I love it when people take action to rectify a code issue - especially when it's a door problem. Two articles landed on my desk in the last few days about just that - citizens who saw a deficiency and didn't let it drop until it got some attention. Both stories are from the UK and both involve high-rise apartment buildings - maybe Theodore Firedoor is helping to educate people about code-compliant fire doors.
Tim Kaye of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies sent me this photo of a required egress door in a school, which truly left me wordless. :(
I've received lots of photos lately that illustrated problems with how products were specified, supplied, or installed. So let's play...what's wrong with this picture???
At the risk of sounding like a hardware nerd, I'll admit that I think door closers are really cool. Most of the people walking around in the world don't give them a second thought. But on Monday, July 29th, between 9:35 and 9:45 pm EDT, LCN Closers will be profiled on The Fox Business Network in the "Manufacturing Marvels" series. The two-minute profile will spotlight the LCN brand, its products and its commitment to quality, and hopefully make more people aware of what an important purpose door closers serve.
Andy Lindenberg of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies sent me this one. I'm a little confused. Should I use this door in an emergency, or not?
Time to clean out the inbox! Here's the first batch:
This photo was sent to me by Jeff Tock of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, who reported that there were numerous fire doors like this in the same hotel. Personally, if I did something and saw VOID, I would probably stop and consider what was causing that to happen.
Here are a few articles that have crossed my desk recently (and some not-so-recently but I'm cleaning house). If you find an article that you'd like to share, send it along!
I have specified hardware for this application several times in the past, but when it came up again today I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some feedback from all of you and come up with the best way to handle this type of opening. It's a storage closet for a large folding partition to divide a room. When the folding partition is stored in the closet, both leaves of the door are in the same plane to fill the opening. When the folding partition is out of storage and dividing the room, it still extends into the closet so the small leaf of the pair folds back against the larger leaf, to leave space for the folding partition.
It's Wednesday, and you know what that means! Another application that leaves me wordless! Jeff Tock of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies sent me these photos of the integral stop on a door closer being used to hold the fire door open. Y'all know that's not ok - right?
Several questions have come up lately regarding the door and hardware requirements for science labs in schools. When a short article about a chemical fire in a lab storage cabinet came across my desk, I decided to do a little digging. I found that fires in school science labs are not uncommon, in fact, the number of injuries to students has grown - in part because of changing educational requirements which advocate more hands-on science instruction. In the event of a lab fire, building code requirements can help to limit the damage to the lab and prevent the fire and smoke from spreading.
I was just looking for a particular discussion on the Building Code Forum, and I ran across this photo which I forgot to post. I was probably saving it for the WW before Thanksgiving. :) The fire inspector had been called back to reinspect this exit, which was missing the panic hardware.
I answer A LOT of questions every day, and I love doing it. I'm so glad to be able to provide this resource for our staff and customers, and anyone else who comes across my site. But sometimes I get questions that I don't have a good answer for, and that's where you come in. Please leave a comment if you have any insight on ANY of these questions...
A few months ago I got the bittersweet news that one of my favorite people in our industry, Bob Harder, was retiring. I'm not afraid to say...I got a little misty.
I've had dozens of architects ask me to specify hardware for doors with something "unusual" applied to them...sheetrock, wood, stone...one of our hardware consultants even had an architect propose full-sized brick covering the entire face of the door. I always try to talk them out of it, but I have to admit it's pretty cool when I see doors where the architect didn't take "no" for an answer.
It's been a busy couple of weeks that didn't leave me a lot of time for blogging - last week I went to LCN to have dinner with some of my favorite customers from Israel, witnessed a fire test at UL, then spent the rest of the week at the AIA conference in Denver where I played Code Jeopardy with the Denver chapter of DHI, played a mini version with LOTS of AIA attendees, and taught a class at the conference with Bill Lawliss. We're spending this week with our new group of specwriter apprentices, as well as the previous group - they have already learned enough to help us with the instructing! I have been amazed at how quickly they picked up the product information, code requirements, and specification techniques. Here's a group photo from our field trip to Harvard yesterday:
Yes, this is a fire door. Anyone see a problem here?
This post was printed in the June 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
I'm in Denver for the AIA conference, and this afternoon I played a rousing game of Code Jeopardy with the Denver Chapter of DHI. If you're at the AIA conference this week, stop at our booth (#530) to play a short version of Code Jeopardy and your name will be entered to win an iPad Mini! You can enter whether you get the questions right or not, and you'll probably learn something about a new code requirement in the process.
Last Friday I posted an article about a school district settlement with a student, after a severe injury due to impact with traditional wired glass. The article mentioned that a "15-year-old high school student fell while climbing atop a stack of rolled up wrestling mats." What the article didn't say was that the mats had been rolled up between practices, and the student was helping to set up - the mats were stuck together and he climbed up to help free the mat and slipped, impacting the glass. His injury was horrific, and he's lucky to be alive.
I've gotten in the habit of looking at wired glass to see if it has a certification mark for impact-resistance. Almost none of the existing wired glass that I've seen has the mark, which means that unless it has field-applied film (I haven't spotted any film yet), it is extremely hazardous. When I see kids running down the school corridors or swarming the exit at the end of the school day, I worry about impact with the glass, and the resulting injuries. Our kids are supposed to be safe at school, but the majority of schools have traditional wired glass in place. And if administrators think they are protected from liability, a precedent is being set that indicates otherwise...
