I received today’s Wordless Wednesday photo from an AHJ – the photo was taken in a school, where the mag-lock was added to deter elopement.  Note the height of the push button!

If a door is equipped with an electromagnetic lock, it must be released for egress either by a switch in the door-mounted hardware (+ loss of power), or by a sensor on the egress side and an auxiliary push button that meets specific requirements (+ loss of power + fire alarm/sprinkler activation).  You can read more about the requirements for mag-locks in this article:  Decoded: Applications for Electromagnetic Locks.

An alternative for deterring elopement from a classroom would be an exit alarm or a delayed egress lock (if the classroom has an occupant load of less than 50 people).  Mounting the hardware – or in this case the release switch – above the allowable mounting height is not a solution!

You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content.