Yesterday’s post about bottom rails on all-glass doors raised a Quick Question:

Do glass doors with patch fittings meet the requirements for a flush bottom rail?

It looks I answered this question back in 2012, but some of you were probably still in high school back then.  😀

Patch fittings are sometimes used on glass doors, to accommodate the hardware – pivots, locks, closers, etc.  When they are used at the bottom of the door, they likely create a conflict with the requirement for a flush smooth surface in the area on the push side of the door, measured 10 inches up from the floor.

The accessibility standards require this flush, smooth surface across the bottom of the door to prevent projections from catching a crutch, cane, or wheelchair footpad as a building occupant moves through the doorway.  The standards require parts creating horizontal or vertical joints to be within 1/16-inch of the same plane.  Because the difference between the plane of the glass and the face of the patch fitting would likely be more than 1/16-inch, I think most AHJs would find patch fittings non-compliant at the bottom of the door.  I would recommend at least discussing this application with the AHJ, or using a continuous bottom rail if possible.

Note that this requirement applies to the push side of manually-operated swinging doors, and does not apply to automatic doors.  Patch fittings that are not located at the bottom of the door are not subject to these limitations.

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