Brad Anderson of Allegion sent me today’s Wordless Wednesday photos, taken in a hotel. Clearly, there is something going on outside of the corridor exit door (construction? nesting birds? salamander crossing?)…someone made a good effort but I see a few problems.
What do you think?
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That could get very confusing in a smoke filled hallway. They are also blocking a fire door open, allowing the stairway to become compromised. This is a disaster waiting to happen.
Based on the signage to the right of the door it is doubtful this is intended to be a temporary arrangement.
The adjacent stair could be utilized to essentially replace this redundant exit door by simply relocating the exit sign and the pull station.
I’m relatively new to the door hardware world. Had I not seen a previous Wordless Wednesday where I learned about propping open a fire door, I would not have recognized this issue! My eyes are always looking at openings these days!! Thanks idig hardware!
Everybody advice is fine we all should be experts. What I’d like to know did Jeff go talk to the manager try to educate him or her? Did the MGR resist tell you to mind your own business. At that point did Jess report what he saw to the local fire marshal? I told a fire marshal one time I felt like a snitch here was his response. You have to be the eyes & ears for fire marshal between inspections. He also said it’s our responsibility to our communities because of our knowledge of fire door assemblies to report. Last he asked how I’d feel had I not reported & sunday morning in the paper I read of lost life from a blocked exit. .
I was not the person who posted this picture, but when I do see situations like this, I DO tell whoever is in charge.
Agree in principle, but not all AHJ’s are cut from the same cloth nor have the same education or experience. The US still has a ton of all volunteer fire departments many of which conduct zero fire inspections or have any fire prevention experience.
Bring a code problem to them and more times than not they will be proud to tell you their department can still get everyone out no matter what. These types of fire departments are more about fire extinguishment than fire prevention. That is especially true of fire code violations in schools, churches, hospitals, and the major employer in town. The local municipality is loath to make waves with these occupancies. Case in point… has anyone ever heard of or actually seen a fire department enforce occupancy limits in a church on Christmas or Easter? How about a local school board meeting where residents are fighting a tax increase? And these are just low hanging fruit of many other examples.
FWIW, 90% of the time when I’ve seen doors taken out of service in this manner, it has been due to a frost heave to the exterior concrete pad blocking the door from opening… How many fire inspectors take the time to verify each and every exit door in a building fully opens and functions properly?
Rp – thanks for the word from the Fire Marshall. My comments apply to all the observation posts on this site.
This is an are where design professionals and trade specialists need to be informed of our roles and responsibilities to building owners and our communities. We all encounter Code violations of various sorts as we go about our business. We usually don’t want to be dragged into a controversy or a legal liability issue. Architects are essentially trained to ignore things like OSHA safety hazards that are not immediately life threatening – like this door issue, because we assume a liability when we do. We are not public officers. To my knowledge, there are no reporting responsibilities for issues like this, like there are for child abuse or neglect. (If there are in some jurisdictions or ethics standards, please let us know). I will need to think about whether local fire officials should be notified when I observe something like this. It would be good if our industry would provide guidance. Some issues that lead to loss of life may be avoided if we clearly understood what happens when we “See something -Say something”.
My State ethics requirement is only that we, “serve and promote the public interest in the effort to improve human
environment . . . with proper regard for the health and safety of the public in the PERFORMANCE OF HIS DUTIES.” (emphasis mine). But that’s a professional ethics statement, not a moral duty statement.
What do those who submit these kinds of issues to iDigHardware do when they observe these things?