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No idea where to post this... but it's irritated me for years to find one of the two doors in a double-door entrance to a store locked. It's usually the right hand door as you exit... which to me is the 'logical' door one would go to first in the event of an emergency egress situation. I almost can't imagine there aren't fire regulations that require both door to be unlocked during business hours. But I've seen it this way in several states.
Can someone 'in the know' explain why it's NOT a fire safety requirement that both are unlocked? Even places that have signage that say 'These doors must remain unlocked during business hours' will have one locked. I really don't get it.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Local codes may vary and be stronger, but OSHA requires a number of doors based on the square footage of the business. At a store like Target there may be as many as 10 doors, but the requirement may be for only 4-6, so some could be kept locked. I have no idea why they would do that unless it's to keep the double-width opening closed to prevent large items from being easily stolen. It's hard to imagine someone walking out with a recliner or sofa, but if they did, an employee would have to unlock the adjacent door. I know there was shoplifter at Target in Seattle walking out with a 70" TV.
It gets complicated. There needs to be a method of safe egress in case of fire or panic. How MUCH egress varies.
Entrance to an area is an entirely different subject. Entrance can be limited and often is.
Citing from memory, with possibility of some error:
Two separate marked and clear exits are required as a minimum almost universally in commercial space. Door width of those is a minimum of around 2.5 feet, to accommodate wheelchairs, etc. As long as that minimum is maintained without impediment, the requirement is generally met.
Movie theatres and places of public assembly have the strongest restrictive codes.
An auditorium that is properly constructed, sprinklered, etc. only requires two such exits if the seating is no more than 80 people. One of the exits has to be wheelchair accessible, but stairs are allowed on the other. Build for more than 80 people and the width of the exit may need to be larger and/or additional exits provided.
In theatres, "breaker bars" on otherwise locked doors allow a crowd to literally push its way out, and those cannot be scotched or otherwise made inoperable. In the past, glass doors with visible breaker bars were easily prised open with a coathanger. I used to have to use a shaped wooden block to secure such doors when nobody was in the building, but there were misgivings by the fire department until I showed how the block would not prevent force from being used on the breaker bar to push them out of the way. Even so, it was not technically legal.
Retail space may be forced to meet only the minimum standards, as there is little expectation of large compact crowds.
Getting into the practical, double doors are prone to failure. The lack of a fixed support on both sides, and weight of the doors means the upper hinge pivot receiver gets a tremendous amount of stress. A person pushing hard on the door, a sudden wind gust, and wear and tear will wallow out the receiver or damage its supporting structure, or bend the pin.
At my first theatre, there was an enclosed strip mall with such doors. I have photos I took of a customer of another store in that mall, lying on the floor with the door being lifted off them. I happened to have my camera out, heard the crash of the door, and snapped a couple shots before going to help.
The wear and danger can be limited by having the non-dominant door pinned top and bottom with the locking pins. Doing so limits wear to one door. From hours of observation, I can suggest that something else happens as well - why exactly, I don't know - aggressive handling of the doors almost completely stops by customers. The opening door is rarely pulled to the limit of its hinges the way that double doors often are. Perhaps the possibility of opening the second door acts as a psychological "oh, I don't need to do this" or the possibility of having aggression met with a door that does not budge, making the person look like an idiot, helps. When there is about a 50% chance of a door not working, people slow down.
Is it annoying to have one door locked? Yep, I agree. It is also something that doesn't rise above that level for me. I have had to resort to it myself from time to time while a repairman waits for parts to repair the hinge mechanism.
I'm the guy that will always sit on the aisle, at the back of a movie theater. In case of a fire, I'm much more confident in my ability to get the hell out from there then tripping over a panicked crowd. And, God forbid, if I'm ever in a stop'n'rob in a situation where people have to get out pronto, if that right hand door is locked you'll be reading about my lawsuit.
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