As many of you know, yesterday was the NFPA Technical Meeting where NFPA members voted to decide whether NFPA 101 should allow two releasing operations for classroom doors, or continue to require one releasing operation to unlatch the door for egress. If you haven’t been following this issue, there’s more information here.
I will have some more documentation to share once it is posted to the NFPA website, but thanks to the efforts of too many people and organizations to mention, NFPA 101 will continue to require one releasing operation for classroom doors – in fact, for ALL egress doors except dwelling unit entrance doors and doors with existing hardware serving a room with an occupant load of 3 people or less. UPDATE: Two appeals have been filed regarding the 1-operation language. I will have more information to share as soon as the appeals are made public.
The Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA) filed 5 certified amending motions (CAM) in response to the proposed changes to NFPA 101. All 5 motions passed, and the unofficial tally of votes was:
- CAM 101-3: 180 to 107
- CAM 101-4: 233 to 41
- CAM 101-5: 249 to 27
- CAM 101-6: 245 to 26
- CAM 101-7: 247 to 22
The momentum clearly progressed toward the 1-operation requirement as each motion was discussed and voted on. If you’re interested in reading each of the motions, the report of the motions committee can be downloaded here.
Several speakers who opposed the 2-operation change cited the lack of compliance with the accessibility standards, and the resulting difficulty for operation by people with disabilities. This is important testimony, as it could affect state modifications to the model codes. A handful of states currently allowing classroom barricade devices and other retrofit security products may need to reconsider whether they are compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
More to follow…
Photo: NFPA
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Great news!
Finally… common sense prevails!
Lori. Thank you for all that you do for us and the industry. Don’t even for a minute believe that you were not instrumental in helping to defeat this brainless crap. Keep it up.
Awww…thanks Rich. There were a lot of people involved. I just might be the loudest. 😀
– Lori
Wonderful news! Now let’s hope all those states that allowed the barricade devices to be installed are taken to task and forced to install the correct hardware.
That’s next on the to-do list. 🙂
– Lori
I wholeheartedly agree with Jim, Jerry, and Rich!
Good job Lori!
As the old retire Fire Prevention Officer a respected attorney gave me some sound philosphy. He said that I did not only speak for the safety of the public and my fellow firefighters, but for those who were no longer able to speak. I am pleased to see this decision honoring the 110 (+-) years of good code attemping to keep people safe. All those efforts to do so are greatly appreciated.
Now that is a “fix it Friday”!!!!
I’m curious as to who was in the audience that wanted two operations to release. What was their motivation?
I hope to be able to read some of the comments from the hearing eventually, or order a recording.
– Lori
Well done Lori! Thanks for all you do to raise the awareness of industry-wide issues such as this. We need to be ever vigilant…
Thank you, Lori, for your diligence in these matters!