- Location
- Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
- Main postcode district
- CO15
- Nearby (straight line)
- Harwich (12 miles), Colchester (13 miles) and Felixstowe (15 miles)
- Survey and quote
- Free, with a fixed written quote
A PVC strip curtain is a row of flexible, overlapping plastic strips hung from a rail across a doorway, so that people and vehicles can pass through while the strips fall back to close the gap behind them. At loading bays they hang behind the main door or across internal openings, reducing draughts, dust and temperature loss for much less than the cost of a powered door.
Where does this fit at a dock in Clacton-on-Sea?
In a warehouse in Clacton-on-Sea where doors stay open for much of the shift, strip curtains offer a practical first step before considering a high-speed door. Where strips at a site in Clacton-on-Sea have turned cloudy and scratched, replacing them restores visibility for drivers and pedestrians sharing the opening.
Smaller trade units in Clacton-on-Sea with a single goods door may find a strip curtain the most economical way to keep the working area warmer in winter.
Before anything is ordered, we visit your site in Clacton-on-Sea for a free survey and then send a written quote with a fixed price. From that point we manage the installation, coordinating delivery, access and any other trades. Fitting is done by specialist installation engineers engaged and managed by us, at times that suit your operation, including out of hours where agreed. You get a tested installation, a demonstration for your team and the manufacturer documentation.
Do strip curtains count towards building energy rules?
A strip curtain does not replace the need for a compliant door: where a new or replacement external loading bay door is fitted, it is the door that has to meet the energy rules.
- England: Approved Document L (2021) Volume 2 sets a limiting U-value of 1.3 W/m²K for vehicle access and similar large doors in new and replacement work.
- Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: each nation has its own energy rules, through Approved Document L for Wales, Section 6 of the Scottish Building Standards Technical Handbook, and Technical Booklet F2 in Northern Ireland. We confirm what applies to your nation and project.
What a strip curtain does well is reduce the air moving through an opening while the door is open for loading. That helps a heated or chilled building, even though the curtain is not the door.
Workplace safety still applies around the curtain: strips should stay clear enough for drivers and pedestrians to see each other. HSE is the regulator in Great Britain and HSENI in Northern Ireland.
How are strip curtains fitted to a loading bay opening?
Strip curtains are fitted by fixing a rail across the head of the opening and hanging the strips from it, a job that usually takes an hour or two per opening and needs no power supply.
- Fixed rails: bolted to the lintel or wall above the opening, with strips hooked or clamped on.
- Sliding rails: let the whole curtain be pushed to one side for wide loads or warmer months.
- Swing-away rails: hinge back against the wall, useful where a door track runs close to the head of the opening.
At a dock the curtain usually sits just inside the main door, so we check it will not snag the door's bottom edge, the leveller lip or any tracks. From you we need the opening clear for the visit and agreement on whether strips should reach the floor or stop just above it. Strips that drag on the floor wear quickly and can catch on pallet trucks.
The same published guide range applies across England; access, out-of-hours working and site conditions are confirmed at the free survey.
What we look at on site
- Control positions, isolators and any existing interlocks
- Gaps around trailers where heated or chilled air escapes
- Wheel guide positions and yard markings for reversing vehicles
- Asbestos register and any other site hazard information
- Temperature requirements for chilled, frozen or ambient goods
- Age and condition of the equipment already in place
Options to discuss
Ribbed strips
Strips with raised ribs that take the abrasion from forklifts and pallets, helping them stay clearer for longer at busy openings.
Low-temperature strips
A grade formulated to stay flexible in chillers and freezers, where standard strips would stiffen, crack and stop falling back into place.
Planning, building control and safety law in England
Workplace safety in England is regulated by HSE. For a loading bay in Clacton-on-Sea, that means doors meeting regulation 18 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, equipment maintained under PUWER and suitable safeguards against vehicles driving away too early. We check what applies at survey and design the bay accordingly.
Questions about PVC strip curtains in Clacton-on-Sea
Is VAT included in your guide prices for PVC strip curtains?
No. Our customers are businesses, so guide prices exclude VAT, which is added at the standard rate. The same guide range applies in Essex as everywhere else: for PVC strip curtains, it is £180 to £1,100 per opening, excluding VAT. It covers supply and fit for a typical installation. Your fixed written quote after the free survey shows the net price, the VAT and exactly what is included.
Which building and safety rules apply to a site in Clacton-on-Sea?
It depends on which UK nation the site is in. England and Wales use Building Regulations approval, Scotland uses building warrants and Northern Ireland uses building control approval from the council. Workplace safety is regulated by HSE in Great Britain and HSENI in Northern Ireland, and energy rules differ between nations. For your site in Clacton-on-Sea, we check what applies at survey and design to it.
Will you deal with building control and planning for a project in Clacton-on-Sea?
We check at survey whether the work is likely to need approval. Forming a new opening or dock pit may need Building Regulations approval, a building warrant or building control approval, depending on the nation, and external structures such as loading houses can need planning permission. Where approval is needed, we explain what is involved, work with your designer or agent, and build it into the programme.
Which grade should we use in a freezer?
Use a low-temperature or polar grade in a freezer. Standard PVC stiffens in the cold, so it cracks and stops falling back into place, leaving gaps. Low-temperature grades are formulated to stay flexible in chilled and frozen conditions, so they keep sealing after each vehicle passes.
Do strip curtains work at an external dock opening?
Yes, strip curtains are often hung just inside an external dock door to reduce draughts while the door is open for loading. They are not a substitute for the door itself, which still closes the opening for security and weather whenever the bay is not in use.
PVC strip curtains near Clacton-on-Sea
Nearby places we cover, measured from Clacton-on-Sea, include Harwich (12 miles), Colchester (13 miles) and Felixstowe (15 miles). Ask if your own town is missing.
Other loading bay services in Clacton-on-Sea
Full guide to PVC strip curtains · Everything we do in Clacton-on-Sea
Ready to talk about a loading bay in Clacton-on-Sea? Call us, or send the details through the quote form.