Schools have been able to use magnets over locking mechanisms, allowing doors to be easily opened throughout the day and still lock quickly by simply removing the magnet. But by Jan. 1, 2018, that quick fix will no longer be enough...
I think we all know by now that egress doors are not allowed to be painted or covered in a way that would disguise them (except certain doors in health care occupancies where NFPA 101 allows murals)...
Last week, I was asked how I would handle the hardware for an animal research lab, where animals (particularly primates) may need to be prevented from eloping...
Last week I posted my next Decoded article - about changes affecting door openings between the 2000 edition of NFPA 101 and the 2012 edition. Paul Dzurinda of Russell Phillips & Associates sent me a few more changes that we should be aware of...
Tim Weller of Allegion sent me this Fixed-it Friday photo, which features a kick-down stop (holder) in the new and improved "kick-up" custom mounting configuration...
In case you haven't noticed, there is an interesting conversation happening on my post from earlier in the week about classroom barricade devices. If you have something informative to add in response to the manufacturers of these products...
Nathan Burkhardt of Opening Technologies sent me this Wordless Wednesday photo of the kick-down stops (holders) they removed from the fire doors on one of their projects. Wow.
Here's the latest on classroom barricade devices...let me know what's happening in your state.
I've never been able to get a good answer on this one, so hopefully someone out there has this information and is willing to share...
Pete Schifferli of Expert Locksmith sent me these Fixed-it Friday photos (this is not his handiwork). These are new doors in a hospital corridor, and the closers are mounted to the wall on each side to allow the doors to open 180 degrees and engage the electromagnetic holders...
According to the IBC Commentary, the purpose of this requirement is to prevent people from locking themselves in the toilet room to create a safe haven for illicit activities...
This Wordless Wednesday photo could have easily been a Fixed-it Friday photo, but since this "fix" is on an occupied Assembly space, it left me Wordless. Thank you to Dave Ilardi of Allegion for sending me photos from the family vacation. :D
The National Center for Education Statistics has just published an updated report for Indicators of School Crime and Safety through 2015. The good news is...
Something exciting happened at the conference for me personally. A few days before I left for Orlando I got a call from my friend Sue Flowers of Cleveland-Vicon...
In addition to yesterday's applied panels, which qualified as Fixed-it Friday photos, here are a few more applications from the conference center where I'm spending one more night. If you're in Orlando and saw any Fixed-it Friday doors during your stay, send them along!
When panels or trim (AKA plant-ons) are applied to fire doors, manufacturers have specific limitations on size, material, and means of attachment. I just finished teaching 6 sessions of Code Jeopardy...
Take a close look. There are 2 doors in this opening - one inswinging, one outswinging. Each has 2 surface bolts. The request was to add yet another lock to these doors. Yikes.
I posted these photos (below) yesterday to ask what problems you all saw. Here's what I see...
I am assuming that the airport requested and received the proper code modifications for the pair of doors in the photos below - serving the airport terminal. Anybody know what the required code modifications would be?
This closer repair obviously qualifies as a Fixed-it Friday photo, but it also left me Wordless. Thanks to Jim Lenox of Allegion.
Here's a question for all of the distributors, fire door inspectors, AHJs, CDCs, and anyone else out there who has an opinion. When you're calculating the "prefit" door widths for a double-egress pair...
In addition to the fact that you're not supposed to disguise egress doors, those hinges are severely under-engineered for those doors. Photos sent in by Dave Ilardi of Allegion.
If you'll be attending the conference, I hope to see you in some of our sessions - 3 of the Code Jeopardy classes are more "basic" (but very educational!) questions, and 3 classes have "advanced" questions (on need-to-know topics!). This is a fun way to learn about codes - yes, I said "FUN!"
Bill Elliott sent me these photos this morning. There's something interesting about this lock that he and I have not seen before. Can you figure it out?
This Fixed-it Friday solution is ok for a preschool since the average height of the occupants is 26 inches, right? WRONG!
Code question...fake it till you make it?
I think this would discourage me from attempting any lock replacements! Thanks to Locksmith's Journal for this Wordless Wednesday photo!
In this age of classroom shootings, many are looking for barricade locks - a cheap and easy stopgap to bolster door security...
Here's how you master-key a gate without the complications of master-keying the padlocks...
When an old fire door needs to be modified, what precautions are taken to ensure that the door does not contain hazardous material?
See any problems here? Thanks to Tim Weller of Allegion for this Wordless Wednesday photo! The fun never ends!
If a school decides to buy all new doorknobs for their school, and only buy a lever handle for the one classroom with a teacher who has a disability, in my opinion that would not meet the intent of the ADA. What makes it ok to do the same thing with classroom barricade devices?
Two paragraphs were added in the 2013 edition of NFPA 80 to address continuous hinges used on fire doors. I've seen these sections many times and never noticed a potential problem, until it came up twice in the last couple of weeks...
While I was at the BHMA meeting this week, my dinner companions pulled out their phones to compare photos of bad hardware and code problems (yes, this is the fun stuff we do at these meetings). Tim Weller of Allegion had these Fixed-it Friday photos...
While delayed egress locks must automatically unlock 15 seconds after a building occupant actuates the device, a controlled egress lock allows the egress doors serving certain areas to remain locked until they are unlocked by staff, the automatic fire protection system, or power failure...
This photo was taken in a high school, while school was in session. The doors lead from an enclosed courtyard into the school - the egress path should pass through the interior of the school and out the main exit doors to the public way...
Safety officials are concerned a new state law that allows barricade devices on classroom doors could make a crisis situation worse. The idea sounds great...
I have finished the on-demand version of Class 3 in the Decoded series, so now 3 of the 4 classes are available - for free!
Today's Fixed-it Friday photo is not an April Fool's Day joke, the result of a bad camera angle, or an image that has been Photoshopped. The doors are skewed to the left, and it looks like the floor is sloped. The hardware is horizontal, as is the graphic on the wall...
When I receive a question about the NFPA 101 - Life Safety Code requirements for health care facilities, I need to know not just what the code says but how it will be enforced...
I was very surprised at research conducted by the Georgia Tech Research Institute, which found that people trusted a robot to guide them to safety, even when it made mistakes or experienced technical difficulties...
Most stairwells in commercial and institutional buildings are designed to protect the means of egress using fire-resistant construction and fire door assemblies as opening protectives. When building occupants are within a stair enclosure during a fire...
Several people have asked me recently what the Americans with Disabilities Act says about keys. Although the ADA standards address operable parts of locks - like thumbturns, keypads, turn-buttons, and of course, knobs and levers, keys are not covered by the ADA...
There's more than one way to change a lock function...
We visited Santa Clara del Cobre, a town known for it's amazing copper work. I didn't find a lot of copper doors, but the pair below is on the entrance to the Museo del Cobre. The doors are wood, with small copper overlays attached which look like they were done by various artisans...
This photo was sent to me by Joanne Gretter of Herman Gibans Fodor, Inc., and I really have no words.
The word "occupied" is not defined in the IBC or the IFC. When a term is not defined in these publications, the "ordinarily accepted meaning" applies, as defined in Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary...
Escape rooms are popping up all over the world, and have already opened in many US cities. The premise is that you are locked in a room with friends, family members, coworkers...
This photo was taken at a VERY well-known theme park which does a great job with their door-related code-compliance, and is frequently inspected by the local code officials. The black part of this chain looks like it might be a magnet...
THE VOTES ARE IN, and the code change proposed by BHMA to address classroom locking in the 2018 IBC has been approved as modified by public comment!
