Reference
The figures a Charlotte facilities manager actually gets asked for, in one place, with the standard designation attached to each one. Gauges and performance levels, endurance cycles, hardware grades, opening force limits and fire door clearances. Every figure was checked against a live source on 13 September 2026. Take what you need — there is nothing to fill in and nobody to talk to unless you want to.
Force and timing
Every published figure in one table. Where a code reserves a case and states no number, the cell says so rather than guessing.
| Opening condition | Maximum opening force | Closing or sweep period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interior hinged door on an accessible route | 5 lbf maximum | From 90 degrees open, the door must take at least 5 seconds to reach 12 degrees from the latch. | 2010 ADA Standards, Section 404.2.9 |
| Interior sliding or folding door on an accessible route | 5 lbf maximum | No closer sweep period applies — 404.2.8.1 governs closers on swinging doors. | 2010 ADA Standards, Section 404.2.9 |
| Exterior hinged door on an accessible route | No federal maximum is stated | The 404.2.8.1 closing speed requirement still applies to any door closer on the opening. | 2010 ADA Standards, Section 404.2.9 — the exterior hinged case is reserved |
| Fire door assembly | The minimum opening force allowable by the authority having jurisdiction | The closer must still close and latch the door from any open position. IBC Section 1010.1.3 sets 15 lbf to release the latch, 30 lbf to set the door in motion and 15 lbf to swing it to full open. | 2010 ADA Standards, Section 404.2.9 |
| Other swinging egress door, not on an accessible route | 15 lbf to release the latch, 30 lbf to set the door in motion, 15 lbf to swing it to full open | No ADA sweep period applies unless the opening is on an accessible route, which on most commercial premises it is. | IBC Section 1010.1.3 |
| Door on spring hinges rather than a closer | 5 lbf maximum if the opening is an interior hinged door on an accessible route | From an open position of 70 degrees, the door must take at least 1.5 seconds to move to the closed position. | 2010 ADA Standards, Section 404.2.9 |
Figures verified against live sources on 2026-09-13. ADA figures are from the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. IBC figures are from Section 1010 on doors, gates and turnstiles. Local amendments can be stricter, and in North Carolina the adopted state building code governs. Check the edition your authority having jurisdiction enforces before you rely on a number for a compliance submission.
This page exists because the same five questions come up on nearly every commercial opening, and the answers are published, free, and consistently misquoted. If you are specifying, budgeting or arguing with somebody about an opening, the numbers below are the ones that settle it.
Two cautions before the tables. First, standards get revised, so check the edition your authority having jurisdiction actually enforces before you lean on a figure in a submission. Second, a grade number means something different in every standard it appears in. Grade 1 on a closer and Grade 1 on an exit device are not comparable claims and treating them as one is the most common mistake in this whole subject.
Standards
Five standards cover almost everything a Charlotte facilities manager gets asked about on a commercial opening. Each card gives the designation, what it governs, what the grades mean in cycles or gauge, and the thing it is most often misquoted on.
ANSI/BHMA A156.4
Door closers and pivots
Grade 1 closers are cycle tested to 2,000,000 cycles. Grade 1 is the top grade for this product class.
Most often misquotedGrade 1 means something completely different from one A156 standard to the next. A Grade 1 closer is a 2,000,000 cycle product and a Grade 1 exit device is a 500,000 cycle product. Comparing grades across product classes is meaningless.
ANSI/BHMA A156.3
Exit devices, meaning panic hardware and fire exit hardware
Grade 1 exit devices are cycle tested to 500,000 cycles, and since the 2014 edition that test is run with preload applied.
Most often misquotedThe preload change matters and gets left out. Preload simulates the door being pushed against while the device is operated, which is how they are actually used in a crowd. A pre-2014 Grade 1 figure is not directly comparable to a current one.
ANSI/SDI A250.8
Steel door and frame construction and performance level
Four levels. Level 1 standard duty at 20 gauge face sheets, Level 2 heavy duty at 18, Level 3 extra heavy duty at 16, Level 4 maximum duty at 14.
Most often misquotedPeople quote the gauge and stop. The level also sets the model, the construction and the minimum acceptable performance, and a 16 gauge face on a Level 2 construction is not a Level 3 door.
ANSI/SDI A250.4
Physical endurance of steel doors, frames and frame anchors
Three levels, all tested with latching. Level A is 1,000,000 cycles, Level B is 500,000, Level C is 250,000.
Most often misquotedA250.4 and A250.8 are different standards answering different questions, and a door can be specified to one without the other. Endurance level is not the same thing as performance level and the two get conflated constantly.
