Yes, this pair is in a school. #wordless
Note: This modification made to fire exit hardware is one of the most egregious door-related code violations I have ever seen. The padlocks keep the touchpads from retracting the latchbolts, preventing egress. The code officials have been notified.
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If you see it, you own it. (For all fire, safety, and building inspectors). If I see that, I DO NOT LEAVE THE BUILDING UNTIL A PAIR OF BOLTCUTTERS HAS CUT AND REMOVED THESE ILLEGAL LOCKS. Reason: You leave and something happens immediately afterward. YOU AND YOUR MUNICIPALITY ARE FULLY LIABLE!!!
Paul DeBaggis, CBO
That is crazy stupid. I worked for a school district for 7 years. Never ever would this happen at my schools.
Nice Schlage Pad Locks
Words cannot describe this….. It would appear that the door is also rated, thus de-listing the panic devices no?
Sure looks like it!
– Lori
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
Actually, I have seen worse! When I was working in Oklahoma in the mid-80’s I ran across a school district maintenance guy who figured out how to reverse the dogging mechanism of a 33 series rim device. He created an even more dangerous situation than when they had cross bar devices with chains and padlocks. YIKES
Double YIKES!
– Lori
Where are the authorities? This can’t be ..in a school of all places..say it ain’t so ….
Somebody gonna get a hurting
Is there any follow up of what the current situation is now? I’m under the assumption the person who took this picture also reported it to the AHJ and/or made them take the locks of. There is absolutely no excuse for that! My only hope is that the exit sign was supposed to be taken down due to an unseen renovation on a different floor causing this to no longer be a viable exit.
Hi Krystina –
I know it has been reported but I don’t know what happened after that. If I find out, I will let you know!
– Lori
Removing the padlocks simply isn’t enough action by a responsible AHJ. The padlocks could easily be replaced after the inspector leaves. Any type of unapproved “field modification” should void the rating and require replacement of as much of the assembly or assemblies as may be necessary to restore code compliance or rating requirements.
Pictures like this on the internet can be a double-edged sword. They may help spread awareness as well as help identify and remove similar “field modifications” but they can also just as easily be spread among the “good ‘ole boy” network that continues to think it is perfectly acceptable for them to do pretty much anything they can dream up to Life Safety hardware.
Part of the challenge with making future Life Safety products “idiot-proof” rests with the design professionals of hardware manufacturers to learn from negative experience like this in order to create safer products that can not be easily circumvented. In the past hardware manufacturers have expended huge amounts of effort trying to thwart unwanted access into buildings. Meanwhile egress has pretty much been taken for granted with the assumption that only “good guys” were already inside the building. Clearly much more work needs to be done to create safer egress products. Perhaps product circumvention, as a point of failure, should be elevated in the decision-making process by the national testing and rating laboratories.
Despite the scale of potential harm to innocent persons the “criminality” of those who willfully impede egress has never been valued by the US legal system anywhere even close to someone who is simply breaking into a building. If people are truly valued as being more important than property everyone who works in the Life Safety industry should demand change for how those who impede egress are held accountable.