Door Knobs – When and Where?

It’s surprising to me that although door knobs such at the one shown in the photograph above have not been allowed by the code for probably 20 years, I still see them quite often.   Door knobs are not allowed anywhere in a commercial building.    Remember, while most believe the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is only for those individuals in a wheelchair that is simply not true.  The ADA is for anyone with a disability and included in that group would be those individuals with arthritis.  As you probably know, arthritis affects the joints and in some cases, makes it difficult or impossible for suffers to use their hands.

As a result, those with arthritis in their hands can not open doors with knobs.   The ADA requires door hardware that does not require tight grasping, tight pinching or twisting of the wrist to operate.   A door knob requires that someone must tightly grasp the door know and twist with their wrist to open and this can be almost impossible for those with arthritis.  

To solve this problem, most commercial building owners simply install lever hardware such as the one shown in the photograph at the right.   As you can see from the photograph, no tight grasping is required to open the door.   Someone with arthritis can simply hit the lever with their fist to open the   In addition to the requirements for lever hardware, in some building occupancies the lever must return to within ½” of the door to prevent clothing from being caught by the lever as someone is exiting the building.
door.

Building owners should be aware there are certain other requirements for the door hardware including the mounting height of the hardware.    Building owners are advised to secure professional assistance in selecting and installing door hardware.

What’s The Deal at the Bottom of the Door?

Correct Door Bottom

Modified Door Bottom

In my previous blog, I discussed some of the work involved in a California Certified Access Specialist (CASp) Report and I specifically discussed some of the checks that are required for doors.   One of the door checks involves the rail at the bottom of the door.   In general, the ADA requires the bottom rail to be smooth and a minimum of 10” high.   This is mostly a problem for glass storefront doors.   Newer storefront doors easily meet this requirement, but older doors do not. 

 

The reason behind the 10” bottom rail is simple…………to assist someone in a wheelchair in opening the door.   The issue is that without a 10” bottom rail, the footrest of the wheelchair may get caught on the door frame and make it difficult if not impossible for someone in a wheelchair to open the door and in a worst case scenario, the glass door could get broken.

The picture shown above on the left was taken at a Macy’s Department Store.   I am not sure if the work they have done is the result of a lawsuit, but they recently made one door at each entry into an accessible door by modifying the bottom rail.   In addition, they have added an International Symbol Accessibility (ISA) as required, although it’s located a little too low.

This picture above on the right depicts how the door bottom on an accessible store front should appear.   You will also notice this door does not have the ISA as required, however, that is a simple correction to make.   You can also see from the photograph that it’s easy for a serial plaintiff to “drive by” and clearly see if your door has the required 10 door bottom without even taking a single measurement.

If the doors into your facility do not have the required 10” door bottom, then you should immediately contact a door contractor to get the door modified to include the required door bottom..