The standards that govern garage doors

Published by UL. Covers entrapment protection on door, gate and window operators. This is the standard the 1993 federal mandate points to for residential garage door openers.

It requires primary entrapment protection (the operator reverses on contact with an obstruction) and secondary entrapment protection (a photo eye or sensing edge that reverses before contact).

What you can verify: that two photo-eye units are mounted within about six inches of the floor and both show a steady light, and that the door reverses when it touches a solid object laid flat in its path.

Published by the Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association. Specifies construction, performance and testing for sectional doors, and provides the standard vocabulary for door types and section construction.

What you can verify: the manufacturer label inside the door, which identifies model and series. That label is what determines whether a matching replacement section still exists, which is usually the deciding factor between a $400 panel repair and a $1,800 door replacement.

DASMA 108 is the standard test method for determining a door's structural wind load resistance. DASMA 115 covers missile impact.

These are what a wind rating is measured against. A wind-rated door is not simply heavier steel — it requires horizontal reinforcement struts across every section, heavier-gauge hinges, and track brackets anchored into structure.

ASTM E1886 is the test method for performance of exterior windows, doors and shutters impacted by missiles and exposed to cyclic pressure. E1996 is the specification that sets which missiles apply where.

Large-missile testing is what impact-rated doors in coastal high-wind zones are certified against.

Not a standard but a product approval, issued by Miami-Dade County. Inside Florida's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone — Miami-Dade and Broward counties — every garage door must carry one.

A statewide Florida Product Approval is not a substitute inside those two counties. This catches people out when comparing quotes: a door legal in Orlando may not be legal in Hialeah.

Governs how a garage door's thermal performance is determined. Relevant because manufacturers quote R-value inconsistently.

A centre-of-panel figure ignores the section joints and the perimeter, which is where most of the loss actually happens. Comparing doors by construction type — single, double or triple layer — is more reliable than comparing the numbers on the brochure.