Baltimore County, MD Building Safety: Door Locking Hardware (2026)

The county's fire safety and protection standard, § 35-5-213, treats the path out of a rental unit as a single continuous system rather than a single door. Subsection (a)(3) requires the property owner to provide a safe, continuous, unobstructed means of egress from the interior of a structure to the exterior, direct access from each housing unit to the outside or to a common area leading outside, doors in that path that are easily opened from the inside, working and structurally sound fire escapes, illuminated and visible exit signs, and, for a basement sleeping room, either an approved openable window or exterior door for emergency escape, or access to two separate approved exits.

Subsection (b)(5) adds a separate hardware duty for fire-rated doors: the property owner must keep every required fire-resistance rated door or smoke barrier in good working order, including all of the hardware necessary for it to operate properly. The same subsection prohibits door stops, wedges, and any other hold-open device on those doors unless the Code Official has approved it, because propping a fire door open defeats the smoke barrier it is meant to provide. Both duties are enforced the same way as the rest of the Livability Code, through the Code Official's correction-notice and citation process under Article 3, Title 6, and the Code Official can enter to inspect a suspected fire-safety violation under § 35-5-103(c)(3)(i)(2).