Stairwell Door Mag Lock in a 14-Story Office Tower
A 14-story office tower has a tenant-floor door into an enclosed exit stair. The door is fire-rated, self-closing, and has a card reader added by a tenant. The installer used a 1,200-lb electromagnetic lock, fail-secure, with a push-button request-to-exit inside and a motion sensor above the door. The fire alarm system is not connected to the lock. The door has no manual release. Building management wants to keep the stair locked to prevent tenant-to-tenant movement, but the fire marshal cited it during an inspection. The tenant says the door is not a required exit because the stair has a separate exit discharge. The door is the only egress path from a 4,000-square-foot suite with 35 occupants. The access control panel is on the tenant's UPS, not the building emergency power.
1. Evaluate the code and life-safety compliance of the installation.
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The door is part of the means of egress from the suite, regardless of where the stair discharges. The only path from 35 occupants cannot be locked against egress. A mag lock is normally fail-safe, but this installation is effectively fail-secure because the access panel is on tenant UPS, so loss of building power may not release it. An access-controlled egress door must have a listed egress-side sensor, a manual release, release on loss of power, and release on fire alarm. The push button and motion sensor may satisfy parts of that list, but there is no manual release, no fire alarm connection, and no assurance of power-loss release. The fire marshal's citation is valid. Also check whether the mag lock installation violates the fire-rated door label. The tenant's argument fails because egress is determined by the path from the occupied space, not by where the stair discharges.
2. Recommend the corrective scope and sequence, including interim measures.
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Immediate interim: remove the mag lock from service or leave the door unlocked until corrections are complete; if the door must remain secure, post a fire watch or use a temporary alarm. Engineering: connect the lock to the building fire alarm so alarm activation releases it; move the access control panel to emergency power or ensure the lock releases on loss of power; add a manual release at the door; verify the egress sensor covers the approach; add required signage. Then test fire alarm release, power loss, manual release, sensor operation, and normal card operation. Restore the lock only after the fire marshal accepts the installation. Long-term, put the stair door on the building access control system rather than the tenant's, and schedule periodic tests. Keep a written sequence of operation.
3. Building management still wants the stair locked to prevent tenant-to-tenant movement. What alternatives are defensible?
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You can secure the stair without locking the egress side. Options include controlling entry from the stair into tenant floors with a card reader on the stair side while leaving the tenant-to-stair egress side free; using an electric strike with free mechanical egress from the tenant side; or securing stair doors on the stair side with access control and coordinating with the fire code. Do not put a fail-secure mag lock on the egress path. A door alarm may deter misuse, but it must not delay egress. Avoid delayed egress on an exit stair. Any solution must be reviewed by the AHJ and tested to confirm that egress remains free and that fire alarm and power loss release the lock.