My Fixed-it Friday post from last week raised a Quick Question:

Why would an elevator lobby door have delayed egress hardware?

The new code section on locked elevator lobby doors will be the topic for my third Live With Lori session in November.  I haven’t scheduled the session yet, but the second session is coming up on September 15th (register here!), and the first session recording is available on the Live page of iDigHardware.

We’ll go into detail about this application during the live session, but in a nutshell, there has been a change to the International Building Code (IBC) with regard to locking elevator lobby doors.  The new section is very similar to the requirements of NFPA 101, Life Safety Code.  Some state and city codes also include a section allowing these doors to be locked if certain criteria are met.

For elevator lobbies that do not have direct access to an exit stairwell, the path of egress often leads through a tenant space, creating security problems by allowing access to the tenant space.  Prior to the 2024 edition, the IBC required elevator lobbies to have at least one code-compliant means of egress.

The options for limiting egress through the tenant space were limited to either an exit alarm or delayed egress.  This is how the maternity area in my Fixed-it Friday post ended up with a delayed egress lock which sounded an audible alarm and allowed egress through the door after 15 seconds.  The door swings from a public elevator lobby toward a means of egress that leads to an exit stairwell.  The delayed egress lock was being triggered by patients attempting to enter the maternity area, so someone turned the strike around so that the door would no longer latch, allowing free access to, and egress through, the maternity area.

Because of the new IBC section, we will now have the option of using fail safe electric locks on elevator lobby egress doors, as long as the requirements of the code are met.  This would apply to locations where the 2024 IBC has been adopted or where the code official allows this application.  You can read more about this code change in this article: Decoded: Elevator Lobby Exit Access Doors.

Any other questions?

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