What happens when a loading dock door jams during peak delivery hours? In Australia, downtime can cost thousands of dollars per hour, and the losses add up fast. Fortunately, you can prevent most commercial garage door failures through regular maintenance.
Since 2008, Doors Direct has serviced Brisbane commercial properties. So we know how proper care helps you stop expensive door failures.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the true cost of downtime and Work Health and Safety (WHS) rules. We’ll also share a list of important maintenance tasks every business must know.
Read on to learn how you can protect your business from unexpected shutdowns.
The Impact of Unplanned Business Downtime
When your commercial garage door fails, the repair bill is only the beginning. After all, your entire operation stops, and the revenue starts draining by the hour. In fact, Australian industrial businesses lose an average of $349,000 per hour during unplanned outages.
It’s time to get more specific and find out the actual downtime costs of your operation, plus what WHS say about commercial doors (Warning: It won’t be a pleasant read).
Calculating True Downtime Costs
Let’s be real. Direct costs hit you first, and they hit hard. Specifically, when trucks can’t reach your loading dock due to a broken garage door, you lose sales straight away. You also pay your staff even while they wait with nothing to do.
Next up, the repair bills arrive, and emergency call-outs often cost about three times the usual rate. But you know what makes everything worse? You may need to rent temporary gear, and those charges add up fast (that “quick fix” always eats more cash than expected).
Now, the direct costs sting for sure, but the hidden ones can hurt you for much longer. For example, when you miss delivery deadlines, clients start to lose trust. And when shipments run late, contracts often hit you with penalty fees. Your reputation takes a knock because customers see you can’t keep everyday operations running.
A Brisbane warehouse manager once told us that one broken door cost the site $15,000 at first. Then the same breakdown piled on another $8,000 in penalties the next week.
Not liking it so far? We warned you… It was never going to be a pleasant read!
WHS Compliance for Industrial Doors
Work Health and Safety (WHS) regulations classify commercial garage doors as workplace equipment that must stay safe and functional. The problem is that a broken door becomes a safety hazard for staff and visitors.
More importantly, WHS laws say you need to keep access in and out of your workplace safe at all times. Can you guess what’s coming next?
Well, if your main garage door fails, you might trap vehicles inside or even block an emergency exit. In that case, inspectors can shut down your site until you fix the issue. These shutdowns also bring legal fees on top of repair costs.
All of that sums up to another big financial hit… one you could avoid with simple, regular maintenance.
Are you noticing the importance of regular garage door maintenance? We hope that you are.
Pro-Tip: Keep a simple logbook for every garage door service and repair. It helps you spot problems early, and it gives you proof for inspectors.
Your Essential Maintenance Checklist
Regular maintenance can catch problems before they shut down your business. The great thing is that most of these checks only take a few minutes, and you can do them yourself with simple tools. But you should have a clear maintenance checklist for the best outcome.
Now, you might be thinking, “How do I even put that list together?” Well, don’t worry. We’ll walk you through it.
Here is your practical guide to keeping commercial garage doors running smoothly.
Mechanical Maintenance for Your Garage Door
Honestly, your door’s moving parts go through a lot every day (show some love to them!). For instance, springs lift hundreds of kilograms, rollers guide the door along tracks, and cables handle massive tension.
In short, when these parts fail, repairs cost thousands, and downtime kills productivity.
Use the checklist below to deal with the basic mechanical maintenance:
- Inspect Springs and Cables: The springs and lifting cables take the full weight of your door, so pay attention to their condition. Look for rust, frayed strands, or loss of tension, and write down any changes. When you notice damage, it’s time to call in a pro.
- Watch Rollers and Hinges: Strange sounds often give you the first warning. Grinding, scraping, or squeaking usually means something’s off. Make sure the rollers sit properly in their tracks, and check that hinges are in place.
- Test Door Balance by Hand: A balanced door should hold its spot when you lift it halfway. But how to check if the balance is fine? Just disconnect the motor and lift the door to check until it’s halfway open. If it slides down or feels heavy, the spring tension isn’t right, and a professional needs to adjust it.
