Magnetic locks - Yes or No

[stephen1974]

Many doors in out building have magnetic locks for security reasons. None of the final exits do.
Some of the escape route have fire doors that are magnetically locked.

Of the four doors from our part of the building, two are magnetically locked, two are not, (not final exits but fire doors on escape routes to those exits) and we have security issues. The FM claims that the FS has said we cannot have magnetic locks on fire exits and im assuming he also means fire doors that service escape routes (even though we have them)

I don't recall anything that says we cant have magnetic locks on final exits or fire doors. Am I wrong?

My feeling is, when the refurb was done, they only looked at internal access restrictions and didnt think about people letting their mates in via fire exits and now that that is happening they are coming up with excuses to avoid the expense of more locks being added to the system. The two doors that have the locks also lead to other parts of the building where as those without just lead outside.

[Blackstone]

My understanding, and i'm certainly not a fire expect (waits to be shot down in flames ) is that if a magnetically locked door is on a fire route or final exit door there must be a manual button or call point style devise that allows the door to be opened from the inside.

Hope that make sense and it right

[stephen1974]

They do. No problem there, and they should automatically release in the event of a power failure or when the fire alarm is activated. I can only assume the later happens as i've never seen them check on weekly fire tests - but that another issue.

[Messy]

Mag locks are permitted on means of escape and final exits. A suitable override should be fitted. This can be mechanical (thumturn mortise) or electrical (green box).

Whether its connected to the fire alarm (to release when the fire alarm activates) really is a matter for the FRA.

A small office with <20 persons may be perfectly OK to just go with overrides and no interface with the fire alarm. Somewhere with lots of people, certainly lots of the public, would benefit from a link to the fire alarm - insofar as you can't really train or instruct the public how to use a green box override.

I worked until recently in a secure premises where none of the electrically locked doors were connected to the fire alarm - especially the final exits. You can imagine, it would be totally inappropriate for a police station custody area or bank's final exits to unlock at 3am when a robber slides a smoke bomb in!!!! Instead we tested and operated each manual override much more frequently than the British standard as a mitigating measure for no link.

So the guy in FM (Fantasy Man?) who said electrically locked doors were not possible was mistaken I am afraid

[stephen1974]

Interesting security issue. What if the power fails, do they unlock then, as surely the manual controls work by interrupting the power.

[Paul1979]

Interesting security issue. What if the power fails, do they unlock then, as surely the manual controls work by interrupting the power.

We had a similar issue on one of the properties we manage - the electronically locked doors on the perimeter of the building had full 'fail-safe' features in that they released automatically when the fire alarm was activated by 2x detectors or with a manual call point, they had green break glass units next to the doors, and they also automatically released when the buildings electrical power was interrupted (no UPS / back-up systems).

We overcome the security issue / risk of the doors releasing in the middle of the night if there was a power-cut or a problem with the alarm by fitting deadlocks which had keys, so that the last person leaving the building could secure the doors from the outside.

On one of the other properties we look after, due to high security needs, the doors don't automatically release / fail-safe, so we have the green break glass units next to all doors and each one is tested weekly along with the fire alarm. The FRA accepted this arrangement even though it did not match exactly what the books told us, as did the local Fire Authorities.

This might not help your exact situation, but hopefully may give you a steer.