This opening is secured by power bolts, which are released via the wall switch. The panic hardware is just for show...there's no way for the devices to latch without a mullion. :(
Last month I posted an article by Kenneth T. Lumb about the liability that schools carry with regard to non-impact-resistant wired glass. I received a comment from former Oregon State Senator Vicki Walker, who has been an instrumental and passionate force in removing traditional wired glass from Oregon schools. With her permission, I have posted her comment below (or click here to download a PDF version).
I've compiled some of the code resources I currently use, in hopes that some of them might be helpful to you. If there are other websites that you visit for code information, please leave a comment and I'll add them to the list.
Here are some more photos from my weekend in NYC...these are all about taking a closer look.
Fire in China poultry plant kills more than 100 people - Al Jazeera (vide0)
This photo is from one of the fine establishments we visited in NYC. You can tell it's *fine* because of the champagne buckets.
Over the weekend I spent some time in New York with my friends, and as you can probably imagine I saw A LOT of doors of interest. Here are some of them...
I have read this first article several times and asked my codey friends for their thoughts. None of us could come up with any national building code requirement for a closer on a non-fire-rated exterior door. But then again...I try to avoid arguing with a building official. What say you?
This photo of a hospital corridor door was sent by Hyun Myung Kang. I'm pretty sure this installation doesn't comply with NFPA 80.
OK...who knows what's wrong with the door in this photo, sent in by Jeff Tock of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies?
I know it's not Wordless Wednesday, but this photo from Alec Walsh of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies definitely left me wordless!
When tragedy strikes, a common reaction is to examine what went wrong...what could have been done to affect a better outcome? In many cases throughout history, codes were changed because of tragic events. For the door and hardware industry, fires at the Iroquios Theater, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, Cocoanut Grove Nightclub, Our Lady of Angels School, and the Station Nightclub come to mind as catalysts for code change.
Yes, I know it's Thursday, but this just arrived in my email box and I have to share.
I have A LOT of photos that have been sent in by readers of this blog - THANK YOU! Here is the first batch, which all feature closers in various states of problematic.
Any theories about what's happening here? Steve Poe from Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies sent me the photo and we're perplexed.
Published here with permission from Safe Glass Consulting (click here to download a PDF reprint).
Last month I wrote about my experience on the day of this year's Boston Marathon. The slogan "Boston Strong" has emerged since then as the ultimate description of this city, which will not let senseless violence beat us down. This weekend my friend and I took our kids downtown, and our first stop was the makeshift memorial that has sprung up next to Trinity Church and across the street from the Boston Public Library. I was surprised at the very long line of people inching through the display of running shoes, flowers, notes, candles, hats, stuffed animals, and other mementos that have been left at the site, and also the multiple news vehicles parked along the street. I'm still wondering what story they're waiting to capture...survivors visiting the memorial? Famous people? I guess I'll have to watch the news and see.
Vincent Chestnut of Alpha Locksmith spotted this problem on a visit to a local public safety building. Not only does the door require two motions to unlatch, the thumbturn on the combination lock doesn't look like it would be considered accessible.
Thankfully, we don't experience many tornadoes here in the Northeast - I actually only remember one tornado scare in my lifetime - on June 1st, 2011. The weatherman was telling the residents of the towns in the tornado's path when to go into the basement and when the danger had passed. I was grateful that we had a basement to go to, that my family was all here together, and that ultimately the tornado didn't make it as far as our town. But what if we didn't have a relatively safe place to go - especially in an area where tornadoes are more common? When I think about our elementary school, I have no idea where the safest location would be...I wonder if the school staff knows?
Last week I had a whirlwind trip to Kansas City, Missouri for Code Jeopardy at DHI's MoKan Chapter meeting, and another code class which was held at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. The venue was amazing and the local SSC did a fabulous job of coordinating everything. Thank you to everyone who attended!
Todd Pack of of the Trimble Company sent in this photo of the latest in locking technology. I was wordless when I found out how much spoon security there is out there (my favorite, spoon 1, spoon 2, spoon 3, spoon 4, spoon 5, spoon 6). And I thought spoons were for ice cream!
This post was printed in the May 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
Theodore Firedoor...my hero! And I'm going to start using the word "dodgy" whenever possible. :D
Andrew Harris of Willis Klein sent me these photos of doors in a school district. He had been called in to solve the problems that caused the school to resort to these locking measures.
Many of you know that I live just outside of Boston and I consider the city my home (and I really appreciate those of you who emailed me to make sure I was ok). I love this city, the architecture, the history, the vibe given off by the people. For me, downtown Boston isn't an area to be avoided because of traffic, crime, or parking difficulties. It's a place I frequent - with my family and friends, for work, or on my own. I have never worried about my safety.
I’m asked quite often if fusible link arms are still allowed to be used on fire doors. The logical place to start is NFPA 80 – Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives...
The next time an architect wants to do something crazy like attach a bookcase to a sliding door or face a swinging door with masonry, I know right where to send them! No...not there, HERE:
This morning I went over to the Grand Canal Shoppes before the stores opened, to get photos of the unusual door pulls. I'm pretty sure Security was tracking my every move, but apparently they decided I was harmless.
