Automatic sliding doors for a small shop: cost, rules and retrofitting

An automatic door suits a small shop that has prams, trolleys, deliveries or customers with full hands. It also adds moving parts, power and sensors to your front. Here's what is involved, what it costs on published market figures and what to check before you choose one.

Why small shops fit them

An automatic sliding door opens without a push, stays clear of the footpath because it slides rather than swings, and can be left unlocked in trading hours without a door held open. It suits pharmacies, cafes, clinics, convenience stores and anywhere the entry is busy or has to be easy for everyone.

What it costs

Published installer guides put a commercial automatic sliding door at roughly $5,000 to $20,000 or more installed, depending on size, operator and sensors (Action Auto Door; Digital Home Systems).

These are other companies' published market figures from 2025 and 2026, not Glassy Slide prices. We found no Melbourne price for a single door in a small shop, so treat the range as a sense of scale.

What moves the price: the width and height of the opening, the glass, the operator and sensors, whether the existing frame can be kept, power and wiring, and after-hours work. Our shopfront cost guide covers the rest of the front. We measure the opening and quote in writing, with the door, the glass and the work listed.

Fitting one into an existing front

A retrofit starts with what is already there:

• The opening and frame. An operator and track need a frame that is square and strong enough, and room above the door for the track.
• The floor. A sliding door runs on a track, and the threshold has to suit the people using it.
• Power. The operator needs a supply nearby.
• The glass. The panels are safety glass, selected for each opening. If a panel is damaged we make the opening safe first, then fit new glass (broken shop glass).
• Sensors and safety devices. These are set up for the entry, and tested before we leave.

Sometimes the old frame and door come out along with the old front; see replacing an old shopfront. For a new front, compare frameless and aluminium-framed shopfronts.

Exits and the standards

Two things sit behind automatic doors, and neither is a design choice.

Power-operated doors in a required exit. The National Construction Code has rules about how a power-operated door in a required exit opens by hand, and what it does on power failure or in a fire alarm. Which rules apply depends on whether your door is part of a required exit, and your registered building surveyor decides.

AS 5007. AS 5007 is the Australian standard for powered doors for pedestrian access and egress. AS 5007-2007 was reconfirmed in 2018, and it covers design, testing and commissioning of powered pedestrian doors, including protective devices (Standards Australia). Whether it is called up by a requirement for your building is a question for your surveyor. Whoever supplies your door should be able to tell you how it is tested and commissioned.

Servicing and repair

An automatic door is used all day, so it wears. Sensors drift, rollers and tracks collect grit, locks lose their adjustment, and the speed and timing change. A regular service catches this early. We service and repair automatic doors, including doors we didn't install: send us a short video of the door opening and closing on WhatsApp, with a photo of any label on it.

Permits

Like-for-like replacement is often exempt from a building permit, but a new opening, structural changes and work in a heritage area usually need one. See shopfront permits in Victoria.

Talk to us about an automatic door

We supply, install, service and repair automatic sliding doors for shops, clinics, offices and industrial sites across Melbourne, and we measure on site and quote in writing. See automatic sliding doors, shopfronts and entry doors or ask for a quote.