LANCASHIRE LOCKSMITH • HOMES & BUSINESSES
If the handle on a uPVC or composite door will not lift at all, even with the door wide open, the gearbox inside the multipoint mechanism has failed. That is a mechanical failure and adjusting the door will not fix it. Repair or replacement starts at £216.
From £216 · call-out and labour rates
A multipoint mechanism is the metal strip running the full height of a uPVC, composite or aluminium door, throwing several hooks or bolts at once. When the gearbox inside it fails, the door either will not lock or will not open.
Open the door and lift the handle. If it lifts freely with the door open but not when closed, the problem is alignment, not the mechanism, and it is adjusted from £76. If the handle will not lift at all even with the door open, the gearbox has failed. That single test decides which job you are looking at and is worth doing before you call.
The gearbox is a small cast assembly that converts the handle lift into movement along the strip. It carries the whole load every time the door is locked, and it is the first thing to break when a door has been dropping or binding for months. Cheap replacement gearboxes, forcing a stiff handle and years without lubrication all shorten its life. The failure almost always follows a period of increasing stiffness.
Handles, cylinders, keeps, hinges and spring cassettes are replaced individually. The gearbox itself is not separately serviceable on most designs, so where it has failed the whole strip is usually replaced. Mechanisms are not interchangeable between manufacturers: the brand stamped on the faceplate, the backset, the PZ measurement and the pattern of locking points all have to match, which is why a photograph of the door edge helps so much.
Multipoint repair is listed from £216; uPVC door repairs that do not involve the mechanism start at £148. Call-out and labour are charged separately at the rates published on the pricing page. Common mechanisms are usually available; an older or unusual one may need ordering, in which case the door is made secure in the meantime rather than left open.
Typically a gearbox failure while the door was locked: the bolts have thrown but will not retract. It is an emergency entry job first, and the mechanism will need replacing afterwards. Do not keep forcing the handle, as that can shear what is left of the gearbox.
It depends which part has failed. Handles, keeps, hinges, cylinders and spring cassettes are replaced on their own. If the gearbox has gone, the strip is normally replaced as a unit, because the gearbox is not separately serviceable on most designs.
Allow roughly one to two hours for a standard mechanism where the part is available. An uncommon mechanism, a damaged door edge or a frame that also needs adjusting will take longer.
Almost never. A failed mechanism is a component inside the door, not a fault with the door itself. Anyone quoting for a replacement door because the handle is stiff or the lock has jammed should be questioned.
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