WW: Mall Exit
Why is it that when something goes wrong with the existing hardware, some facilities use the hardware equivalent of a band-aid rather than repairing or replacing the hardware?
Honolulu High-Rise Fire
Last week, 3 lives were lost in a fire that occurred in a residential high-rise in Honolulu, Hawaii. Although the cause is not yet known...
NFPA 101 Appeals and Testimony
As I've mentioned in previous posts, shortly after the NFPA Technical Meeting on June 7th, two appeals were filed. These appeals were submitted in favor of keeping the proposed changes to NFPA 101 that would allow 2 releasing operations instead of 1...
FF: Sharpie Seal
Ian Baren of Katonah Architectural Hardware sent me today's Fixed-it Friday photo. This mortise lock is on a very fancy clothing store, and apparently it was an aesthetic problem for someone that the gasketing did not continue down the lock face. So they drew it in with a Sharpie! You'd think that if they were going to go to the trouble, they would have used a straight-edge!
Why two-operation release is not an option – Joseph Hendry Jr., PSP, CLEE
Joseph Hendry Jr., PSP, CLEE has written the guest blog post below, to share his experience in law enforcement regarding human behavior in an emergency. This relates directly to the question of whether NFPA 101 should continue to limit egress doors to one releasing operation or should allow two operations to release the latch.
WW: Essence Superlounge
"At around 8:45 p.m., Captain Michael Flot of the New Orleans Fire Department faced an angry crowd of hundreds outside of the Essence Superlounge to tell them they would not be able to see Xscape that night. 'This is the worst I've ever seen it,' Flot said."
WWYD? Single Restroom with Automatic Operator
Imagine this...you have a single restroom where the property manager wants to install an automatic operator for easier access to the restroom (or to overcome a maneuvering clearance problem)...
Take us with you!
It's that time of year again, when lots of people go on vacation - remember the road trips I used to drag all of you on? This summer I'm taking the kids to Guatemala, so I don't know how many interesting doors we'll see...
FF: “Please help – I’m stuck in here.”
This is why doors are required to provide free egress. Even doors used by very few people, leading to tiny rooms that may need more security than the average closet.
Federal lawmakers pressed to make real changes in K-12 security
From Security InfoWatch, an article on a recent congressional briefing by advocates for safe and secure schools...
WW: Party Prep
Rich McKie sent me today's Wordless Wednesday photo of a high school lobby, which was being prepared for a "Dry Grad" overnight graduation party coordinated by a parent committee...
Change is Good
To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of change; I like predictability. I know that might surprise some of you, but I’m more apt to live by the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In case some of you are change-averse like me, I want to tell you about a change that is happening today.
NYC – Greenwich Lock & Safe
Some of you may remember the blog post below, which I first published in 2011. Time flies! When I visited Greenwich Lock & Safe and met locksmith and artist Phil Mortillaro, he told me that there was a documentary in progress about him. The documentary is now available on PBS.org!
FF: You Get What You Pay For
I have run out of words. Is this the best we can do to secure our classrooms? :(
Decoded: Code Requirements for Electromagnetic Locks
This post was published in the August 2017 issue of Doors & Hardware
WW: Kool-Aid Follow-Up
Last week I posted a photo of the egress side of a "door" through some sheetrock that had been scored. Jonathan Mathew Taylor just sent me this photo of the other side...
Mysterious Hardware
This was posted by Lawrence Waters on the Truck Floor Training Facebook page, and it was also sent to me by a door hardware consultant / firefighter friend. Anybody know what it is?
FF: Double-Strength Holding Power
When Deputy Jeff Tock of Allegion sent me this Fixed-it Friday photo of double kick-down holders, I knew what you would ask...
Stairwell Reentry Update
Are locks on stair doors required to be hard-wired locks which unlock upon power failure?
WW: Hey Kool-Aid!!!
I don't remember seeing anything in the model codes that supports a Kool Aid Man egress model. Do you?
QQ: Fire Doors in Load-Bearing Walls
Do load-bearing walls within a dwelling unit require fire doors?
Cost Savings vs. Life Safety
Promising to cut "red tape," business-friendly politicians evidently judged that cost concerns outweighed the risks of allowing flammable materials to be used in facades...sound familiar?
FF: Upside-Down
I have seen this many times with mechanical lever trim for panic hardware, but I have never seen this...
Stack Pressure (video)
Have you run into problems with the effects of building stack pressure on the operation of doors? Here's a new whiteboard animation video that explains the basics of stack pressure...
