Fire Exits as Entry Doors

[Guest Hannah]

Hi,  I have a question I need some advice with regarding fire exits and main entry points into a building.  We would like the main entry and also secondary entry point to also count as escape doors.  It is for an "assembly" building - and when I check the regs it says that the doors should not have locks / latches and should be fitted with panic fastenings.

So my question is - how do I properly secure the main entrance?  In some cases these would need to be secured internally (when locking up).  Panic fastenings on these doors does not seem to be the correct thing to do...Thumb turn locks would be good is possible.

Also do all emergency exit doors need to be "fire " doors?  Or are the fire doors only required in protected stair cases / protected corridors etc?  Eg - Can the main entry, which is also an emergency escape, be a normal door or does it need to be fire rated?

Many thanks!

[Tom Sutton]

All doors that lead to a place of safety in a fire are fire exit doors and should be fitted with fire exit signs when it could be confused where the door leads to.

All doors that lead, direct to fresh air, are called final fire exit doors and in most cases do not need to be fire resistant  unless they open onto a narrow alleyway.   

All fire exit doors need to be easily opened, in the direction of escape, without the use of a key and there are many locking devices that meet that specification but all exit doors used in an escape route from an auditorium should use panic bars. However not all doors need to be used in a means of escape plan, this would depend on the occupancy of the premises, these could be fitted with locks of your own choice.

When the premises are empty you can secure it as tight as a drum, with whatever devices you choose, but when occupied all MoE doors should be available.