A couple of weeks ago, I updated a Decoded article about egress door inspections vs. fire door inspections – these two types of inspections are very different.  I mentioned in that post, that NFPA 101 – Life Safety Code mandates daily inspections of all exit facilities in schools, including stairways and doors.  These inspections are to be conducted by principals, teachers, or staff, and help to ensure that these portions of the means of egress are in proper condition.

This requirement is found in Chapters 14 and 15 of the 2024 Life Safety Code for new and existing educational occupancies, and similar language is found in Chapters 16 and 17 for new and existing day-care occupancies.  Annex A of NFPA 101 talks about the importance of keeping doors unlocked (assumably in the direction of egress), ensuring that stair doors are not blocked open, and that on exterior doors, accumulation of snow and ice do not interfere with rapid escape from the building.

One of my favorite retired AHJs commented that he liked this requirement for daily inspections, and wondered whether the requirement was being enforced in jurisdictions where NFPA 101 was the adopted code.  He asked when this requirement was added to the Life Safety Code.  In today’s Throw Back Thursday post, I’ll answer that question, but before I do…what’s your guess?  How long ago was this requirement added to the code?

Here it is ^, as introduced to the Building Exits Code – 1929 edition – almost 100 years ago!  I can’t help but wonder…do any districts require these daily checks in schools and day care centers?  If you know, leave a comment!

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