I'm working on an article for a print publication, that covers the some of the common code issues affecting schools and mistakes that may be made - particularly in the rush to secure a school against an intruder. The topics I've included are:
When we talk about school security / school safety we bring different perspectives to the table. Many of us are parents or grandparents of children in school. Some are educators or administrators, or those responsible for designing, securing, or maintaining school buildings. Others are first responders or code officials. In a recent edition of the Washington Post there was an article giving a teacher's prespective on school lockdown...
Last weekend our church had a Halloween party with a haunted house for the kids. Because (as Popeye always said) "I yam what I yam," I wondered about the egress plans if there was an emergency. Maybe a maze made of cardboard and sheets with no open flames in a church basement for 3 hours with lots of adult supervision isn't a huge concern, but haunted houses have become big business...
It's Wordless Wednesday, and this "exit" leaves me wordless...
As most of you know, I love to see creativity and innovation within the door and hardware industry, especially if it helps to increase fire prevention and life safety. I received a video this morning, introducing a product that has been developed by two retired FDNY firefighters. It is a spring hinge with a fusible link, so in normal operation it acts as a typical hinge but when exposed to heat it closes the door...
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...
This cylinder is really cool...a curved keyway and a flexible key. I didn't say it was practical. If you're curious about how it works, you can check out the patent here...
Today is the second webinar in the series for access control integrators, so here is my second list of Quick-Tips (the first list can be downloaded here). There have been some changes in the 2015 edition of the IBC, so it's worth a review...
I spent most of last week in Arizona at the BHMA meeting, and I found this great (terrible) Wordless Wednesday photo for you. If you're new to this site, the problem with this exit is that it has been modified for use as display space in a souvenir shop at the Phoenix airport. Doors in the means of egress must be visible, with no decorations, mirrors, curtains, or stuffed monkeys...
I don't know about you, but once a product number takes root in my head I have a tough time getting used to a new one. I've still got numbers in there from the 80's! But it's time to do a memory upgrade because the Schlage L9080-EL and L9080-EU locksets have been replaced with a series of new and improved electrified mortise locks...
Personally, I would love to take a photo, fill in some information, and have it routed to the correct fire department. But there are challenges when considering an app like this for use on a wider scale...
I can't count how many times I've been asked for help when a label from a listing laboratory has been removed by the painter/cleaner/installer/meddling kid from the door/frame/armor plate/fire exit hardware. Unfortunately, I'm not much help...I can't send you a new label to stick on. That's what makes these Fixed-it Friday photos so sad...
Allegion is conducting a series of monthly webinars for access control integrators, which address code compliant access solutions for various applications. All webinars are held at 2 p.m. Eastern. Click here to register or to access recordings of past webinars in this series...
Paul Goldense of Goldense Building Products took today's Wordless Wednesday photo while searching for the problem causing mag-locks in a psychiatric unit to work intermittently. I think he found the issue...
The 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design went into effect in March of 2012, but there are several requirements that continue to surprise architects and specifiers as well as door and hardware suppliers. These issues can be costly to resolve if they’re discovered after the doors and hardware are on-site, so it’s important to stay current on the requirements...
Check out this Fixed-it Friday photo of a creative hinge modification, sent in by Andy Armstrong of BR Johnson. At least it doesn't appear to be a fire door...
It has been a while since I've posted about the hazards of traditional wired glass, but the problem has not gone away. Although the US codes have changed, there are millions of existing pieces of this glass in schools and other buildings. Canada has seen several lawsuits lately - 1 worth more than 5 million dollars, and what's particularly interesting is that some of the glass in question met the code requirements in place in Canada at the time of installation, but facilities may still be held liable for wired glass injuries because they should have been aware of the hazard and addressed it. I am posting the article below with permission from the author, Rob Botman. The article first appeared in Glass Canada, and a reprint can be downloaded by clicking here. There is additional information about the requirements for glazing on the Glass tab above.^
These are egress doors in an occupied school gym. Luckily they are going to be replaced shortly, but meanwhile, I'm Wordless.
Recently a question from a code official landed in my inbox - "Can an electric strike on a fire door be operated by a motion sensor?" For example, if a door was often used by people carrying boxes or other large items, could a sensor release the strike so the building occupants could just push on the door rather than turning the lever to exit?
I receive lots of questions daily. Usually they are code questions, but I also receive questions about our products. To help you find answers to some of the product questions more quickly, I have added links to some Allegion support resources in the right sidebar. -->
It's my 20th anniversary with the company, my site has had more than 1 million pageviews, and I just received one of my favorite photos EVER! Check it out...
This is SO COOL. I LOVE it. I know it probably seems like it doesn't take that much to excite me, but when this hit my inbox, it really made my day...all because Dan Dateno of BR Johnson combined his sketching ability with his career in doors and hardware to illustrate alternate definitions for common door and hardware terminology.
It's Wordless Wednesday again! When I was in Baltimore a few weeks ago, I was loitering around these pairs of fire doors leading from the exhibit hall to the service corridor...
