Framingham, MA Building Safety: Door Locking Hardware (2026)

Section 312-23 sits in Chapter 312, Lodging Houses, and governs egress and Fire Department access at every licensed rooming or boarding house. Subsection A requires removing any obstacle that could interfere with escape from the building or with Fire Department access during a fire, from aisles, floors, halls, stairways, and fire escapes, and it requires exit doors and windows to stay clear at all times. Subsection B, the door-hardware provision, bars placing any encumbrance before or upon a fire escape, balcony, or escape ladder, and requires that the means of egress, including stairways, egress doors and any panic hardware installed on them, aisles, corridors, passageways, and similar elements, stay in a safe condition and remain available for immediate use, free of all obstructions.

Subsection C requires exterior bridges, steel or wooden stairways, fire escapes, and egress balconies to meet 780 CMR 10.00 and to be examined, tested, and certified for structural adequacy every five years by a Massachusetts registered professional engineer, with the resulting affidavit filed with the Inspectional Services Division. This egress rule works alongside § 312-12's requirement of a second way out reaching ground level, § 312-13's rule that fire escapes are for emergencies only, and § 312-21's requirement that fire alarm systems follow NFPA 72.

Enforcement runs through § 312-27: the Board of License Commissioners and Framingham police officers enforce Chapter 312, and any violation, including a blocked or malfunctioning egress door, carries a $300 fine, with each day of continued violation charged as a separate offense.