QQ: Panic Hardware on Residential Occupancies
This question keeps coming up...Is panic hardware required for the residential floors of hotels and apartment buildings?
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Apply It: Mosque Exits – Answers
Here are the answers to Tuesday's real-world questions about the egress requirements for this mosque in Dubai. Read the other post first if you want to give it a try.
Apply It: Swimming Pool – Answers
Last week I posted an exercise to help you apply some of your code knowledge by answering questions about swimming pool egress. Cheers to the few brave readers who gave it a shot!
Decoded: Safe and Secure Schools
My next Decoded article focuses on safety requirements to consider while addressing school security. And while we're on the subject, Safe and Sound Schools is conducting their 4th survey on the National State of School Safety, and I invite you to participate.
QQ: Dead-End Corridors
Sometimes a floor plan will show a corridor that ends with a wall or a locked door, creating a dead end. Today's Quick Question: What is the maximum length of a dead end corridor that is allowed by the model codes?
ICC 500 – Fire Doors
Here's a little quiz question...this one caught me by surprise the first time I noticed it: Besides a communicating door between hotel rooms, where might you find a fire door that is not required to be self-closing or automatic-closing?
Decoded: Update on Storm Shelter Doors
This Decoded article addresses the requirements of the International Building Code and ICC 500 for storm shelters, and I have updated the original article with current code references.
Decoded: Panic Hardware on Doors Serving Assembly Occupancies
My next Decoded article looks at some of the exceptions where doors serving assembly spaces are NOT required to have panic hardware. Did I miss any? Leave a comment and let me know!
Online Code Resources
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.
FF: Antique Store Exit
My plan for harnessing the power of the Earth's population to identify and respond to code problems is working! This antique store must have some REALLY valuable antiques in it, but it's ok because someone has Fixed-It...
WW: Western Store Emergency Exit
Today's Wordless Wednesday photos came from an anonymous fire inspector pal of mine. This is very common in retail stores - the merchandise displays creep in and encroach upon the egress route, or inhibit the operation of fire doors...
Embarrassing 50% Failure Rate
Quite a few people sent this cartoon to me, so I obtained permission to post it here. It looks like the "normal" people are starting to figure out the secrets of the door and hardware industry. Enjoy!
Happy 4th!
I'm really starting to think that between photos from readers and the way the internet connects me to the world, I could just stay in my house and still have plenty of doors to write about. I'm currently at our "camp" which depending on where you are in the country could be defined as a cottage, lake house, summer home, etc. I usually call it our shack in the woods, because it's tiny, it needs work, and it's in the woods. Anyway, you get the picture.
WW: Grocery Store Egress
In addition to the blocked egress path, I see a security bar with a padlock and hasp, the original lockset, and an exit alarm, presumably requiring at least 3 operations to unlatch the door. And possibly a key. And a detailed map to find your way to the door...
WW: Another Split Opening
Last week I posted a Fixed-it Friday photo of a 50/50 split opening that I saw in Valle de Bravo, and in response, Leo Lebovits of M&D Door & Hardware sent me today's Wordless Wednesday photo. I can see the resemblance!
Logan the Locksmith
Tomorrow is my birthday. Not just any birthday - my 50th! The other day someone said to me, "Don't worry! 50 is the new 70!!!" What???
QQ: Panic Hardware Exception
Today's Quick Question: Does the 2021 IBC section addressing the locking of exterior spaces allow panic hardware to be omitted on doors serving exterior assembly spaces with an occupant load of 50 people or more?
WW: Liquor is Quicker
This is the rear exit of a liquor store. Although the store was closed when this photo was taken, on the other side of the door there is an exit sign, panic hardware, a surface bolt, and a padlock. This type of retrofit is common when additional security is needed, but it is NOT code-compliant...
Door Opening Force
Door opening force is the measurement of how many pounds of force are required to open a door. The requirements for door opening force are found in the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG), ICC/ANSI A117.1 Standard on Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities, and the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board requirements (521 CMR).
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.
Footpull
When this photo arrived in my inbox, I immediately thought the panic was mounted in that position to be operated by someone's foot. I couldn't quite wrap my brain around the latching/unlatching situation...I really think it's just being used as a pull bar and that there's no strike installed. On my next road trip maybe I'll swing through Alabama so I can check it out.
Decoded: Manual Flush Bolts
This post was printed in the March 2011 issue of Doors & Hardware
Decoded: New Occupant Load Requirements for Panic Hardware (May 2011)
This post was printed in the May 2011 issue of Doors and Hardware
Rainy Relay
<--- You know what that's a photo of??? Rain - torrential rain, at our Relay for Life event this weekend. It rained on and off for most of the relay, but it was REALLY bad at night. Even the die-hard high school kids in the campsite next to ours ended up sleeping in a friend's living room (all 24 of them!!). Because we didn't sleep overnight in our soaking wet tent, there were a couple of hours that we didn't have someone walking the track, but I think we had people walking for more hours than any other team. There were several hours that our team was almost alone on the track. Yes, we're crazy! :-)
Steel Door Institute: Tornado Doors
Last year I wrote a couple of blog posts about tornado doors - one called Tornado Safety in Schools, which included articles and other information about tornadoes that had recently occurred in Oklahoma and Texas. The other post was Shelter from the Storm, which described changes to the 2015 International Building Code...
Fire Door Safety Week
It’s Fire Door Safety Week in the UK, and I can’t help but wonder why the US is so far behind in educating the public about the value of fire doors. It’s a shame, really.
Mag-Lock Follow-Up
I posted these photos (below) yesterday to ask what problems you all saw. Here's what I see...
Elopement from Schools
I read an article this morning about a 3-year-old boy who eloped from his preschool in Bangor, Maine. The teacher saw him go through the exterior door...
Signage for Low Energy Automatic Doors
Deputy Jeff Tock of Allegion sent me this photo, showing some confusing signage on an automatic door (push to operate an outswinging door?) - which reminded me that it's been years since I've written about the signage requirements for low-energy automatic doors...
Dormitory Tragedy – Ankara, Turkey
Last week I was contacted by an architect from Istanbul, about a recent fire that occurred in a girls' dormitory there. There were 12 fatalities...