Rim devices
The common single-door case, latching into a surface strike on the frame. Most rim device complaints are strike alignment rather than the device, and a bright wear mark on the strike is the tell.
Hardware systems
Panic Hardware and Egress Devices in Charlotte, NC
Repair and replacement of exit devices on commercial openings in Charlotte — rim, mortise, surface vertical rod and concealed vertical rod, plus the egress rules that decide what is allowed on the opening at all. Call (333) 333-3333.
At a glance
Panic Hardware and Egress Devices at a glance
- System
- Exit devices: rim, mortise, surface vertical rod, concealed vertical rod. Panic hardware and fire exit hardware are different products.
- Governing standard
- ANSI/BHMA A156.3. Grade 1 devices are cycle tested to 500,000 cycles, with preload applied since the 2014 edition.
- Fails first
- The latch and the strike alignment, then the touchpad return. On vertical rod devices, the top latch and the rod adjustment.
- Not in scope
- Delayed egress and access-controlled egress systems, electrified device wiring and panel integration.
Compare this against the other three leaf assemblies or read the standards reference.
Hardware systems
One motion, from the inside, always
The rule underneath all of this is short. Where an opening is in a means of egress, whatever secures it has to release in a single motion from the inside, without a key, without special knowledge and without tight grasping. Every failure we get called to on this hardware is either a device that has stopped doing that, or a well-meaning security arrangement that was never allowed to.
Second thing worth knowing, and it gets swapped in error constantly: panic hardware and fire exit hardware are not the same product. Panic hardware normally has mechanical dogging, which holds the latch retracted so the door pushes freely during business hours. Fire exit hardware has none, because a dogged device on a rated opening means the door cannot positively latch, and a rated door that cannot latch has already failed. If somebody has fitted a dogging device to a labelled opening, that is the finding.
On grades: under ANSI/BHMA A156.3 a Grade 1 exit device is cycle tested to 500,000 cycles, and since the 2014 edition that test is run with preload — pressure against the door while the device operates, which is how they are used in a crowd. It is a meaningfully harder test than the pre-2014 one and figures from before that edition are not directly comparable.
Detail
Exit device work we take on
Mechanical exit devices on swinging commercial openings. Electrified devices, delayed egress and anything wired into an access control panel go to a contractor who carries that liability, and we will say so before a visit rather than after.
Mortise devices
Latch body housed in the leaf edge. Heavier duty, and a failure here is more often in the device than in the alignment, which is the opposite of the rim case.
Surface and concealed vertical rod devices
Top and bottom latching, common on pairs. Rod adjustment is what fails, and the top latch fails more than the bottom because nobody looks at it. A pair where one leaf 'will not shut' is very often a top rod out of adjustment.
Touchpad and push rail wear
A touchpad worn through its finish and a rail with visible play are not cosmetic — they usually mean the internal return has weakened, and the next stage is a device that does not re-latch cleanly.
Fire exit hardware on rated openings
No dogging, correct listing for the assembly, and the latch checked from a dead stop. Swapping fire exit hardware for panic hardware because it was what the supply house had is a defeated rated opening.
Standards
What the grades and levels actually mean
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.
What decides the figure
| Variable | Note |
|---|---|
| Device type | Rim, mortise, surface vertical rod or concealed vertical rod. Concealed rod work means opening the leaf up. |
| Repair or replace | Strike alignment and rod adjustment are visits. A device at end of life is a part with a lead time. |
| Whether the opening is rated | Fire exit hardware is a different product with a different listing, and it cannot be substituted. |
| Single leaf or a pair | Pairs bring coordinators, astragals and two rod sets into the job. |
| Grade required | A Grade 1 device under A156.3 is a 500,000 cycle product with preload. On a high-traffic opening it is the only sensible specification. |
| Finish and trim | Outside trim, lever versus pull, and whether the existing prep matches the new device. |
| Access to the strike | A strike in a masonry frame and a strike in a hollow aluminum jamb are different working times. |
No figures appear in that table and none appear anywhere on this site, because a price quoted before anybody has seen the opening is a number somebody ends up unhappy about. Those are the variables that decide it.
Why us
How we handle this one
We check the strike before we condemn the device
Most rim device complaints are alignment. Replacing the device fixes it for a while and then it comes back.
Dogging gets checked on every rated opening
It is a five second check and it is one of the most consequential things wrong with a door.
Top rods get looked at
Nobody looks at the top rod. It is where vertical rod pairs actually fail.
We will tell you when it is the wrong product
Panic hardware on a labelled opening is not a repair we will make good and walk away from.
Process
How the job runs
Step 1. Device type and whether the opening is rated
Two questions on the phone.
Step 2. Single-motion release tested first
From the inside, no key, no second action. If it fails that, nothing else matters yet.
Step 3. Strike and alignment before the device
In that order, every time.
Step 4. Rods adjusted top first on a vertical rod device
Because that is where it is.
Step 5. Check dogging status on anything labelled
Five seconds. A dogged device on a rated opening is a defeated opening, and it outranks whatever you were called out for.
Step 6. Cycle and re-test
Twenty cycles, then checked again from a dead stop.
Step 7. Anything electrified written down and handed off
Named, with what it needs, so you can get the right contractor.
Other services in Charlotte
Aluminum Storefront Entry Systems
Aluminum Storefront Entry SystemsHollow Metal Openings and Frames
Hollow Metal Openings and FramesWood and Flush Door Repair
Wood and Flush Door RepairFire-Rated Door Assemblies
Fire-Rated Door AssembliesDoor Closers and Operating Force
Door Closers and Operating ForceCommercial Locks, Cylinders and Keying
Commercial Locks, Cylinders and KeyingCall (333) 333-3333
Tell us whether the device is rim, mortise or vertical rod, and whether the leaf has a label.