- Clean the Tracks: Over time, dirt and grease collect in the tracks, and that waste makes the door move roughly. That’s why it’s a good idea to wipe tracks with a clean cloth to clear out the mess. Once the tracks are clean, the rollers will glide easily, and the motor won’t struggle as much.
- Use the Right Lubricant: There are many lubricants available in the market, but they don’t work the same. Silicone spray or white lithium grease helps hinges, rollers, and springs move freely. Oh, don’t forget to avoid heavy oils on the tracks, though. They collect dirt and cause rollers to slide.
Electrical Safety Checks for Carpark Doors
Modern commercial doors come with sensors and safety systems that keep people safe and meet Australian rules. The catch is that these parts only work if you test them often. That’s why it’s important to run quick checks each month.
If these systems fail, you risk accidents, and you also open the door to serious legal trouble for your business (yeah, it’s funny how metaphorical doors never seem to jam).
So how do you ensure these safety systems work? Let’s run through a few quick tests you can do yourself:
- Test for Obstacles: If the door touches a block of wood on the ground, it should reverse right away. You can place a piece of wood where the door closes and watch for that quick change in direction. This reaction shows your pressure-sensitive auto-reverse is working.
- Check Photo-Eye Beams: While the door closes, wave an object through the light beams near the bottom of the tracks. The door should stop instantly and reverse direction. A simple test like that proves your sensors line up properly and work as they should.
- Test Control Panels: Wall-mounted panels need to respond when you press them. Try each button to see if it sticks, and look at the indicator lights as well. Normal lights stay steady, but flickering can mean a loose connection that needs professional attention.
- Look at Wiring: Wiring often shows warning signs if you take a close look. Particularly, frayed, chewed, or loose wires around the motor or control panels point to trouble. And don’t touch damaged wires when you find them. Just note the damage and call a service technician.
If you stay consistent with these checks, you’ll be surprised to see how much smoother your doors will always run.
Adjusting Your Maintenance Schedule
Frankly, there’s no such thing as one schedule that suits every commercial door. Some doors only open a few times a day for a few deliveries, while others run nonstop in busy warehouses.
We’ll now explain the things you need to consider while creating your maintenance schedule.
Factoring in Your Organisation Size
Let’s be practical. Not every door works the same way, and that means not every door needs the same care. For example, a workshop door that opens only a few times a day has lighter demands. But a warehouse door running around the clock needs frequent attention and care.
Feeling a little lost here? That’s totally normal. So here’s a bit more specific information to help you understand better.
When one door stays under 3000 cycles a year, yearly maintenance is enough. But wait, what if the count rises to between 3000 and 7500? That’s when a six-month check is sufficient. Though once the number climbs beyond 7500, you need to schedule maintenance every quarter.
Makes sense now, yeah? Good, let’s move on to the next part.
Professional Servicing for Commercial Garage Doors
Professional servicing covers high-risk jobs like spring adjustments, motor repairs, and cable replacements. These tasks can cause serious injuries if anyone handles them without training (trust us, YouTube won’t save you here).
Just as importantly, professional technicians often notice issues you’d miss, like parts starting to wear out or tracks that start to bend out of shape. They also use better lubricants and specialised tools, which add to the long-term reliability of your door.
Last but not least, professional servicing keeps your warranty valid and meets insurance rules for workplace safety. Plus, when a spring snaps or a motor gives out, expert repair fixes the issue properly so the problem doesn’t return.
That’s a win for both safety and your budget.
Pro-Tip: Grab a few easy-to-replace parts now and tuck them away. When a roller cracks or a battery dies, you’ll look like the hero who kept the doors moving.
Protecting Your Business Operations
Regular maintenance keeps Australian businesses moving smoothly. Even then, a clear plan helps you detect small issues early, so they never catch you off guard. And honestly, it feels better to stay ahead of problems than to deal with massive bills after a sudden breakdown.
In this article, we’ve discussed the actual costs of your commercial garage door’s downtime. We’ve also walked you through simple checks you can do safely and explained how to time your maintenance based on how much your door gets used.
Don’t wait until your door stops working to see how much it affects your business every day. Call Doors Direct today for professional commercial maintenance.
