Decoded: Panic Hardware on Electrical Rooms (November 2013)
This post was printed in the November 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
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QQ: Panic Hardware on Electrical Rooms
Today's Quick Question: If an electrical room is required to have outswinging doors with panic hardware, does this requirement apply to all of the doors that are part of the means of egress between the electrical room and the public way?
Decoded: Panic Hardware Requirements for Rooms Housing Electrical Equipment
I have updated this Decoded article to include current requirements from the 2023 edition of NFPA 70, in addition to previous editions beginning with the 2002 National Electrical Code.
Decoded: Panic Hardware Requirements for Rooms Housing Electrical Equipment
NFPA 70 – National Electrical Code (NEC) has been adopted by most US states, and includes requirements for panic hardware or fire exit hardware on certain rooms housing electrical equipment; the voltage and amperage thresholds that determine which rooms require panic hardware were changed in the 2017 edition of this code.
WWYD: Hotel Electric Room
UPDATE: This application was discussed at length on the Building Codes Forum, so go check it out to see what the AHJs had to say. The final decision was that the door should have been a 20-minute door, even if the contents of the electric room did not require a higher rating. As a 20-minute door it should have been self-closing and self-latching.
Panic Hardware on Electrical Rooms – Follow-Up
A while back, I wrote an article for Doors & Hardware about panic hardware requirements for rooms housing electrical equipment. Someone asked me recently how the voltage and amperage are determined. Do you add up the voltage or amperage of each piece of equipment and look at the total? Or is it the highest voltage/amperage of any piece of equipment that determines whether the room is over the threshold where panic hardware is required?
Panic Hardware Requirements – Follow-Up
When panic hardware is required by code for doors serving a particular room or space, is the panic hardware required for ALL of the doors in the means of egress from that space, including corridor doors, stair doors, and finally – the exterior doors?
Fire and Egress Doors in the News
Here are a few articles that have crossed my desk recently (and some not-so-recently but I'm cleaning house). If you find an article that you'd like to share, send it along!
WW: Electrical Room
Craig Gaevert sent me today's Wordless Wednesday photo...there must be a rule against this, right? There's even a sign! :\
Reader Photos
As I've said before, it makes me really happy when people send me photos of door and hardware applications they've seen in the field. I'm REALLY happy today because my inbox is full!
Construction Specifier: Understanding Code Requirements for Panic Hardware
This article is currently posted on ConstructionSpecifier.com...The question, “When is panic hardware required by code?” is one that many specifiers continue to struggle with because there isn't a simple answer to this seemingly simple question...
Panic Hardware on Electrical Rooms
Beginning with the 2002 edition, the National Electric Code (NFPA 70) requires that certain types of electric rooms have doors that open in the direction of egress and are "equipped with panic bars, pressure plates, or other devices that are normally latched but open under simple pressure." According to an engineer I spoke with at the National Fire Protection Association, the releasing device could be a hospital latch or paddle-type release, but the fact that the words "panic bar" are used in the Code has prompted many code officials to require panic hardware.
Give me a “break” this week (please).
You know me...when I go somewhere new, I never pass up the chance to share photos of the interesting doors I encounter. Unfortunately, my latest trip was a 3-night stay in the local hospital. It's always something.
Decoded: New Occupant Load Requirements for Panic Hardware (May 2011)
This post was printed in the May 2011 issue of Doors and Hardware
QQ: Health Care Corridor Door vs. Smoke Barrier Door
Today's Quick Question has come up several times lately with regard to the code requirements for hospitals, nursing homes, and similar types of facilities: What is the difference between a "corridor door" and a "smoke barrier door" in a health care occupancy?
FAQs About Health Care Corridor Doors
Corridor doors in health care facilities - like those leading to patient rooms - will help to protect patients in their rooms from the smoke and flames if a fire occurs. Here are some of the most frequently-asked questions about these assemblies...
WW: Electrical Room Pair
I'm not an expert on the electrical codes, but this just seems wrong to me.
Back-2-Basics: Lock Functions
When a hardware consultant writes a specification, it’s common practice to sit down and discuss the project with the architect, at least for the more complicated jobs. The topic of lock functions seems to arise at almost all of those meetings – usually someone in the room needs a refresher on how the basic functions work. In fact, when I was teaching our specwriter apprentices a few weeks ago I said, “Don’t ask the architect if he or she wants a storeroom function lock, ask if the door should always require a key to enter.” A manufacturer’s catalog may show 50 different lock functions (or more!) and it’s difficult or impossible to remember how each function works.
Decoded: Calculating the Occupant Load
Many code requirements are dependent upon the occupant load of the room or space in question. For example, the International Building Code (IBC) requires panic hardware for doors equipped with a lock or latch, which serve Assembly or Educational occupancies with an occupant load of 50 or more (the occupant load limit for NFPA 101 – The Life Safety Code is 100 or more)...
QQ: Tactile Warning
I have one last photo from my time in New Orleans, that relates to today's Quick Question: When are tactile warnings required for the hardware on rooms housing hazardous equipment, like electrical rooms?
Back-2-Basics: Panic Hardware
Here's an updated version of an in-depth summary of the code requirements and selection criteria for panic hardware. Feel free to share it with anyone who needs to get back-2-basics on panic hardware and fire exit hardware.
UL 294 Follow-Up – 2021 Update
The access control hardware on your project is up and running (phew!), and then you are asked to provide evidence that every piece of electrified hardware on the job is listed to UL 294... (updated with 2021 code references)
Flush Bolts and Coordinators
Flush bolts are used on pairs of doors to secure the inactive leaf, projecting into the frame head and into a floor strike. In this application, the active leaf would typically have a lockset which latches into a strike mounted on the edge of the inactive leaf...
Decoded Quick-Tips: Fire Door Assemblies
In preparation for an upcoming class for access control professionals, I'm putting together some printable summaries of code tips on security-related topics. The first sheet I'm working on addresses requirements specific to fire door assemblies that would be important to an access control integrator or security consultant...
WW: School Security
The Wordless Wednesday Winner is Logan Piburn, from Dyron Murphy Architects! Logan sent me LOTS of photos, and explained that these were taken at various rural schools, most built in the early 70's and still in use today. The photos were taken during surveys to identify existing problems and plan renovations.
Back-2-Basics: Panic Hardware
Panic hardware, also known as an exit device (or fire exit hardware when used on fire doors), is designed to provide fast and easy egress to allow building occupants to exit safely in an emergency. Code publications define panic hardware as, "a door-latching assembly incorporating a device that releases the latch upon the application of a force in the direction of egress travel.” Panic hardware may also be used because of durability or ease of use, even when it is not required by code.
Decoded: Tactile Warning
This post was printed in the June 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
Tactile Warning
Tactile warning is an abrasive or knurled strip on a lever handle to indicate that the door leads to a hazardous area such as a boiler room, mechanical room, or loading dock. This requirement is no longer included in the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) or in ICC/ANSI A117.1, but it is a requirement of the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board (521 CMR):
Code Update: Refrigeration Machinery Rooms
Now that you've memorized the applications that require doors with panic hardware, a change to the 2021 IBC will add a new location that requires panics.
Decoded: International Energy Conservation Code Requirements for Vestibule Doors (June 2020)
My next Decoded column for Door Security + Safety magazine addresses the requirements for vestibules mandated by the IECC.