On September 2 the Ohio Board of Building Standards issued an Advisory to school officials and fire department personnel cautioning schools against purchasing and deploying barricade devices before the BBS issues a ruling on their use.
Following is the BBS Advisory:
House Bill 64 adopted by the Ohio General Assembly on June 30, 2015 included new Revised Code § 3781.106 which requires the Ohio Board of Building Standards (the “Board”) to adopt rules for the use of devices that prevent both ingress and egress through school doors in an emergency situation or during active shooter drills. These rules must be in place by March 2016. The Board has begun the rule development process and will have a stakeholder meeting later this year on proposed rules to receive comment from interested persons. These rules will establish guidelines for what devices may be used in schools. Schools are cautioned against purchasing and deploying devices before the rules take effect as some devices may not comply with the new rules.
Until these rules are adopted, please continue to work with both your local building and fire departments for any proposed alteration to your school building, including the use of any device that restricts egress. In general, the Ohio Building Code (OBC) requires and will continue to require the following for door operation:
- Egress doors should be readily openable from the egress side without the use of a key or special knowledge;
- Door handles, pulls, latches, locks and other operating devices on doors shall not require tight grasping, tight pinching or twisting of the wrist to operate; and
- The unlatching of any door shall not require more than one operation. Doors in the means of egress must be readily openable from the egress side without the use of a key or special knowledge or effort;
For questions about these or other building code requirements for schools, please contact:
Ohio Board of Building Standards 6606 Tussing Road
P.O. Box 4009
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
614 | 644 2613
BBS@com.state.oh.us