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Can panic hardware be installed on a door that doesn't lead to an exit?

LGreene

LGreene

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It is in the definition
2012 IBC

PANIC HARDWARE. A door-latching assembly incorporating a device that releases the latch upon the application of a force in the direction of egress travel. See also “Fire exit hardware.”

Unless it is an intervening room/space I do not believe it would be code compliant anywhere else.
 
mtlogcabin said:
It is in the definition
2012 IBC

PANIC HARDWARE. A door-latching assembly incorporating a device that releases the latch upon the application of a force in the direction of egress travel. See also “Fire exit hardware.”

Unless it is an intervening room/space I do not believe it would be code compliant anywhere else.
Click to expand...

I've read that definition plenty of times and I only interpreted it to mean that's how the hardware operates (rather than a rotating motion, for example). Now that I'm focusing on the definition, there is another piece of hardware that releases the latch upon the application of force in the direction of egress travel (it's called a hospital latch) so maybe the definition needs to be tweaked.

Thanks for your insight!
- Lori
 
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IMO, it is REQUIRED in the moe, putting them on other doors is up to the designer &,or owner. Code is minimum, nothing wrong with going above and beyond.
 
LGreene said:
I've read that definition plenty of times and I only interpreted it to mean that's how the hardware operates (rather than a rotating motion, for example). Now that I'm focusing on the definition, there is another piece of hardware that releases the latch upon the application of force in the direction of egress travel (it's called a hospital latch) so maybe the definition needs to be tweaked.

Thanks for your insight!
- Lori
Click to expand...

Take the word "egress" out of the definition then panic hardware could be installed on any side of the door

If your "hospital latch" does not meet UL 305 then it is not panic hardware under the code and can be installed on either side of the door.

Panic hardware is so common that when the general public sees it there is an assumption that that is the direction one should go to get out of the building regardless of an exit sign to confirm it.

My 5 & 6 year old grandchildren know that a push bar across a door is the way out of a room/building.
 
Panic hardware is required less than in the past !!

So soon unless in a place of assembly, education, or H you will not see panic hardware!!

And what do you call the device used to release delay entry and similar??
Does it happen to look like panic hardware??
 
cda said:
Panic hardware is required less than in the past !!

So soon unless in a place of assembly, education, or H you will not see panic hardware!!

And what do you call the device used to release delay entry and similar??
Does it happen to look like panic hardware??
Click to expand...

Hi Charles -

The use groups where panic hardware is required haven't changed during my career, but the occupant load has. NFPA 101 still requires panic hardware in certain occupancy classifications when the occupant load is 100 people or more, and the IBC changed to 50 people or more in Assembly & Educational use groups. So now smaller rooms in those use groups require panics.

And don't forget about electrical rooms: http://idighardware.com/2013/09/decoded-panic-hardware-on-electrical-rooms/

- Lori
 
LGreene said:
Hi Charles -

The use groups where panic hardware is required haven't changed during my career, but the occupant load has. NFPA 101 still requires panic hardware in certain occupancy classifications when the occupant load is 100 people or more, and the IBC changed to 50 people or more in Assembly & Educational use groups. So now smaller rooms in those use groups require panics.

And don't forget about electrical rooms: http://idighardware.com/2013/09/decoded-panic-hardware-on-electrical-rooms/

- Lori
Click to expand...


Back in the day it was also required on "I"
 
We don't define "panic hardware" in Canada. Our code only requires a device on certain doors based on occupant load that releases the latching mechanism when a force of not more than 90 N is applied to the release mechanism in the direction of exit travel. You can put them on any door, but it is required on these doors. I would think the intent south of the border would be much the same.
 
Outside the world of code geeks, very few people automatically associate a particular type of door hardware as being 'normally' on exit doors. For that reason I don't see too many folks wrongly assuming that a door with a push bar is necessarily an 'exit'. They'll be looking for the signs above the doors.
As mentioned above by my250r11, it is simply an above code element and of little concern.
If you agree with mtlogcabin that it may cause confusion, then place a sign reading 'Not an Exit' on the door and call it a day.
JMHO
 
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