It is important to understand that the primary application of adding gate operators is for convenience of use. Don’t assume that the gate will automatically be secure!

For instance, a rising vehicle barrier on a car park entrance is not for security – it is there for traffic management. If security is the main criteria, in this case, adding a hydraulic rising bollard capable of withstanding significant vehicle impact would be more appropriate.

Gate Operators can be forced to a greater or lesser extent – over a certain gate leaf width manufacturers recommend that a locking device such as an Electro-Magnetic Lock is employed to avoid the operator from being damaged.

A Sliding Gate System is usually considered more secure than Swing Gates; please feel free to discuss the merits of either system with our surveyor.

Electric operated gates can be very secure to an attempted forced entry if they are specified and built correctly. Factors such as the size and weight along with the actual gate design can make a difference in terms of the actual gate and its ability to resist attempted and forced break ins. Obviously a tall (over 2m high) and solid gate design will stop someone from jumping easily over the gate, but the same gates with inferior electric motor drives could possibly be forced open easily by the same person. It is about the gate design, the construction and integrity and then the motors used on the gates. All of these factors will contribute to whether the gates are really secure or not.

Some open lattice gate designs actively provide a climbing frame for an agile person to simply climb straight up and over, but this is a person and not a vehicle. If you want to stop a vehicle you have to go to higher levels of specification and adopt electric locks for example to hold the gates in combination with the motor drives. Ram raiding with intent of course is a different level again and often we suggest other security products are used in front of or behind the gates such as rising bollards or rising ramps. All this is possible depending on what you want to prevent.

Swing gates can be forced open where a sliding gate cannot because they are set behind the gate posts, so any lateral force applied from the outside is held far better than gates which swing inwards generally.
Different types of electric operators provide different levels of resistance and you also have hydraulic and mechanical drives, all with different sizes and power outputs. The motors are also used of course to resist wind loading, a particular issue on solid swing gates when they are larger.

When customers ask about security it is best understood what the security referred to is preventing? In other words, what is the perceived threat?

If you are trying to stop a person from entering your property with the gates then perhaps the gate design and the height will be most relevant so this can cover either a sliding or a swing gate system but focus on the design of the gate primarily.

If you are trying to stop a vehicle entering and you think the vehicle might try to ram the gates then this is far more serious and we would perhaps look at sliding gate systems first with a strong gate construction and installation method.

Nearly every single electric gate system we install wil have an auto close facility so the gates close after about 30 seconds every time. This is the way to stop the majority of potential issues with security as most thieves will not enter a property if it has a barrier to entry and look for an easier entry from an open gate or access. A closed gate does far more than you think in reality so just keeping the gates closed is 90% of the issues solved.

Those who want to force entry are a different issue and this is when you look at the design, the motor drives and additional locking facilities as well as higher level security access control systems.

We like to think all our electric gate systems offer far greater security just by being closed and reliability closing each time. If your issue is a far greater security threat, then we can look to add security bollards or other devices behind or in front of the main gates to work in conjunction with the gates and add serious security, especially against vehicle access.