I received today’s Fixed-it Friday photo from Tom Foxwell of Fire Door Certification Training LLC. It’s ok for a door to have more than one alarm contact, but the door still has to unlatch with one releasing motion (with very few exceptions)!
Would this door be code-compliant if one of the strikes was removed so that only one of the panic devices actually latched? Or would it be considered “special knowledge or effort” because the building occupant would have to know which touchpad to use? What do you think?
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Frankly, I’m a bit alarmed, too.
NOT. If the bottom one was removed, the strike would be too high, thus NOT Code Compliant….. Not to mention that with all the signs taped and velcroed to the door, someone could mistake this as a bulletin board. :-):-):-)
Never mind the codes; what about common sense…
That’s a big “No” from me. It definitely falls into the special knowledge or effort category. Plus, just counting the rows of CMU, that top device has to be at 54-55″ off the floor. If that’s the one they want to use, It has to come down. This also falls under the same logic that prevents inactive leaves, those held closed with edge or surface mounted bolts, from having operable or operable-appearing hardware. Write ’em up.
That would be one noisy door when opened. It would be compliant if they removed one of the panic devices. A funny thought when I saw this picture, “This is a double egress opening”.