Tasmania names roller doors in its rules
Tasmania's building rules mention roller doors by name. Item 2.3.4 of the Director's Determination on categories of building work, version 1.4, applying from 12 April 2021, lists the installation of a roller shutter, roller door or grilled door. It is low risk work, the limit is unlimited, council does not need to be told, and against the question of whether a competent person can do the work, the answer is yes.
The catch is the opening. That item covers putting the door in, not making a new hole in a wall for it, so a bigger opening in a shed or garage is a separate question for council or a building surveyor.
Steel-Line's roller door series
| Opening width | Headroom guide | |
|---|---|---|
| "A" series | 750mm to 3430mm | 430mm to 510mm |
| "AA" series | 3435mm to 5500mm | 430mm to 510mm |
| "B" light industrial | 2855mm to 5500mm | Up to 570mm |
Keeping weather and leaves out
Steel-Line puts a PVC weather seal in the aluminium bottom rail of its roller doors and offers a brush seal for the side guides. After a storm like May 2018's, when Hobart recorded 128 millimetres of rain and a third of it fell in one hour, it is worth checking the bottom seal for splits or gaps.
Adding a motor
Gliderol says its Glidermatic Heavy Duty opener suits roller doors up to 12 square metres and needs 120mm of side room, and its Glidermatic Dual handles larger doors up to 16 square metres. Plugging an opener into an existing socket is not electrical work under Tasmania's regulations, but a new power point is, and a licensed electrician fits it.
Roller doors around Hobart
Bushfire-prone land
Fires came within two kilometres of the CBD on Black Tuesday in 1967. If your land is on the council's bushfire-prone overlay, ask what your Bushfire Attack Level means for a new door before choosing one.
Like for like
Swapping an old roller door for a similar one is maintenance under Tasmania's Determination, and in a bushfire hazard area the new materials must meet the original BAL.
Sheds
For a wide shed door, Steel-Line's "B" series goes to 5500mm wide.
What we would do
Ask the door specialist to measure from the top of the opening to the lowest thing above it, whether that is a beam, a gutter or the roof sheet. A roller door's drum lives in that space, and it decides which series and size you can have.