When I worked for a hardware distributor back in the 80's, I had a secret hiding place where I kept my prized possessions...including a small cardboard "book" that contained samples of each of the common finishes used for hardware. I had to keep it hidden, because people were always trying to steal it, or rip out the little metal pieces to send as finish samples...
A 42-unit apartment building was destroyed by fire last week in Columbus, Ohio. The fire began in a second-floor apartment, and the door to the apartment was left open when the resident evacuated. According to investigators, fire doors in the corridor and stairwell were also propped open, allowing the smoke and flames to spread and leaving the residents no safe escape route...
Most of you know that I'm not a fan of the retrofit security "inventions" that seem to be flooding the institutional market lately, but I do admire creativity, and since it's Fixed-it Friday I thought I'd share a product I recently saw in the news - The EasyLock. I have no idea how effective it is as a security device, but the design is pretty clever...
Check out the new resource on iDigHardware and you might win a $50 Amazon gift card for helping to validate the current codes in your area!
When I stay in a hotel I always check the fire doors and egress doors, and unfortunately I usually find issues. I guess I'm not the only one...
Lots of fire doors in the news, in large part because of Fire Door Safety Week last week!
It seems like just about every week I see a new classroom security device that promises to thwart intruders and help keeps kids safe in school. As I've said multiple times, many of these devices are not code-compliant, and trade security for life safety. In evaluating these products, my criteria are...
On a thru-wire hinge, the wires are typically run through the thickness of the hinge leaf. Like inside of the hinge leaf where you can't see them. Not actually through the hinge. Oh never mind. You're doing it wrong.
I'm sure you've seen panic hardware with some sort of guard or protection above, below, or around the panic. Should the codes define a certain area of free space around the panic hardware, ensuring that the actuating portion is obvious and readily available to someone using the exit? How much clear space is needed?
It's Wordless Wednesday again, and these photos DEFINITELY left me wordless...
There are 3 educational opportunities coming up, but you have to act fast! An on-demand video of a fire door test - 1 week only! Access Control Training begins Thursday! The next online Decoded course begins tomorrow!
Here are some photos from last week's trip to CONSTRUCT in Baltimore...I'm headed to Phoenix & Scottsdale soon, so let me know if there are doors there that I should share!
All I can say about these photos of a field-prepped electric strike is...this is why we specify all of the hardware, including access-control hardware, in the hardware specification. Field preps do happen on occasion, but not all installers are created equal...
In a recent discussion about code change proposals, there was a question about whether electromagnetic locks should be an acceptable alternative to panic hardware, on doors serving Assembly occupancies - essentially the application shown in the photos below. If approved, a door serving an assembly space, and perhaps even Educational occupancies depending on how the proposal was written, could have mag-locks released by a sensor, and no panic hardware - no latching device at all...
What can I say? Thank you to Gary Huizen of Huizen's Locksmith Service for posting this Wordless Wednesday photo on the iDigHardware Facebook page!
According to news reports, it sounds like an open door or possibly two open doors, along with an illegally locked second exit and insufficient smoke detectors may have contributed to the deaths of 4 children in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood...
In preparation for an upcoming class for access control professionals, I'm putting together some printable summaries of code tips on security-related topics. The first sheet I'm working on addresses requirements specific to fire door assemblies that would be important to an access control integrator or security consultant...
Thank you to Tim Meegan of Doors Incorporated for today's Fixed-it Friday photo! It's a classic! In case anyone is wondering, this article talks about the mounting guidelines for auto operator actuators!
Something recently caught me by surprise and I feel like I should bring it to light so that anyone who is specifying, supplying, or installing electrified hardware on stairwell doors would be aware of the potential issue...
I'm working on a blog post - hopefully for tomorrow, about a code problem involving stairwell reentry requirements. And it's not good news. But for today, from Edward Marchakitus of Cornell Storefront Systems, the emergency exit on a retail store. You'll be happy to know that this is the "before" photo:
In addition to providing support and training on door-related code requirements, my job also includes participating in code development - helping to propose changes to the codes that affect our business, and reviewing proposals from others. There is currently research underway that may propose to add school security requirements to a national code...
For the record, this is not a code-compliant way of providing an extension for a magnetic holder...
In a few weeks I will be teaching my Decoded online course again, this time on behalf of the Center for Campus Fire Safety. The Decoded course is a 4-class series on code requirements applicable to doors and hardware, and is based on the following codes and standards...
An architect's office can't claim that they didn't understand the requirements for an unobstructed means of egress, right?
Keith Brooks, Head of Prevention and Protection at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “This case is a perfect example of how important fire doors are when a fire breaks out both in the home and the workplace. They play a critical element in saving lives and property and should never be propped open..."
If you read this paragraph in a vacuum, it seems like all fire doors have to limit the air infiltration to this level (in most cases this would require gasketing), but this paragraph falls under section 716.5.3 - Door assemblies in corridors and smoke barriers. There are two sections following 716.5.3 that apply to other types of fire doors...
Eric Rieckers of Yadon Construction Specialties sent me this classic Fixed-it Friday photo of a door gone wrong. Security must not be enhanced at the expense of life safety, and doors in a means of egress must be unlatched with one operation. Several of these locks are also mounted outside of the allowable range for operable hardware.
