Locks for Multi-Stall Restrooms
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...
WW: Were you raised in a barn?
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
School Crime Stats – The Good News and The Bad News
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...
conNextions 2016
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...
FF: Conference Center
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!
Applied Panels
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...
WW: Double-Trouble
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.
Mag-Lock Follow-Up
I posted these photos (below) yesterday to ask what problems you all saw. Here's what I see...
WWYD? Mag-Locks
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?
FF: Broken Arm
This closer repair obviously qualifies as a Fixed-it Friday photo, but it also left me Wordless. Thanks to Jim Lenox of Allegion.
WWYD? Double-Egress Pairs
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...
WW: Doors in the Corn
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.
Code Jeopardy!
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!"
Interesting Antique Lock
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?
FF: Preschool Exit
This Fixed-it Friday solution is ok for a preschool since the average height of the occupants is 26 inches, right? WRONG!
Architexts – Code Question
Code question...fake it till you make it?
WW: Stinger
I think this would discourage me from attempting any lock replacements! Thanks to Locksmith's Journal for this Wordless Wednesday photo!
Banned: Classroom Barricade Locks
In this age of classroom shootings, many are looking for barricade locks - a cheap and easy stopgap to bolster door security...
FF: Master-Keyed Gate
Here's how you master-key a gate without the complications of master-keying the padlocks...
WWYD? Old Fire Doors
When an old fire door needs to be modified, what precautions are taken to ensure that the door does not contain hazardous material?
WW: XpresSpa or Exit?
See any problems here? Thanks to Tim Weller of Allegion for this Wordless Wednesday photo! The fun never ends!
New Ohio school barricade rules concern disability group
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?
Fire Door Clearance / Continuous Hinge
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...
FF: Duct Tape Again
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...
Controlled Egress vs. Delayed Egress
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...
WW: Courtyard Exit
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...
Law allowing school barricade devices raises concerns in Portage
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...
Decoded 3 – Egress and Life Safety
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!
FF: Skewed
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...
Keyes Life Safety Boot Camp
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...
WW: Should you trust a robot in an emergency?
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...
Stairwell Reentry
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...
Keys and the ADA
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...
FF: Passage Function Retrofit
There's more than one way to change a lock function...
Copper Doors
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...
WW: Crooked
This photo was sent to me by Joanne Gretter of Herman Gibans Fodor, Inc., and I really have no words.
Define: Occupied
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...
WWYD? Escape Room
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...
FF: Egress Deterrent
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...
2018 IBC Change for Classroom Locking
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!
WW: Another Retail Exit
What do you think? Does this door meet the intent of NFPA 1 if the security devices are only engaged when the building is not occupied?
WWYD? School Security Bill
These school security requirements could eventually be incorporated into your state's school security legislation. What additions or changes would you like to see?
Decoded: Change to BHMA Standard for Exit Devices
BHMA is required by ANSI to update and review each of the product standards every 5 years, and an important change was made to ANSI/BHMA A156.3 when it was last revised in 2014. The standard now requires cycle tests for Grade 1 exit devices to include preloading...
FF: Backwards Doors
It looks like this TV show needs a new quality-control expert with some experience in doors!
WWYD? Toggle Buttons
This lock function is one of several applications that may meet the technical requirements of the accessibility standards, but in reality are difficult to operate by people with certain types of disabilities. Have any of you had experience with AHJs allowing or not allowing this function?
WW: Fire Door Inspection
John Lozano of Allegion sent me these photos from a recent class on fire door inspection. What problems do you see on this pair of fire doors in a health care facility?
La Parada – Albuquerque, New Mexico
I used to post lots of photos from trips I took with my family, and I'll be doing some more traveling this summer. In the meantime, I'm counting on y'all to send me pics of any interesting doors you see in your travels. Logan Piburn of Dyron Murphy Architects sent me these photos...
SIA Event at Congressional School Safety Caucus
Last week, the debut event of the Congressional School Safety Caucus on Capitol Hill was hosted by the Security Industry Association (SIA). This event brought together the co-chairs of the caucus with school security experts to talk strategy, and included a panel discussion moderated by Tim Eckersley...
FF: Inactive Active Leaf
According to Ken Cook of Allegion, today's Fixed-it Friday photo is from a church in Indianapolis, where a small earthquake in 2004 broke some underground pipes. This is one way to solve the problem...
Decoded 2 – Fire Door Assemblies
The first 2 Decoded classes are now available on-demand! Class 1 is Intro to Codes & Accessibility, and Class 2 is on Fire Door Assemblies. They're free!