San Francisco Building Code Chapter 10 and Fire Code Chapter 10 regulate egress door hardware in residential and commercial buildings, requiring single-action unlocking, panic hardware, and accessible operation under ADA standards.
SF Building Code Section 1010 mandates that all egress doors operate with a single action without keys, special knowledge, or tight grasping. Apartment unit doors must have deadbolts no higher than 48 inches and operable by a single thumb-turn from the inside. Assembly occupancies over 50 occupants and educational rooms require panic hardware (bars). Stairway doors must remain unlocked from the stair side at every fourth floor in high-rises. Smart locks and electric strikes need fail-safe egress. The post-2018 active-shooter classroom rules permit certain barricade devices only if approved by SFFD and DBI jointly. Code violations are common during DBI annual inspections.
Padlocks or chains on egress doors, double-cylinder deadbolts requiring keys to exit, missing panic hardware on assembly doors, and high-mounted locks above 48 inches are flagged for correction.
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