GPate

A neighbor had a child that could not get out of their flat because the door used a double-sided deadbolt. They would leave the key in the lock as a thumb turn, but on the night of the fire, it was not there. If the door has to be used in an emergency, it should never require a key from the point of egress.

When does a door open fully? Is it once it's reached a right angle, or does it have to open further?

From the content of the first post, I cannot tell if there was no way to evacuate or if there was just an issue evacuating quickly because the gate needed to be unlocked. If they were not able to evacuate, I would think that would be a very big issue.

Ahh I see, thanks for the clarification Tom! I was always under the assumption that it was illegal because I'd seen people stopped before. In instances of a fire and other emergency situations as well.

I'm surprised to hear that there are not legal barriers to reentering the building. I assumed that in most instances civilians would be barred from carrying out acts like that so that the professional emergency responders can tackle it efficiently. I might be wrong in this assumption though

Thanks Neil, I'll give it a read!

Thanks for the informative reply Tom! I know that for egress purposes and general safety the fire doors should open easily enough. It works great as a safety precaution and as a part of fire safety plans, but I wonder if it negatively impacts building security in any way? Would someone be able to take advantage of the fact that there is no basic locking system in place?

Just wondering if all fire doors come equipped with a basic locking system, or are required to have something specific. I noticed on my building that there is some inconsistency between the lock hardware on different fire doors. Maybe they aren't both fired doors. Not sure.