In Mark Kuhn’s next post, he asks a question that I’ve wondered about myself. I know of a few applications where the codes and standards require doors to be locked or lockable, but maybe there are others? Please share your insight in the comments!
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I had an interesting call from an architect last week. What made it interesting was that most of the questions I receive are related to egress, fire or smoke. However, this question was about a mechanical room in an ambulatory clinic that the owner did not want to lock. So, the architect asked the question, “Are there doors that are required to lock?”
This was simple question, but a complicated one at the same time. It’s so complicated that I’m going to ask you all, the loyal iDH readers, for some help with this.
I am aware of three places where a door is required to be locked or lockable:
- Elevator equipment rooms: ASME A17.1 – Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators requires some elevator-related doors to be kept locked, and includes requirements for how those locks are keyed. For the specifics, check out this post.
- Electrical rooms: NFPA 70 – National Electrical Code tells us that for rooms housing certain types of electrical equipment, “Doors shall be equipped with locks, and doors shall be kept locked, with access allowed only to qualified persons….” There’s more information about hardware for electrical rooms in this Decoded article.
- Classrooms and other occupied rooms in educational facilities: This is brand new and coming soon…the following text has been approved for the 2027 edition of the International Building Code (IBC): “1010.2.7.1 Egress doors in educational occupancies. Egress doors from classrooms, offices, and other occupied rooms shall be provided with locking arrangements designed to keep intruders from entering the room and shall comply with all of the following:…” You can read more about the upcoming change in this code update.
You may have noticed that only one of these examples is from the I-Codes and the other two examples are from other codes and standards, that as a “hardware guy” I am not as familiar with. This brings me to my question that I would like your help with…Do you know of any other code or standard that requires a door to lock, restricting access?
I just have one request, and it’s the same requirement that is asked of me whenever I tell an architect or owner that there is a code that says this or that…Prove it! Along with leaving your example in the comments, please tell me the standard and section where the requirement is called out.
I thank all of you in advance for your knowledge and help with this!
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Some “ I “occupancies ????
308.1 Institutional Group I
Institutional Group I occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, in which care or supervision is provided to persons who are or are incapable of self-preservation without physical assistance or in which persons are detained for penal or correctional purposes or in which the liberty of the occupants is restricted. Institutional occupancies shall be classified as Group I-1, I-2, I-3 or I-4.
There are Permitted locks, such as access to a roof, not sure if permitted falls under Required?
Charles,
Thank you…and yes these are places where we are permitted to lock but not necessarily required to lock.
-Mark
Owner might want to review “what is prudent to lock” with their insurance carrier and any regulatory agency covering clinics.
Joel,
Great idea.
-Mark
Mark, In keeping with your request for the Standard… We here in Illinois have a “special” set of codes that deal with public schools around the state. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has come up with their own code called The Health and Life Safety Code. This is NOT to be confused with the Life Safety Code, NFPA 101. This document was prepared many years ago by the ISBE in collaboration with The Illinois Department of Public Health, The Capitol Development Board and the Office of the State Fire Marshal to …………… “Conserve the health and safety and general welfare of the pupils, school personnel and others who use public school facilities”!! I tell you that to tell you this…. #285 in their checklist states: Janitor Closet doors that open to a hallway/corridor must be kept locked. Whew!!!
Kevin,
AWESOME!!!!! This is a great example…Thanks!
-Mark
Thanks Kevin! This is exactly the type of example we’re looking for! I always appreciate your insight.
– Lori
I do it because I LOVE this forum for us AHJ’s to let others know and see what we see. Thanks Lori.
You know what I love?? I love when an AHJ asks ME for help understanding and/or applying the code requirements. It took a lot of years for me to get to this point! 🙂
– Lori
Hey…I don’t tell people you’re an expert on doors, locks, and associated codes for my health!!! I tell EVERYONE about I Dig Hardware because it truly helps us do our job!!! Thank You Lori and Keep Helping us do our Job BETTER!!
California
Elevator pit access doors or gates.
Nevada Gaming Control Board
A variety of use areas (i.e. cash, computers, security) within a casino.
TJC
Soiled utility rooms in behavioral health.
HIPAA
Secure areas where protected health information is stored.
DEA
Cannabis dispensary storage and money rooms.
FDA
Pharmacies, wholesale drug distribution. Some double locking requirements.
NRC
Facilities using, handling, storing radioactive or radioisotope materials.
DNI
SCIF
Bank Protection Act
Vaults and other areas handling, counting, or storing cash and other liquid assets.
ATF
Explosive storage magazines
FAA
Cockpit doors
TSA
Specific areas within commercial airports.
DOD
Too many to list!
Thanks so much, Larry!
– Lori
Check FGI. Facilities Guidelines Institute’s Guidelines documents have requirements for locking certain types of rooms in healthcare spaces. Most states have adopted some version of this for regulating healthcare spaces.
Thanks Chris! I should definitely add some more info to iDigHardware about those guidelines.
– Lori
Data Centers that follow the NIST 800-53 standard are required to put in physical Access Control, which typically means lock on doors. Discussion says: Physical access devices include keys, locks, combinations, biometric
readers, and card readers.
https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-53r5.pdf
PE-3 PHYSICAL ACCESS CONTROL
Control Enhancements:
(1) PHYSICAL ACCESS CONTROL | SYSTEM ACCESS
Enforce physical access authorizations to the system in addition to the physical access
controls for the facility at [Assignment: organization-defines physical spaces containing
one or more components of the system].