Means of Egress

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.

By |2012-01-27T22:10:02-05:00June 18th, 2009|Fire Doors, Means of Egress|0 Comments
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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.

By |2014-04-26T19:26:55-04:00April 24th, 2009|Electrified Hardware, Locks & Keys, Means of Egress|0 Comments
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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.

By |2012-01-27T22:10:39-05:00April 13th, 2009|Locks & Keys, Means of Egress|5 Comments
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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.

By |2014-05-23T22:04:19-04:00April 8th, 2009|Locks & Keys, Means of Egress, Videos|0 Comments
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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.

By |2013-09-13T00:25:23-04:00March 26th, 2009|Accessibility, Electrified Hardware, Means of Egress|0 Comments
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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.

By |2012-08-22T08:33:15-04:00March 4th, 2009|Means of Egress, New England Codes, Panic Hardware|2 Comments
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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.  ;-)

By |2012-01-27T22:10:41-05:00February 23rd, 2009|Funky Applications, Locks & Keys, Means of Egress|2 Comments
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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.

By |2022-06-27T00:19:29-04:00February 23rd, 2009|Means of Egress, Panic Hardware|8 Comments
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