Red certificate

Definition

The tag a technician leaves when an existing opener fails the two-inch reversal test.

Why It Matters

Entrapment protection is the standard behind a new opener, and this is what a company owes on the openers already on the wall. The federal rule binds manufacture only, and the words existing and retrofit appear nowhere in it. Outside California a buyer therefore inherits a contractual and insurance question, not a regulatory one, bounded by whatever repose statute the state gives latent construction defects. California is the exception and it is priced per unit. Since 1993 anyone hired to service or repair a residential opener must test whether it reverses over a rigid two-inch obstacle and, on failure, affix a red certificate to it. Since 1992 no replacement door may be connected to an existing opener that fails that test, whatever the opener's age, and a battery-backup version of the rule arrived in 2019. Penalties run per opener and an affected consumer can bring the action and keep the money. So a California door book carries a higher legitimate ticket, because a door job on a legacy opener is a forced opener sale, and a door-only mix that looks unusually high is a finding. Ask to see the certificates.