WW: (Don’t-)Pull Station
Leo Lebovits of M&D Door & Hardware sent me this Wordless Wednesday photo. I'm not an expert on pull stations, but this just doesn't look right to me...
Code Requirements for Electromagnetic Locks
I'm working on another whiteboard animation video to help explain the different code sections that apply to mag-locks. Did I forget anything?
Grenfell Tower Fire, London
While the exterior cladding on the building is being investigated for its contribution to the blaze, there are also news reports where witnesses are quoted as saying that the door leading to the apartment of fire origin was left open. This undoubtedly impacted the egress routes...
FF: Count the Fire Door Problems
Even if this jurisdiction is not yet enforcing fire door assembly inspections for schools, the school is required to keep their fire doors code-compliant and to repair them in a manner that is acceptable to NFPA 80...
The Story Behind Von Duprin
Many of you have heard this story before, but this video is terrific! See if you can catch the original price of panic hardware in the catalog shown in the video! :)
WW: Guest House Egress
This signage designates the egress path from rooms in a small hotel / guest house in a city on the east coast. Note the exit sign over the window inside of one of the (locked) rooms, and instructions to break out the panel in the door...
New Code Changes for Classroom Doors
Now that the NFPA 101 vote has passed, the 2018 model codes will be pretty consistent with regard to classroom security. I pulled together information from the IBC, IFC, and NFPA 101 for this article...
Martin Pierce
It's relatively unusual to see beautiful door pulls and custom levers, so when I do see something special, it's pretty exciting...
FF: Electric Strike Prep
For today's Fixed-it Friday photo, how about a little before-and-after action from Jimmy Resedean Jr. of A Better Door and Window Co.?
NFPA 101 – The Votes Are In
As many of you know, yesterday was the NFPA Technical Meeting where NFPA members voted to decide whether NFPA 101 should allow two releasing operations for classroom doors, or continue to require one releasing operation to unlatch the door for egress...
WW: Double Labels
Can someone explain this please?
QQ/WWYD? Excessive Clearance on Fire Doors
The rapidly-approaching deadline for fire door inspections in health care facilities is resulting in LOTS of questions about fire door assemblies. The most FAQ in the last few weeks has been...
A Tale of Two Schools
I read the two news stories below on the same day, which struck me as ironic. When it comes to security and safety, you can take the easy, fast, and cheap approach, or take the time to carefully consider the issues and alternatives and invest in a suitable solution...
FF: Custom Rod Guide
This Fixed-it Friday photo is from Paul Goldense of Goldense Building Products. Paul will be teaching a fire door class with Jeff Batick of Allegion at the NFPA conference next week...
Vote for Life Safety
NASFM is certainly aware of the need to protect our schools and businesses from senseless acts of violence, however we feel strongly we must carefully consider the solutions being proposed...
WW: Mall Exit
What do you think? Is this Wordless Wednesday exit visible enough?
WWYD? Bottom Gap on Fire-Rated Frames
The application is in a building where the floors are out of level, and the fire door frames are installed with one jamb flush with the floor, leaving the other jamb with a gap...
FF: Extension Rod
Charles Anderson sent me this Fixed-it Friday photo of a creative solution he saw at a university. Is it me or do some of those parts look like they came from the "leftover box" in the lockshop?
Decoded: Temperature-Rise Doors
With the increased use of sprinkler systems in commercial and institutional buildings, the need for temperature-rise doors has declined, but there are still locations where they are required...
WW: ABC7NY – Underground Dance Dangers
Call me naive, but I always assume that when tragedy strikes, people will learn from it and try to avoid similar incidents in the future. Unfortunately, ignorance mixed with greed often stand in the way of life safety...
QQ: Gasketing Requirements of NFPA 101
Which door openings are required to have gasketing, according to NFPA 101 - The Life Safety Code?
LCN Automatic Operators (video)
Even though automatic operators have been available from LCN for longer than I can remember, I still get questions about which one to use where, why to choose one over the other, and pneumatic vs. electric operation...
FF: Mystery in Maine
Here's what I know. At one time, this door was in an isolation ward that was part of a Maine psychiatric hospital campus built in 1957...
Dynamic Accessibility Symbol
The driving force behind this change is the Accessible Icon Project, which began in Boston and has gone global, leading some US cities and states to mandate use of the new symbol...
WW: Bent
I have no idea what happened here. Wordless...
Intro to Three Project Delivery Processes for Non-Residential Buildings (video)
These introductory videos are great for people who are new to the industry, so use the share/save icon above to share the link with your colleagues!