These galvanised steel shutters roll up and reside in a housing drum above the opening. They are the most widely used style of door in UK industry. Loading bays, lock-ups, trade counters, service entrances, agricultural buildings, warehouses all utilize this door type. These doors are more cost-effective and more durable than most alternatives and come in a wide variety of options. This page focuses on the commercial version. If you are looking for the smaller domestic door, please see roller garage doors.
These doors are listed under Industrial Doors. Related types are sectional overhead doors, rapid-roll doors, and high-security industrial doors.
Curtain types
Curtains are the energetic part of a roller door and come in a variety of specifications.
For general industrial use, the single skin galvanised lath is the standard. Pressed steel slats, typically 75 to 100 mm, are lath sections and protective coatings are applied to prevent corrosion. These types are inexpensive and durable but provide no insulation. This works well in lock-ups, warehouses, and external storage where management of temperature is not a concern.
Used in buildings that need to manage temperature, such as food production and cold storage, the insulated double-skin lath is constructed similarly to a standard domestic insulated roller door, but uses heavier lath sections, to be 95 mm or 122 mm. For these types, U-values can be expected to range from 1.5 to 2.5 W/m²K.
Curtains can also be constructed with a lath that has a series of holes pressed in it. This is used in shopfronts and security applications where visibility through the curtain is necessary but a near solid surface is required. It is standard in retail-facing commercial buildings, though less so in purely industrial applications.
Punched window lath has some sections that have a thickness of glass inside the curtain. It allows the staff to see in or see out without raising the whole door. It will likely add to both the cost and the complexity, so you should specify it only where you absolutely must.
Motor and operation
With industrial roller shutters that are more than about 3 meters wide, the shutters are essentially always electric. Below that measurement, manual chain operation is still the norm for smaller doors and lock-ups where operating frequencies are low, and no electricity is available.
Three numbers drive the motor specification: size of the door, the total weight of the door (curtain plus drum), and the required cycle rate. The cycle rate is usually the specification that is most commonly undershot.
A motor that is sized to handle 10 cycles per hour will burn out if it is installed on a door that is used 50 times per hour. Distribution center bay doors can see 300-500 cycles a day, and manufacturing facilities with internal door zones can see thousands. If a door is operating that often, the motor must be oversized for the task, and the duty cycle rating (S2, S3, S4) must also be listed on the specification.
Operation Options:
- Push-button control (manual hold-to-run)
- Pull-cord or chain (for small manual doors)
- Remote control (handheld or vehicle-mounted)
- Auto-open via Photocells (when vehicles approach)
- Induction loop (auto-open when vehicles drive over a road-installed sensor)
- Building Management Systems (for larger buildings) integration
Safety and Compliance
Industrial roller shutters where employees work fall under the Machinery Directive and PUWER. This means that compliance is mandatory, not optional.
Force limitation — the motor should reverse the shutter if it meets resistance when closing. This is commonly missing on older installs, however must be on new installs.
Photocell or safety edge — a beam across the opening or a pressure-sensitive bottom edge that will reverse the shutter if a ground obstruction is detected. Both can be provided, however, one is the absolute minimum.
Emergency Stop — A button that is reachable from the operating position that will stop the shutter mid-cycle.
Manual override — a hand chain or pull cord which allows the shutter to be operated if power is lost. This is required on each and every electric industrial shutter.
Annual Inspection — PUWER states that a competent person must inspect the shutter at least once a year. This is typically included in maintenance packages, however, if you do not hold a contract, you must arrange for this yourself.
CE or UKCA marking — New industrial doors fitted in the UK must carry UKCA marking (CE remains acceptable in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework). No marking, no compliance.
A site audit will check for all of this. Failing a single one of these will mean the shutter cannot be used until it is remediated.
Insulation, security, and energy
A lath door is always losing heat. All lath gaps create thermal bridges. Insulating laths offer the best payback under the following:
- Unheated space (ambient storage): single-skin is fine.
- Heated space (occupied work area): insulating lath pays back over the door’s life.
- Temperature-controlled (cold store, food, pharmaceutical): insulated is mandatory, and is usually combined with an air curtain or a rapid-roll inner door to minimize the air change.
For security, standard galvanised lath doors will deter opportunistic theft. For higher risk sites (distribution centres, secure storage, sites prone to stock loss) specify high-security lath doors with LPS-rated curtains, reinforced lath guides, anti-lift bottom rails, and extra internal locking points. While the price leap is significant, it is the only right answer for the right site.
What it costs
UK fitted prices for a single-bay industrial roller shutter for 2026:
- Manual single-skin small opening (under 3m): £1,100 minimum
- Electric single-skin, 3–4m wide, light-duty motor: £2,200–£3,500
- Electric insulated, 3–4m wide, mid-duty motor: £3,500–£5,500
- Electric insulated, 4–6m wide, heavy-duty motor: £5,000–£8,500
- High-security LPS-rated, 3–4m wide: £6,500–£12,000+
Prices will jump for larger doors, multi-bay installations, and specialist applications (food-grade, hygienic finish, marine environment). Maintenance contracts run £180–£450 a year per door depending on the cycle rate and specification.
The problems occurring repeatedly with industrial roller shutters can be classified into a few categories.
The most common of these problems is failing to specify the correct motor for the intended cycle rate. A standard motor paired with heavy usage results in a burnout in less than 2 years. Typically, the cost of replacement plus the downtime is much more than the cost of the motor.
Another common problem is a failure to complete a survey. If the door does not accommodate the lintel detail or interference with existing services occurs, it will be more expensive to fix this problem than the original installation.
Not performing Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) is also a common occurrence. When a roller shutter is neglected for 3 years, it will require replacement of bearings, seals, servicing of the motor, and curtain repairs. PPM, on a quarterly or semi-annual basis, provides servicing that will repair smaller issues before larger failures occur.
Choosing the lowest price is the final occurrence of the common problems listed. A roller shutter door that costs £2,500 with a 12-month warranty is the cheapest option, but will likely cost more in years 2-5 than a roller shutter door that costs £3,500 from an established supplier with a 5-year warranty and servicing network.
The roller shutters that are the correct option, properly installed, and on a preventative maintenance schedule, will last 15-20 years before large repairs are required. Without the PPM, they will only last 3-5 years.