Expandable Barriers

Expanding, concertina and folding barriers

Expandable barriers are also sold as expanding, extendable, concertina, folding, accordion or collapsible barriers, and they divide by height into two groups: waist-height barriers in plastic or steel that mark a hazard, and taller concertina and gate-style barriers that close an opening.

Titan expandable safety barriers

The Titan folds to 550mm wide and opens to a 3.1m waist-height barricade. It suits hazards that come and go through the working day, such as a spill in a corridor, an open floor access panel or a contractor working in a shop. It is available as a Titan expandable safety barrier in red and white and as a yellow and black Titan expandable barrier, so one model covers both colour codes on a site.

Plastic expandable barriers

The plastic expandable barrier gives the widest single span of the waist-height types. One unit covers a wide hazard such as a shopfront under repair, a wet section of warehouse floor or a closed row of car park spaces.

Steel concertina barriers

The steel concertina barrier is made for marking prohibited areas and guiding pedestrians away from an entrance or exit. Choose it for barriers that are put up and taken down every day.

Metal expanding barriers on castors

The metal expanding barrier on castors is for security and pedestrian control inside buildings. There, a barrier is wheeled across a reception, a loading door or a closed aisle and back again several times a shift. Choose this type when the barrier moves more often than it stays put.

Full-height concertina barriers

The full-height concertina barrier closes entrances and exits at 1.3m or 1.8m high, in widths that suit a single doorway or a wider opening. Choose it when a gap in hoarding, a site gate or a fit-out doorway has to be closed to anyone on foot and opened again by hand.

Instagate expanding barrier

The Instagate expanding barrier is a full-height, gate-style barrier for construction sites, event management and public buildings such as train stations. It is built for openings that have to be shut and reopened easily where there is little room beside them to store a gate.

Expandable barrier materials, widths and colours

Plastic or steel

HDPE plastic is light, does not rust and wipes clean, so the plastic barrier moves easily between indoor and outdoor work. Steel, powder coated on the steel concertina barrier, is the choice for barriers that are handled hard and put up and taken down every day.

Extended width and linking a run

Extended widths across the range reach up to 4m from a single unit. To plan a run, measure the opening or the edge of the area to be closed, divide it by the extended width of the chosen barrier and round up to a whole number of units. The steel concertina barrier links end to end with its 3-in-1 latching system, so a longer run stays continuous with no gaps between units. Where a run falls just short of a wall, or has to join a chain cordon, a post and stand closes the gap and ties the end in.

Castors, feet and storage

The metal expanding barrier rolls into position on castors, which are removable when it needs to stand still. The steel concertina barrier stands on non-marking rubber feet that grip finished floors such as polished concrete, tiles or vinyl. For storage, the Titan folds to 550mm, and the folded unit is what has to fit in a van, a lift lobby or a cleaner's cupboard between jobs.

Red and white or yellow and black barriers

Both combinations are high visibility, and the choice works best as part of the site's own colour code. For example, red and white can mark no-entry closures and yellow and black can mark hazard warnings, so the colour tells people what kind of closure they are looking at.