Access control, door hardware and safe egress

Access control is allowed to make it hard to get into a building; it is not allowed to make it hard to get out. Building and fire codes limit how exit doors can be locked, require many electrified locks to release on fire alarm or power failure, and protect the function of fire doors. Getting this right is a design task that starts with the door hardware and ends with testing.

The principle: free egress

People leaving a building in an emergency may be panicking, in smoke or in the dark, carrying children or using a wheelchair. Codes in Canada, through the National Building Code, the National Fire Code and the provincial codes based on them, are built around the idea that exit doors must open from the egress side easily, without a key, special knowledge or unusual effort. Typically that means a single, obvious action such as pushing a bar or turning a lever.

The detailed rules depend on the door's location, the occupancy, the building's height and the code edition adopted in your province, and local authorities can have their own requirements. This guide explains the principles; for a specific door, check the code that applies and, where needed, the authority having jurisdiction.

Fail-safe and fail-secure

Every electrified lock does something when its power is removed. That behaviour is the first decision for any controlled door.

What happens when power goes. A fail-safe lock needs power to stay locked, so it opens when power is lost. A fail-secure lock stays locked from the outside, which keeps the building secure, but its inside handle or exit bar must still let people out mechanically.

Fail-secure hardware, such as an electric strike with a mechanical lever or exit device inside, is usually the easier choice for egress, because the inside hardware works mechanically whatever the electronics do. Fail-safe hardware, especially electromagnetic locks, holds the door shut with power alone, so it depends entirely on that power being removed when someone needs to leave. That is why codes treat electromagnetic locks with particular care.

Electromagnetic locks

A maglock is an electromagnet on the frame and a steel plate on the door. It is simple, strong and popular for retrofits and glass doors, because it does not need any change to the latch. But a maglock on an exit door has no mechanical release at all; the only way out is to cut its power.

Where codes permit maglocks on doors in a means of egress, they typically attach conditions. Commonly these include releasing on fire alarm, releasing on loss of power, a manual release device next to the door that cuts power directly, and a sensor or switch in the exit path. Some codes also allow delayed-egress arrangements in certain occupancies, with a short delay and signage, under strict limits. The exact conditions vary, so confirm them for each door.

Several independent ways to release a maglock. The fire alarm, an exit sensor, a manual button and a valid credential can each remove the lock's power. The manual button and the fire alarm release should not depend on the access software working.

The key word is independent. If the fire alarm release passes through the access controller's software, a crashed controller can keep the door locked during a fire. Fire alarm and manual releases are commonly wired so they cut lock power directly, and both should be tested as part of commissioning.

Fire alarm interfaces

The fire alarm system signals other systems through relays or control modules: releasing door locks, releasing magnetic hold-open devices so fire doors close, recalling elevators and shutting down air handlers. Interfaces with the fire alarm system follow CAN/ULC-S524 for installation, and changes to the fire alarm system are verified under CAN/ULC-S537. The release is then tested at each annual inspection under CAN/ULC-S536. Our guides on fire alarm interfaces and fire alarm system inspections explain those steps.

Coordinate early with the fire alarm designer. Adding door releases to an existing fire alarm system usually means new relays or modules, programming changes and re-verification, and the access contractor cannot do that part alone.

Fire doors and stairs

Doors in fire separations, including most stair doors, have jobs of their own: they must close and latch to keep fire and smoke out of the exit. That affects access hardware in several ways:

Fire doors generally need positive latching, so a maglock alone is often not acceptable as the only means of holding a fire door closed.
Electrified hardware added to a rated door and frame should be listed for use on fire doors, and field modifications can void the door's label.
Fire doors may only be held open by approved hold-open devices that release on fire alarm, never by wedges or kick-downs.
Codes often contain rules about locking stair doors on the stair side, so that people in a stair can get back onto a floor, especially in taller buildings.

Following the exit path

The clearest way to review a building is to walk the exit route from the most remote room to the outside and ask, at each door, how someone gets through it when the access system has failed.

Walk the route, door by door. From the office to the outside, each door on the exit path uses different hardware, but every one must open in the direction of travel with a single, obvious action, even if the access system has no power.

Lockdown and egress

Schools, clinics and similar sites often want a lockdown function that secures doors against an intruder. Lockdown should prevent entry, not exit. Classroom and office doors that can be locked from the inside, or locked remotely, must still open from the inside with a single action. Lockdown plans should be developed with local police and fire services and checked against the code.

Common mistakes

Maglocks on exit doors with no manual release, or a release wired through the access controller.
Release on fire alarm that was installed but never tested, or stopped working after a fire alarm upgrade.
Electrified hardware cut into rated doors without checking the listing.
Exit sensors aimed so poorly that people learn to wait or push repeatedly.
Stair doors locked against re-entry where the code requires otherwise.
Battery-backed lock power supplies that keep fail-safe locks locked during a power failure when the code expects them to release.

Questions to ask about each controlled door

Is it in a means of egress, and which code requirements apply to it?
What happens to the lock on power failure, and is that acceptable here?
Does it release on fire alarm, and is that release independent of the access software?
Is there a manual release where one is needed, clearly signed?
Is the door fire rated, and is the hardware listed for it?
When was release last tested, and who tested it?

Test it, do not assume it. Have each controlled exit door tested with power removed, on fire alarm and with the manual release, at commissioning and during each annual fire alarm inspection. Untested releases are one of the most common deficiencies found in existing buildings.

How ehZee can help

We design access-controlled doors with egress and fire alarm interfaces built in, coordinate hardware with door suppliers and fire alarm designers, and review existing systems door by door for egress problems. Drawings for permit are sealed by a licensed professional engineer where required, and installation is done by licensed electrical contractors and qualified fire alarm technicians. See our access control systems service, and how access control works for background.

Common questions

Are maglocks illegal on exit doors?

Not generally, but they are tightly conditioned. Where permitted, codes commonly require release on fire alarm and power failure, a manual release and an exit sensor, among other conditions. Check the code that applies to the specific door.

Can we lock the stairwell doors to stop people moving between floors?

Sometimes, from the stair side, but codes often require re-entry provisions, particularly in taller buildings, such as doors that unlock on fire alarm or designated re-entry floors. This needs checking against the code before hardware is ordered.

Who tests the fire alarm release?

The release is part of the fire alarm system's interface, so it is tested during fire alarm verification and annual inspection by qualified fire alarm technicians, ideally with the access contractor present.