ANSI/BHMA A156.2 and A156.13
Bored and preassembled locks (A156.2) and mortise locks (A156.13)
Both run a Grade 1 / 2 / 3 structure, with Grade 1 as the commercial heavy-duty tier.
Most often misquotedWe are not printing a cycle figure on this card. The published cycle counts for lock grades vary by product series and by edition, sources disagree on them, and this site's rule is that a contested figure is left out rather than picked. Specify by standard, grade and series and read the current edition. Anyone quoting you one confident number for 'Grade 1 lock cycles' has not checked which standard they are in.
Clearances
These are the numbers that get written up on inspection more than any others, and they are measurable with a tape and thirty seconds.
| Location | Maximum clearance | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Head | 1/8 in | Steel doors carry a tolerance of plus or minus 1/16 in. |
| Jambs | 1/8 in | Measured on both jambs. One compliant jamb does not carry the opening. |
| Meeting edges of a pair | 1/8 in | Applies to the full height of the meeting stiles. |
| Undercut, standard | 3/4 in | Measured to the finished floor, not to the slab. |
| Undercut, bottom rail over 38 in above the floor | 3/8 in | The tighter limit applies where the bottom of the door is more than 38 in above the finished floor. |
Comparison
These are the four swinging pedestrian leaf assemblies we work on in Charlotte. The comparison covers all four on every axis — no cell is blank and no cell is a dash. Where no published figure exists for an axis, the cell says so in words, because an empty cell reads as data and it is not.
n = 4 assemblies. Overhead sectional, coiling, high-speed, revolving and automatic sliding assemblies are outside this class and outside our lane, so they are not in the table and we do not take them on.
| Assembly | What the leaf actually is | Governing standard | Published endurance rating | Fire-rated version available | What fails first | Covered on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollow metal (steel) | Two steel face sheets over a stiffened or mineral core. Face gauge runs 20, 18, 16 or 14 for performance Levels 1 through 4. | ANSI/SDI A250.8 for construction and performance level. ANSI/SDI A250.4 for physical endurance. | A250.4 Level A is 1,000,000 cycles with latching, Level B is 500,000 and Level C is 250,000. | Yes, and this is the most commonly rated assembly in commercial buildings. Ratings from 20 minutes to 3 hours. | The frame anchors and the bottom of the leaf, both before the face sheets. Corrosion starts at the toe of the frame where water sits. | Hollow Metal Openings and Frames |
| Aluminum storefront | Extruded aluminum stile and rail with an infill panel. Described by stile width — narrow, medium or wide — not by a gauge. | No single face-sheet construction standard equivalent to A250.8. The hardware on it is graded under the ANSI/BHMA A156 series. | Not published as an assembly rating. The cycle figures that exist belong to the hardware, not to the leaf. | Not generally available as a rated assembly. A rated opening in a storefront line is normally a separate hollow metal or rated glazing assembly. | The mechanically joined corners rack before anything else, and a racked leaf is what produces the drag and the latching complaint. | Aluminum Storefront Entry Systems |
| Wood flush / architectural | A particleboard, staved lumber or mineral core with veneer or laminate faces and edge banding on all four edges. | WDMA I.S.1-A for architectural wood flush doors. Rated leaves additionally carry the label of their listing agency. | Not published as a cycle count. The published performance is a duty level and a warranty term rather than a cycle test. | Yes, up to 90 minutes in most listings. The rating is carried by the core, which is why a field cut to the leaf can void it. | Moisture at the bottom rail, then the hinge screws, then the edge banding. In that order, and usually in that sequence. | Wood and Flush Door Repair |
| FRP (fibreglass reinforced polyester) | A fibreglass-faced leaf over an insulated core, normally with a pultruded stile frame. Common in kitchens, wash-down areas and coastal or chemical environments. | No single industry-wide construction standard. Performance is stated per manufacturer against corrosion and impact test data. | Not published as an assembly rating. Manufacturers publish corrosion and impact data instead of a cycle count. | Limited. Rated FRP assemblies exist but availability is narrow, so a rated opening is rarely specified in FRP. | The hardware and the frame, not the leaf. The leaf outlasts the opening around it, which is the whole reason it gets specified. | Hollow Metal Openings and Frames |
It is not a compliance opinion and it is not an inspection. We publish it because the figures are public and because a reader who arrives here knowing the numbers has a far better conversation with us than one who does not. If you want an opening put right in Charlotte, call. If you only wanted the clearance limits, you have them.
Reference is free. Putting the opening right is the part we charge for.
