Lock and Life Safety Code Considerations for Campuses

When panic hardware is used on fire doors, it is fire exit hardware. Doors in educational occupancies that are equipped with a lock or latch must have panic hardware or fire exit hardware when serving an area with an occupant load of 50 or more/100 or more depending on the code that is in effect.

Methods used to secure doors with panic hardware, such as chains, bars or other devices, inhibit egress and are not allowed by code.

The egress requirements and accessibility standards require door hardware that is operable without tight grasping, tight pinching or twisting of the wrist, and this hardware must be mounted between 34 inches and 48 inches above the floor.

Many retrofit security devices are designed to be mounted at the top or bottom of the door, outside of the allowable range, and most require a method of operation that does not meet these standards.

Another concern is the use of retrofit security devices by an unauthorized individual, particularly in a school classroom, as many of these devices are designed to hang on the wall near the door until they are needed.

When panic hardware is used on fire doors, it is fire exit hardware.

Millions of crimes occur in and around schools each year, and relatively few involve an intruder. Allowing everyone the ability to lock a classroom or other area may lead to additional crimes or a delay in staff response.

Fire Door Assemblies

Fire doors can be identified by the label on the door edge and are part of an assembly whose components have been designed and tested to deter the spread of smoke and flames.

A fire door assembly typically includes the door, frame, steel ball bearing hinges, latching hardware, a door closer and often gasketing to limit smoke infiltration. Glazing used in a fire door assembly must be listed for this purpose and is also required to be impact-resistant as current codes require safety glazing for all hazardous locations, including doors and sidelites.

When fire exit hardware is installed on a fire door assembly, it will not be equipped with a mechanical dogging feature to hold the latch retracted.

Fire doors are required to close and latch in order to provide protection during a fire. One strategy for locking classroom doors quickly is to leave the door hardware locked at all times but prevent the lock from latching under normal circumstances.

A thin magnet or other material is placed over the strike on the frame and can be removed if a lockdown is implemented. Because this prevents the door from latching, it is not acceptable for use on a fire door unless allowed by the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ).