Gates near you

Gates share a permitted development class with fences and walls, covering the erection, construction, maintenance, improvement or alteration of a gate, fence, wall or other means of enclosure. The limit in England is one metre above ground level where the enclosure is adjacent to a highway used, or designed to be used, by vehicular traffic, and two metres elsewhere. An entrance gate stands precisely at that junction, so a gate of any normal height across a driveway that opens onto a public road is likely to need permission unless the position or the road takes it outside the limit.

The same removals of the right apply as for fencing: no permitted development within the curtilage of a listed building, none where the boundary adjoins a neighbouring listed building, and none where an article four direction or a planning condition has taken the right away. Replacing an existing gate does not license making it taller, because maintenance and alteration are permitted only up to the original height or the applicable limit, whichever is greater.

Two practical points sit alongside the planning question. A gate that swings outwards over a pavement is a different proposition from one that opens inwards, and where a new or altered vehicle access is involved the highway authority has its own say through the dropped kerb process. Settle both before the piers are built, since a gate is considerably harder to move afterwards than a line on a drawing.

The hazard is not obvious to look at, which is part of the problem. A large gate carries enough force in ordinary operation to cause crushing injuries, and it moves in an area where children play and pedestrians walk. HSE's own summary is that powered gates must be properly designed, taking into account their location and weather conditions, supplied with a complete set of documentation including User Instructions, installed and maintained by competent contractors, and regularly checked, which may include inspection, testing and adjustment. Its instruction where a powered gate is found to be dangerous is unambiguous: it should be taken out of use immediately until all of the safety concerns have been adequately addressed.

An HSE safety notice issued on 26 February 2010 explains why generic reassurance is not enough. It records that an incident involving the death of a nine year old child highlighted possible risks to pedestrians from using electrically powered gates. The motors were fitted with amperometric sensors intended to detect an obstacle once the gates were in motion, and in that case the sensors were ineffective due to the forces involved at the spine of the gate. A light beam sensor was present but, as the notice puts it, was not designed to identify the presence of a person in the crushing zone nor prevent a person from activating the gates.

The lesson for a homeowner is specific rather than general. Ask which hazard each safety device is there to address, and where the gaps are. A photocell across the opening does not protect the hinge side; an obstacle detection system that relies on motor current may not react at the point where leverage is greatest. Nobody should be relying on a single device.

The duties sit in a place that surprises most homeowners. HSE explains that manufacturers must comply with the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 and provide a Declaration of Conformity and comprehensive User Instructions, and that where an installer assembles a gate from components they become the Responsible Person with the full obligations of a manufacturer. Installers, maintainers and landlords have duties under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 towards people they do not employ, and the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 apply to commercial premises.

Then comes the part worth reading twice. HSE states that health and safety law does not apply to owners of powered gates on domestic, privately owned premises, while still recommending regular checks. So on a private drive the statutory pressure falls on the firms that supply, install and service the gate rather than on the household, which means the household's protection is the contract, the documentation and the servicing arrangement it insists on.

If a gate looks unsafe, HSE sets out where to take it. Raise it with the gate owner or the person responsible for the site, preferably in writing. Report gates on industrial, agricultural or construction sites, or in common residential areas, to HSE. Commercial premises such as shops, warehouses, car parks and leisure venues go to the relevant local authority environmental health department. For a gate supplied to private domestic premises, HSE directs you to the local Trading Standards service.

There is no single national licence for gate installation, so the comparison has to be built out of specifics. Ask a prospective installer which safety devices they are proposing and what hazard each one addresses, whether they will carry out force testing and provide the results, who will do the electrical work and under which competent person scheme it will be certified, and what the servicing interval and cost look like after the first year. An installer who assembles a gate from components is taking on the obligations of a manufacturer, so ask directly whether they are supplying a complete certified system or building one.

Compare the handover pack as carefully as the price. A complete set of documentation including User Instructions covering routine maintenance and the nature and periodicity of safety checks is what HSE expects to be supplied, and it is also what a future owner or a future engineer will need.

LokalMatch is the way to get those conversations started. You describe the gate once, including the opening width, whether it will be automated, what it opens onto and whether there is already a power supply, and gate and fence contractors covering your postcode contact you directly. They pay for the requests they receive, so there is no charge to a homeowner for posting one. LokalMatch does not install gates and does not set prices, and it does not vet, rank or recommend any installer, so the questions about safety devices, force testing and certification are yours to ask.