How to choose a quality automatic gate company

Like every industry, there are plenty of companies offering gate automation, but how do you know who to choose?

Part of the problem is that most people only buy an automatic gate system once or twice, meaning that it’s not so easy to know who’s offering the best solution for you.

What most of us do is to find a friend who’s had a system fitted, and find out what they thought of their installer. Here’s a few questions to ask:

• What did they have done, how much did it cost?
• Is your friend’s gate similar to yours; do you want the same system (see ‘choosing a gate system’)
• Who did they ask to quote and why did they choose that installer
• How long have they had the system, what make is it?
• How reliable is the system?
• Has it gone wrong; if so, how quickly did it get fixed?

It’s unlikely that you’ll get all the answers you need, but it might help you decide what is important when you choose a gate system. Our suggestions are:

1. Use well-known equipment. Cheap gate equipment is often unreliable and, worse, spares are hard to find. To often, we have to recommend a complete new system to owners who thought they were getting a really good deal. Good makes include ATA, BFT, CAME, Casit, Ditec, FAAC, Fadini, GDS and NICE, providing a range of tried and tested products with good spares backup.
2. Get 2 or 3 companies to visit you and recommend a system. This helps you to get to know the firm and to judge whether they are the right supplier for you. Will they be reliable, efficient, tidy – and how will they respond to a breakdown?
3. Get written quotes, so you can compare what’s being offered.

Your Gateways quote will describe

• The product make and model to be supplied, plus any extra items
• How the system will be set up
• What is included, and what is excluded (e.g. power connection to the mains supply)
• Our guarantee
• The price, and payment terms

These 3 steps should provide all you need, to compare between suppliers.