Planetarium Exit
When I need inspiration for what to write about and nobody has sent me a good code question that day, all I have to do is look back at my photos from family outings. That's sad, I know. :-)
All Fixed!
My site has been moved to a new server so hopefully all of the technical difficulties are behind us and I can get on with the important stuff - DOORS! :-)
Reader Photos
Maybe I should have a new series called "Jeff Tock's Photos." :-) Jeff is one of the Ingersoll Rand trainers who travels the world teaching people about hardware, and he sees a lot of "special applications." Jeff sent me this group of photos recently (thanks Jeff!):
Reader Photos
The good news is that these doors are being replaced, presumably with doors that will provide security without jeopardizing life safety. The bad news is that this is a popular restaurant and their main entrance doesn't come close to meeting the requirements for egress.
LAX Egress
It's not very often that I see a news report about egress doors that don't meet code requirements. Considering the prevalence of the problem, it's amazing to me that it doesn't get more publicity, but then again, I'm a little more focused on the problem than the average citizen.
Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris
Every day I find a new excuse to avoid reading and writing about smoke doors. I swear I'll get back to them, but as construction gets rolling again we're getting really busy.
Sortie D’Urgence. Briser et Presser.
This is a new one. Translation: "Emergency Exit. Break and Press."
FDAI Speed Dating
Tonight I attended the local DHI chapter meeting, where I was one of the presenters in a "cracker barrel" style presentation on fire door assembly inspection. It was kind of like FDAI speed dating. We had 6 tables, each with a different topic and 1 or 2 presenters per table, and the attendees cycled through all of the tables to hear a 10-minute presentation on each topic.
Construction Zone
I know you're probably anxious for me to get back to the smoke series, but it's Mothers' Day so I'm going to take one more day off. Instead I'm posting the photos below, which I took yesterday at the local college campus center. Our school was using their function room for a fundraiser, and this door was the emergency exit for the room. On the other side of the door is a construction zone, and neither door was operable.
Hotel Meeting Rooms
It's a little scary how excited I get when I find photos in my inbox...mostly because it makes the subsequent post pretty easy and I don't have to try to make the doors I see during my own wanderings meaningful. I received these photos from one of our esteemed trainers, who travels around teaching people about hardware. Any hardware people who have attended a class in a hotel meeting room can vouch for the scary hardware applications you can find there.
Stairwell Doors
I think I've seen so many non-code-compliant doors that I'm becoming numb to them. In the old days I would be spurred into action by the sight of a blocked exit or propped-open fire door. Yesterday I was at the local bagel joint and I saw their marked emergency exit blocked with stored high-chairs. No surprise. I went to my chiropractor's office and in the 3-story stairwell, two doors were propped open by the construction crew doing a 2nd-floor office fit-up, and the third floor door's latchset had been removed and replaced with a push plate and pull. Ho-hum.
Stephens Court, Calcutta India
This building in Calcutta was involved in a fatal fire today, with 24 deaths reported so far and additional people still missing. The top floors of the building had been added illegally, but the building owner paid a fine and all was forgiven. The fire department reportedly had never inspected the building.
More Costa Rican Egress
When we drove through Santa Elena, we noticed a restaurant with a tree growing up through the middle of it. It looked pretty cool, so we headed there for lunch after our 3-hour morning hike in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and before our afternoon hike at the Selvatura Hanging Bridges. (On the verge of passing out from exhaustion later that evening, we realized that it was only 7:16 p.m.!)
Costa Rican Egress / Fire Protection
The hotel with the treacherous handicap ramp (see previous post) was actually a very nice little hotel, but it had some other code-related issues. I think all of the issues stem from the lack of stringent building codes in Costa Rica, but they're still a little scary for travelers who happen to be door hardware consultants.
<90 Degrees, Not So Fast
My last post was about the method of measuring the clear opening width of a door that doesn't open to 90 degrees. After reading the codes and the commentaries and having several discussions with someone from the ICC, I posted a graphic of a 32" cylinder passing through the opening, as described by the ICC.
<90 Degrees
I haven't posted for a few days because I've been working on my new FDAI presentation and various other things, but I'm kind of excited about this post because it answers a question that has been floating around for years. Ok...maybe "excited" is the wrong word, but I really enjoy crossing things off the "grey list."
Same Hotel, Different Day
Luckily, we are safely home and the hotel didn't catch on fire, but I did take a quick tour of the place before we left. Almost none of the fire doors that I looked at were code-compliant, and I wasn't being nitpicky.
