Dubuque, IA Building Safety: Door Locking Hardware (2026)

Amended Section 304.18.1 of the Dubuque Property Maintenance Code, adopted at City Code section 14-1J-2, requires that "doors providing access to a dwelling unit, rooming unit, or housekeeping unit that is rented, leased or let shall be equipped with a lock designed to be readily openable from the side from which egress is to be made without the need for keys, special knowledge, or special effort." The section further requires such locks to be installed to manufacturer specifications and kept in good working order. This sits inside the city's broader adoption of the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code at section 14-1J-1, which sets the standards for safe, sanitary, occupancy-fit structures citywide, enforced by the code official within the Inspection & Construction Services Division.

A landlord who installs a double-keyed deadbolt or similar hardware that requires a key or special knowledge to exit through an egress door in a rented unit is out of compliance, regardless of whether the same hardware might be permitted on a non-rental, owner-occupied door. The requirement complements neighboring maintenance amendments in the same article, including Section 304.2's exterior protective-treatment rule for doors and frames and Section 305.3's interior surface-condition rule, all enforced through the same notice-of-violation and municipal infraction process that governs the rest of the Property Maintenance Code, backed by the rent escrow remedy in amended Section 109.5 for units that stay out of compliance.