Saint Paul, MN Building Safety: Door Locking Hardware (2026)

03 governs every residential structure and premises in the city regardless of when it was built, altered or repaired. Subsection (4) covers "Windows, doors and hatchways," requiring every exterior door and its hardware to be in sound condition and fit within its frame, and clause (h) adds the exit-door rule: any door available as an exit must open from the inside easily and without a key. The Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI) enforces this standard as part of the broader safety-code inspection regime, Chapter 40's definition of "safety code" expressly folds Chapter 34 into the inspection checklist behind every fire certificate of occupancy, so a double-keyed deadbolt or similar exit lock found on a rental exit door can hold up certificate issuance or renewal.

106, the state building code's deadbolt-lock provision, rather than the flat no-key standard that applies to larger multi-unit buildings, rooming houses, hotels and apartment houses. A related clause in the same subsection, (4)j, separately requires patio and glider door locks that can't be repaired to be replaced with "a suitable device," underscoring that DSI treats every exit path, sliding doors included, as subject to the same free-egress principle. 04 makes clear the chapter sets minimum occupancy standards that apply irrespective of construction date, so retrofitted double-cylinder deadbolts on multi-family exits are non-compliant even if they predate the ordinance.