Wicked Restroom Doors
It's been 40 days since I've mentioned a ladies room, and I just saw an application that I can't resist posting about.
History Repeats Itself, Again
Once again, failure to follow fire safety and egress code requirements in a nightclub has resulted in a fire with multiple fatalities. The death toll from the December 4th fire at the Lame Horse in Perm, Russia currently stands at 112 with more than 100 people severely injured.
Not an Exit
This sign is on the OUTSIDE of a door on the gas station I frequent. I can't think of any reason it would be important to know that nobody will be exiting out of that door (UPDATE: Check out the comments for some interesting insight from a fire marshal.), but it did make me wonder when a sign like this IS required.
Means of Egress Reliability
A while back I posted a photo of an egress door in an indoor soccer arena, which had nets hanging in front of it. I asked my blog visitors to comment on whether they thought the application was code-compliant or not.
BOCA? Or No BOCA?
That's the question I was asked on Friday..."If someone orders a delayed egress exit device or delayed egress mag-lock, when do they need the 'BOCA' feature?"
Panic Hardware on Balanced Doors
Last week, someone asked me about code requirements related to panic hardware on balanced doors. The project in question is in Israel, and apparently the code requirements there do not include any specific requirements for panic hardware on balanced doors. However, the codes used most often in the U.S. do contain applicable requirements.
Restaurant Egress
I'd be rich if I had a dime for every time I explained that panic hardware is required for Assembly and Educational occupancies with an occupant load of more than 100 people (per IBC 2000 or 2003, NFPA 101) or more than 50 people (per IBC 2006 or 2009). Well, maybe I'd just have a bunch of dimes, but I've said it lots of times and sometimes people still have a hard time remembering it. Here's a true story that will help.
Is this your idea of *fun*??
I just said to my husband, "I've got to post something *fun* on the blog tonight." I figured that after a couple of very technical, code-heavy posts, we all needed a break. He looked at me like I had two heads...I guess this isn't his idea of fun.
Elevator Lobby Egress
Fair warning...this is going to be one of those posts that makes your eyes glaze over, especially if you haven't had your coffee yet. But since I've seen several people come to my site looking for this information and leaving without it, I need to post about it before the next person comes looking. I'll try to make it as concise as possible, and remember, the red italicized paragraphs are the code excerpts so you probably don't need to read those unless you're really digging into this issue.
More on Clear Opening Width
Honestly, I do NOT have a bathroom obsession. It's just a coincidence that once again, a code question came up regarding a bathroom door.
All Aboard!
Yesterday we drove from Front Royal, Virginia to Grassy Cove, Tennessee, which is a VERY long drive. We usually plan on stopping somewhere for the kids to burn off some energy, and yesterday's stop was at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. I can find an interesting (to me) hardware application just about anywhere, and the most interesting hardware I found was in the President's One train car, which was built in 1916. There were double-acting spring hinges, a sliding door on a curved track, and some double-acting deadlatches - all still in working condition. Pretty cool. Click any of the thumbnails below if you're interested in seeing larger views of the photos.
Violators Will Be Fined!
When a delayed egress lock is used on an egress door, the codes require signage instructing the building occupant to "PUSH UNTIL ALARM SOUNDS, DOOR CAN BE OPENED IN 15 SECONDS." When the code official approves a 30-second delay, the signage must reflect that increase. At least the signage on this egress door (yes, there is an exit sign which is not visible in the photo) will keep the person occupied while he or she waits for 30 seconds to pass. ;-)
Clear Opening Width
Back in the 80's, there was a lot of confusion about how to measure the clear opening width of doors. The codes and standards weren't clear, so on doors with panic devices the fire marshals were looking for 32" between the panic device and the stop on the strike jamb. As each code and standard was revised to include information clarifying this requirement, I would periodically call the State Fire Marshal's office in the state where we most often had the problem. They stopped taking my calls but they eventually changed the way they measured clear opening width.
NFPA Journal Door Inspection Article
There's an article in the May/June 2009 issue of the NFPA Journal about the inspection of egress doors and fire doors. You can access the article here. It's an excellent overview of the inspection requirements found in the 2009 Edition of NFPA 101 - The Life Safety Code.
