In a survey that I conducted a while back, several people noted that while Wordless Wednesday and Fixed-it Friday issues might be obvious to some readers, there are others who would like a little more explanation.  On Wednesday I shared some photos and a video that were sent to me by an AHJ (also included below), showing a change made to an egress door.  I said I’d come back today to explain some of the problems caused by this modification.

Opening Force – One of the obvious issues is the increased amount of opening force required to open the gate AND the exterior door together.  Since this is an exterior door, the accessibility standards don’t address the opening force, but the model codes limit it to 30 pounds to set the door in motion and 15 pounds to open the door to the fully-open position.  We don’t know the actual opening force needed here, but it looks like it takes some effort.

Clear Opening Width – Most doors in a means of egress are required to have a clear opening width of at least 32 inches.  If the original door is 3 feet wide, the clear opening width (with standard hinges) would typically be around 33 inches.  The projection of the panic hardware is not taken into account if it projects less than 4 inches into the clear opening width when the door is open.  BUT – the gate projects into the clear opening width as well, reducing the clear width to less than 32 inches.

Panic Hardware – The AHJ told me that the castor to activate the exterior panic hardware was “welded on”…from the photo it looks like it was probably welded to the mesh of the gate rather than to the backside of the interior panic, but it might still be considered a modification since it is operating the exterior hardware.  There are very limited modifications that are permitted for panic hardware.  For example, most manufacturers’ listings allow the crossbar or mechanism tube to be cut down in length for a narrower door width, so that would be acceptable field work.  But I’ve seen all kinds of other modifications like adding the ability to dog fire exit hardware – this would void the listing and the warranty – a very expensive mistake!

Doors in a Series – The accessibility standards require a certain distance between two doors in a series – for two outswinging doors it would be 48 inches + the width of the door swinging into the space.  Let’s call it 48 inches + 36 inches for a total of 7 feet between the interior and exterior doors.  I don’t know if these particular doors are required to meet the accessibility standards, but I’m including this here as a teachable moment.  🙂

Thank you to Zachary Bass of the Asheville NC Fire Marshal’s Office for sharing the photos and video for educational purposes!

Here’s the video of the gate in operation:

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