Leo Taylor
REGISTERED
We have a grocery store as a client who has sliding front doors at the entrance. Typical operations is to unlock the doors with a key or a thumb turn which is located on the inside. Section 1010.1.4.3 allows for these doors in all types of applications but we typically see them on grocery stores. All over the country we see these doors locked at night when the store closes. Most locations lock them by either a thumb turn or a key cylinder on the inside. It is really up to the AHJ which they prefer. Some prefer the thumb turn so the doors can be unlocked whenever needed, others want a key turn so the doors can't be easily locked during business hours.
At the moment, we have one Fire Marshal who is following 1010.1.9.4 to an extreme. Basically they way they read the code is that no door can be locked when the building is occupied which means after close of business and while employees are inside stocking shelves or cleaning up. That is code section 1010.1.9.4 section 2.2 with the part "This door to remain unlocked when this space is occupied" This code is referring the "main" doors. So, now the grocery store is stuck between a rock and a hard place. How can they keep the building secure when closed for business?
The other issue the client has is that the fire marshal allowed them to lock the doors as long as they used a specially designed lever instead of a thumb turn or a key cylinder. Even that had issues as the Fire marshal wanted it to operate a certain way, and no one makes a product to work the way want. EG. The fire marshal wanted it to operate with only 90 degrees of rotation. Due to the current design the locks can be operated by a lever with 180 rotation or 360 with a thumb turn that takes wrist turning action. So, at the moment this client is getting frustrated as they appear to be the only company being put through this strict set of rules. The Malls and other group M stores in the area don't have to have this for some reason. We are trying to determine why.
Our company has worked on a lot of storefront doors and have never seen this kind of restriction. For now it seems the choices comes down to never locking the door, or using specialty hardware that does not exist or is prone to failure. (The levers that have been installed break a lot) The other issue, and I just learned this today, is that none of this is in writing. It is via emails to the store telling them to call the fire marshal, who then tells them what to do without putting it in writing. That's when we get the call.
Is anyone familiar enough with storefront sliding doors, adams rite locks, break-way panels, and the code to know what kind of push back we can give to this inspector? In one way of reading the code, the inspector is correct, but something must be off because very few stores in the US leave their main doors unlocked when the building is occupied by the night crews, and very few use special lever locks rather than thumb turns and/or keys.
Here is a link to the lever
https://www.adamsrite.com/en/products/trim/4550-ms-deadlock-lever/
and here is a link with a picture of the type of door.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/455848793505317472/?autologin=true
At the moment, we have one Fire Marshal who is following 1010.1.9.4 to an extreme. Basically they way they read the code is that no door can be locked when the building is occupied which means after close of business and while employees are inside stocking shelves or cleaning up. That is code section 1010.1.9.4 section 2.2 with the part "This door to remain unlocked when this space is occupied" This code is referring the "main" doors. So, now the grocery store is stuck between a rock and a hard place. How can they keep the building secure when closed for business?
The other issue the client has is that the fire marshal allowed them to lock the doors as long as they used a specially designed lever instead of a thumb turn or a key cylinder. Even that had issues as the Fire marshal wanted it to operate a certain way, and no one makes a product to work the way want. EG. The fire marshal wanted it to operate with only 90 degrees of rotation. Due to the current design the locks can be operated by a lever with 180 rotation or 360 with a thumb turn that takes wrist turning action. So, at the moment this client is getting frustrated as they appear to be the only company being put through this strict set of rules. The Malls and other group M stores in the area don't have to have this for some reason. We are trying to determine why.
Our company has worked on a lot of storefront doors and have never seen this kind of restriction. For now it seems the choices comes down to never locking the door, or using specialty hardware that does not exist or is prone to failure. (The levers that have been installed break a lot) The other issue, and I just learned this today, is that none of this is in writing. It is via emails to the store telling them to call the fire marshal, who then tells them what to do without putting it in writing. That's when we get the call.
Is anyone familiar enough with storefront sliding doors, adams rite locks, break-way panels, and the code to know what kind of push back we can give to this inspector? In one way of reading the code, the inspector is correct, but something must be off because very few stores in the US leave their main doors unlocked when the building is occupied by the night crews, and very few use special lever locks rather than thumb turns and/or keys.
Here is a link to the lever
https://www.adamsrite.com/en/products/trim/4550-ms-deadlock-lever/
and here is a link with a picture of the type of door.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/455848793505317472/?autologin=true
