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Garage Door Operators/Gate Operators

AUGUST 25, 2004

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) staff participates in the Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL) Standards Technical Panel (STP) for ANSI/UL 325, Safety for Door, Drapery, Gate, Louver, and Window Operators and Systems. CPSC staff participation allows us to provide input into changes to the voluntary standard and the associated CPSC mandatory safety rule (16 CFR part 1211), and to provide the Commission with the earliest possible notification of proposed changes to the rule.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 1990 (Improvement Act) mandated that automatic residential garage door operators (GDOs) manufactured on or after January 1, 1991 conform to the entrapment protection requirements of the 1988 version of UL 325. On June 19, 1991, the Commission issued the garage door operator standard (16 CFR Part 1211).

The Improvement Act provides that when UL makes changes to the entrapment protection provisions of UL 325, UL must notify the Commission of the proposed changes. Those changes must be incorporated into the Commission rule unless the Commission notifies UL within 30 days that the Commission has determined the revisions do not carry out the purposes of the Improvement Act. The mandatory safety rule has been changed two times since it was first issued in 1991.

Recently, the CPSC staff identified several incidents in which children became trapped under partially open garage doors. The staff has been working with the UL STP to modify UL 325 in order to reduce the likelihood of these incidents. The CPSC staff provided In-Depth-Investigations and comments to the STP.

The CPSC Directorate for Epidemiology provided an update of Automatic Garage Door and Garage Door Openers Entrapment Incidents to Children under 15 Years of Age Reported to CPSC Between December 1, 1996 and June 30, 2003. The update indicates that between March 1982 and November 1996, there were 62 deaths and 49 injuries to children under 15 years of age associated with automatic garage doors and garage door openers. There were also 75 consumer complaints associated with potential entrapment hazards reported to CPSC during this period.  

Additional Information

Fact Sheets:

Incident Data:

  • Update of Automatic Garage Door and Garage Door Openers Entrapment Incidents. October 7, 2003

Voluntary Standard and Code Activities:

  • DASMA 166 ANSI Canvas Ballot - December 15, 2006. CPSC staff ANSI Ballot and Letter on Standard for Section Interfaces on Residential Garage Door Systems
  • Correspondence to Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.
  • August 28, 2003. CPSC staff comments regarding proposed requirements for the 5th Edition of UL 325 (Reference: UL Bulletin dated June 16, 2003)

Mandatory Standards:

Underwriters Laboratories Inc.

  • For further information concerning ANSI/UL 325 Standard for Safety for Door, Drapery, Gate, Louver, and Window Operators and Systems, please contact Joe Musso at Joseph.R.Musso@us.ul.com

Door and Access Systems Manufacturers Association (DASMA):

Contact CPSC

Report an unsafe product