Posted By Tony McIntosh
The final exit fire escape doors in our warehouses are non-fire rated steel doors with a surface bolt closing mechanism on the inside of the door. While i'm aware that the final exit doors do not have to be fire rated, I read in the international fire code that surface bolts are not permitted. However, the occupancy level in the event of an evacuation would never exceed 5. The doors can be opened easily and cannot be locked from the outside. I have been asked whether they should be changed to fire rated 'panic bolt' doors. Personally, I don't think this would dramatically improve the safety of our staff. We store metal ingots in the warehouses, so the risk of fire is also very low.
Any thoughts / opinions welcome

Posted By Anthony Edwards
Tony,

There are plenty of final exits out there with a variety of blots/locks. On a recent fire course the fire officer told us that although technically they should be push bar the Fire Brigades were aware of security issues and it would be extremely unlikely they would issue a an enforcement notice, but he stated that all final exits must be unlocked/unbolted so they can be operated by one movement whilst the building was occupied.

regards

Nutty