Battle Creek, MI Building Safety: Door Locking Hardware (2026)

Section 1450.03(c) of the Battle Creek Codified Ordinances amends Section 305.6 of the International Property Maintenance Code, 2015 edition, which the City adopted in Section 1450.01 as its Property Maintenance Code for regulating the conditions and maintenance of all property, buildings and structures. Three copies of the adopted code are on file in the office of the City Clerk, and the adoption took effect through Ordinance 05-2016, passed 5-17-16.

The interior doors rule requires every interior door to fit reasonably well within its frame and to be capable of being opened and closed by being properly and securely attached to jambs, headers or tracks as intended by the manufacturer of the attachment hardware. The added Section 305.6.1, titled Prohibited Locks, says hasp locks and padlocks shall not be used in any areas occupied by residents. The ordinance text states the ban by the type of device and by the area where it applies, so the test is whether residents occupy the space, not the type of building.

The penalty comes from the same chapter. Section 1450.02(c) fills in Section 112.4 of the adopted code with $100 per day for each offense. The City's other building-safety provisions treat exits separately: under Section 1454.01(d)(1), a door, aisle, passageway, stairway or other means of exit that does not conform to the Fire Code as adopted at Chapter 1610 is one of the defects that makes a building a dangerous building under Chapter 1454. That is a different enforcement track from Section 305.6.1, with notice, a Hearing Officer and a Board of Appeals.

Because Chapter 1450 amends the model code rather than repeating it, the Battle Creek wording above is the operative text for door hardware in occupied residential areas. The ordinance prints no further list of exceptions to the padlock and hasp lock prohibition.