Fort Worth, TX Building Safety: Door Locking Hardware (2026)

City Code § 7-95 requires a landlord of a leased dwelling unit to install, at the landlord's own expense, a window latch on each exterior window, a doorknob lock or keyed dead bolt on each exterior door, a sliding door pin lock plus a handle latch or security bar on each sliding glass door, and a keyless bolting device and door viewer on every exterior door including doors opening into interior corridors. French doors need one door meeting the standard hardware and the other fitted with a keyed dead bolt or keyless bolting device with a one-inch throw, or two edge-operated bolts with a three-quarter-inch throw.

Height and mechanical specs are exact: a keyed dead bolt or keyless bolting device must sit no lower than 36 inches and, if installed on or after September 1, 1993, no higher than 48 inches from the floor (54 inches for older installs), with a strike plate screwed into the doorjamb or a metal jamb serving that function, and a bolt throw of at least one inch for anything installed on or after September 1, 1993. Every security device must be operable from inside without a key, tool or special knowledge, per § 7-95(h).

A landlord is exempt from the keyless bolting device requirement if a tenant over 55 or with a disability requests in writing that it be deactivated, and exempt from the dead bolt/doorknob lock requirement entirely if the unit already has a compliant dead bolt-plus-keyless-device combination on the main entry door and keyless bolting devices on all other exterior doors before the tenant signs the lease.