should remain open for a while. However, the hold-open does not withstand the forces of the wind, so that the overhead door closer or its arm are torn out with great regularity in strong winds.

The closest option, a stop on the floor, could have prevented the door from opening beyond 90°. This might have reduced the risk of a broken overhead door closer and a damaged door, but only by increasing the risk of visitors to the town hall tripping over the stop and coming to harm.

Therefore, door stops on the floor are not permitted in public areas – unless they are recognisable as a clear obstacle, which would have meant, for example, to install a metal post on the floor, which wouldn’t have been practical and would also have caused high costs.

Stadthalle Neusäß, Eingangstüren

Entrance to the civic center and town hall of Neusäß. Under strong winds, the overhead door closer with integrated hold-open at 90° broke several times and the door slammed open. A stop on the floor is not permitted in public areas, as it poses a tripping hazard – a problem many public building managers have to face.

DICTATOR back check solves the problem – reliably and cost-effectively

Luckily, help was not far away – because DICTATOR Technik is located in Neusäß near Augsburg, just a few minutes’ walk from the “Stadthalle”, which houses the civic centre as well as large event halls. A back check could solve all problems at once:

  • The wind can no longer slam the door open abruptly, as the back check slows down the opening movement and thus opens the door slowly up to 90°.
  • The hold-open integrated in the overhead door closer is supported by the hold-open of the back check, so that the door remains safely in the open position even in windy conditions.
  • A stop on the floor was not necessary because the back check limits the opening angle to the desired position.

Even if no events are taking place at the moment due to the Covid pandemic, the civic centre and town hall are now well prepared for visitors in the future.

DICTATOR consultation service solves tricky installation situation

It was not easy to install the back check in a way that would work properly and safely in the long run. It had to be installed below the overhead door closer, but the glazing bead could not be drilled into. Therefore, a mounting plate had to be fitted, which was fixed at the top of the door frame.

The second difficulty was the position of the bar door handle. An exact calculation of the mounting position of the back check and the required fixing accessories was necessary to ensure optimal function and smooth interaction with the overhead door closer and door handle.

Since a perfect function depends decisively on the correct mounting position, DICTATOR’s calculation and consultation service is always included, even for single units. This way, everyone can rest asured that they’ll get the perfect solution – and for us at DICTATOR this is not only a matter of professional standards, but also a matter of the heart.

Fluchtweg mit Türöffnungsbegrenzer

The entrance/exit area is also an escape route. A back check is permissible in these cases, as long as a few factors are taken into account. DICTATOR will be happy to advise on each case individually.

Montageplatte für Türöffnungsbegrenzer an Glastür

For the permanent and secure attachment of the back check to the door, a 4 mm thick mounting plate was installed on the door frame following the advice of DICTATOR. As the installation of the back check has to be able to absorb very high loads in gusts of wind, the large mounting plate is necessary to distribute the load as evenly as possible over the whole area with the three fixing points to the door frame.

Türöffnungsbegrenzer im Rathaus Neusäß

The bar door handle reaching to the upper edge of the door did not leave much room for fixing the back check. This made it all the more important to choose and calculate the model precisely in order to achieve a perfect function.

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