A couple of months ago I wrote an article for Doors & Hardware, which appears in the September issue. As always, I triple-checked my sources, and confirmed that 2007 was the most current edition of A156.19 – American National Standard For Power Assist and Low Energy Power Operated Doors. Well, today a notification regarding the brand new 2013 edition showed up in my inbox! Luckily, there are not a lot of changes that would impact the article.
With regard to actuators for low energy operators (the topic of my D&H article), the recommendations in Section A-5 of the appendix have been reformatted slightly, but the intent is basically the same.
- The switch should be located a maximum distance of 12 feet from the center of the door, remain accessible when the door is opened, and shall not be located in a position where the user would be in the path of the moving door.
- It is generally preferable for the switch to be located within one to five feet from the door. If located more than 5 feet from the center of the door, an additional time delay beyond the five second minimum is recommended. The additional time delay shall be a minimum of one second for each additional foot of distance.
- The switch should be installed a minimum of 34 in. (864mm) and a maximum of 48 in. (1219mm) from the floor, or as specified by the local building code.
- The switch should be mounted so the user can see the door when activating.
- Consult A117.1 and other applicable building codes for additional information regarding accessibility requirements for the door and area around the door.
Another change that I noticed was a recommendation in Section A-6 of the appendix stating that low energy doors should be inspected at the time of installation and annually thereafter by an AAADM certified inspector. The previous version of the standard recommended inspections by a “qualified inspector”. AAADM is the American Association of Automatic Door Manufacturers, and a link to a list of AAADM certified inspectors can be found on their website.
If you’d like your very own copy of the 2013 edition of A156.19, you can purchase a PDF copy on the BHMA website, or order a hard copy from the BHMA Bookstore (IRST employees – you have access to this standard through our Techstreet subscription service).
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As usual, your info is well laid out and extremely helpful. Thanks for what you do!
Thanks Don!
location for a power door actuator button – does the ADA 30″ x 48″ clear floor space requirement mean that the actuator button needs to be a minimum of 24″ from the edge of the door when open? Is 16″ enough to say the person is out of the door swing?
Hi James –
The model codes and accessibility standards don’t really address the position of the button, and the recommendations in A156.19 aren’t specific about how much space is needed to say that the person is out of the door swing. I think it would be up to the AHJ to decide.
– Lori