Astragals with Vertical Rod Panics
An astragal is a piece of molding used on a pair of doors or between the top and bottom leaves of a Dutch door, to provide security, protect against weather conditions, prevent light or sound transmission, or to retard the passage of smoke, flame, or gases during a fire. On a Dutch door the astragal is used to close the bottom leaf in conjunction with the top leaf. An astragal should not be confused with a mullion, which sits between (fixed) or behind (removable) the meeting stiles of a pair.
High Security Dogging
I think this photo speaks for itself. I just love the creativity and the lengths people will go to with these modifications. It's kind of sad that I get my kicks from looking at doors gone wrong, but admit it...you do too!
Exit Enclosure
My last post referenced the term "exit enclosure", and I received a few questions about its meaning. An exit enclosure is the enclosure around an exit. For our purposes it usually refers to a stairwell. According to the IBC, exit enclosures connecting 4 or more stories require a 2-hour fire resistance rating, and those connecting less than 4 stories require a 1-hour fire resistance rating (IBC-2009-1022.1). Exit enclosures must lead directly to the exterior or to an exit passageway, which will typically have the same fire resistance rating as the exit enclosure. The IBC includes some exceptions for exits which do not need to be enclosed, such as stairs in parking garages.
Fail Safe Locks
I didn't want to scare anyone by adding more information to my previous post about stairwell re-entry, but I do get questions about how to accomplish this. The stairwell re-entry requirements state that the stair side lever must unlock on fire alarm or on a signal from the fire command station depending on the code (there is always free egress from the non-stair side). I have seen stair doors that had been retrofitted with card readers and electric strikes. If these doors are required by code to meet the stairwell re-entry requirements, an electric strike is not an acceptable way to do this.
Roof Doors
The locking requirements for roof doors are a bit of a gray area, due to the varied preferences of local code officials. In most cases, the roof door can be locked on the interior side, preventing access to the roof. It is very rare (except in movies) that the egress plan for the building includes going to the roof for helicopter access. If the roof was part of the egress path, the roof would have to be maintained as an egress route, snow removed, etc.
Dormitory Locks
The hot topic of last week was how to handle locks on dormitory entrance doors, since the students have figured out how to reach under the door with a coat hanger and pull down the lever to unlock the door. There's a minute+ of bad video below to illustrate the procedure, as reenacted by a couple of college boys. The video has already been viewed 1,419 times by students who need help with their coat hanger technique, so the problem is bound to get bigger.
Max Headroom
Remember him? I guess I'm dating myself if I admit that I do since he made his debut in the mid- to late-80's, right around the time that Bill Lawliss, John Gant, and I all graduated with degrees in Architecture from Vermont Technical College. Just think where we could be now if we took those drafting jobs we were offered instead of choosing the glamorous field of door hardware.
Single Bathroom Locksets
I've been asked this question so many times you'd think I'd know the answer by now. By the way...the photo at left doesn't have much to do with the question, I just think it's funny.
One Motion Egress
I saw this homemade security device on a local high school a few years ago. The school had been having trouble with their computer lab door, and this was their solution - a bent bar in 2 hasps welded to the door. This is not code-compliant, as the codes require one motion to exit under most circumstances.
New Requirements for Nightclubs in Massachusetts
In the Good Old Days when I was a more frequent nightclub visitor, I remember trying to exit through a club's main entrance at closing time and encountering a locked door. The manager had locked the door to prevent more people from coming in. The vestibule was dark, and the dark bronze storefront door had an Adams Rite deadlatch with a dark bronze lever. The lever was completely invisible and people started to gather behind me. If it had been a panic situation there could have been tragic consequences.
Time-Out Lock
One of our customers sent me this photo last week. It was found on a psychiatric facility and to operate it, a staff member must be present and holding the bolt projected via the lever. I did my best to track down a manufacturer with no luck. It's possible that it was made in a machine shop or that it is no longer available, but my first thought when I saw it was that I need to buy 3 for my kids' rooms and then find 3 suckers to stand there holding the bolts projected. ;-)
Panic Hardware on Electrical Rooms
Beginning with the 2002 edition, the National Electric Code (NFPA 70) requires that certain types of electric rooms have doors that open in the direction of egress and are "equipped with panic bars, pressure plates, or other devices that are normally latched but open under simple pressure." According to an engineer I spoke with at the National Fire Protection Association, the releasing device could be a hospital latch or paddle-type release, but the fact that the words "panic bar" are used in the Code has prompted many code officials to require panic hardware.