Exit devices and panic hardware: types and when code requires them

The four exit device types

Exit devices are covered by ANSI/BHMA A156.3. The type you pick is mostly decided by the opening: single door or pair, whether a mullion is acceptable, and whether the door is fire rated.

Many manufacturers offer vertical rod devices less bottom rod (LBR), which latch only at the head. That removes the floor strike that collects debris and gets damaged by carts, but whether LBR is allowed on a fire-rated pair depends on the device listing and the door manufacturer's label.

Panic hardware vs fire exit hardware

Panic hardware is listed for life safety: it lets people get out. Fire exit hardware is panic hardware that is also labeled for use on fire doors, so it keeps the door positively latched during a fire.

The practical difference shows up in options. Mechanical dogging (holding the latch retracted so the door works push/pull) is common on panic hardware but is not permitted on fire exit hardware, because a fire door must latch every time it closes. If an owner wants push/pull operation on a fire door, the usual answer is electric latch retraction tied to the fire alarm so the latch releases back to latching when the alarm activates.

When code requires panic hardware

Under the IBC, panic or fire exit hardware is generally required on egress doors that are latched or locked in these situations:

• Assembly (Group A) and educational (Group E) occupancies where the occupant load reaches the threshold in the adopted code (50 or more in recent IBC editions).
• High-hazard (Group H) occupancies.
• Doors from rooms containing large electrical equipment (recent IBC and NFPA 70 editions set the trigger at equipment rated 800 amperes or more; older editions used 1,200 amperes).

NFPA 101 has its own occupancy rules, and some jurisdictions amend both codes. Always check the code edition the AHJ has adopted and the life safety plan for the project rather than relying on a general rule.

IBC also sets performance requirements for the device itself: the actuating portion must extend across at least half the door leaf width, and the force needed to release the latch is limited (15 pounds in recent editions). Hardware on accessible routes must also meet the 34 to 48 inch mounting height range covered in our ADA door requirements guide.

Outside trim and functions

On the pull side, an exit device can have no trim at all (exit only), a pull, a lever, or a knob, and the trim sets the function. Common choices:

• Exit only: no outside hardware. Typical for stair and back-of-house egress doors.
• Night latch: outside key retracts the latch momentarily.
• Passage: outside lever always works.
• Classroom style: a key locks or unlocks the outside lever.
• Storeroom style: the outside lever is always locked, and the key retracts the latch momentarily.

Do not add a separate deadbolt or surface bolt to a door with panic hardware. The code generally allows no lock or latch on these doors other than the panic or fire exit hardware itself, because an extra lock defeats the single egress motion. The exceptions are narrow (for example, certain electrical locking systems and a key-operated lock on the main entrance of some assembly occupancies under specific conditions), so check the adopted code before relying on one.

Electrified options

Exit devices come with electrified trim (outside lever locked or unlocked by access control), electric latch retraction, request-to-exit switches, and latch or dogging monitoring. Power gets to the device through an electric hinge, a power transfer or a door loop, which belongs in the hardware set along with the power supply. See electric strike vs maglock for how fail-safe and fail-secure apply here.