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Approved locking in path of egress

hardwaredetailer

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Joined
Jul 9, 2025
Messages
1
Location
North Carolina
I am working on an office building in Vancouver where there is no direct stair access within the public elevator lobby or the service elevator lobby.
This project is following NFPA101 2012 - which I interpreted to allow the elevator lobby to be electronically locked in the path of egress given a list of (~14) criteria are met (sprinklered, Fail Safe on FA or loss of power, smoke rated, two-way communication system, etc.). Ideally we want to limit access to the office floor in normal, non-emergency situations and use an electrified mortise lock (Schalge L9092 EL for example). We also would be happy to install an emergency pull station to override the lock and allow immediate egress.
The local code consultant just shared a Bulletin from the city of Vancouver (attached) that states that if we want to lock the elevator lobby doors the only option is to use electromagnetic locks. Is this true?
This seems like a weird requirement to me, and I would love some help interpreting this Bulletin & any suggestions to help us come up with a solution.
 

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