Choose escape door hardware for the people using it

A member of staff knows how the exit works. A visitor arriving for the first time may not. That difference belongs in the door specification before the hardware is ordered.

For a fire door that also serves an escape route, the project team needs to resolve how people will open it in an emergency as well as its fire-protection role. This article explains existing guidance for offices and shops in England, with practical questions for installers and specifiers. It announces no new legal deadline.

## Panic and emergency devices mean different things

The DHF guide to panic and emergency exit devices explains the distinction. Panic devices covered by BS EN 1125 use a horizontal bar and are intended to allow escape without prior knowledge of the device. Emergency devices covered by BS EN 179 can use a lever handle or push pad where people know the exit and panic is not expected.

The government offices and shops guide, Appendix B3 similarly distinguishes unfamiliar members of the public from limited numbers of familiar staff. It also explains that security arrangements must allow people to escape easily.

These are selection principles, not permission to choose a device from a photograph. A bar, pad or handle must form part of an arrangement suitable for the particular door and premises.

## For specifiers explain who could use the route

Write down who may need this exit, including visitors and people present outside the usual working day. Avoid describing a route as staff-only simply because staff use it most often.

Consider a fictional office with a training room hired to outside organisations. The weekday team knows the building, but evening attendees may be unfamiliar with it. Ask the person responsible for the fire-safety design or assessment to consider that use before settling the hardware schedule.

Our suggested question is: what assumptions about occupants support this choice, and do those assumptions match the building's actual use? Give the supplier that context alongside the door requirements.

## For installers raise a mismatch before fitting

Compare the issued hardware schedule with the intended use explained by the project team. If the brief assumes familiar staff but the client describes public events, raise the difference for a design decision. Do not replace the specified device on your own initiative.

Where the door must resist fire or smoke, obtain confirmation that the proposed exit hardware is supported for that assembly. DHF treats suitability for fire and smoke doors as a separate classification consideration; an escape function alone does not establish that suitability.

## Make the next conversation specific

At the next order review, identify one escape door and ask who will use it, how the hardware choice was made and who will resolve a change of use. Record the agreed decision in the issued specification.

The regulatory example here is England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate applicable guidance. Electrically controlled exits need specialist consideration; this article is not an electrical release design or a complete escape strategy.

Sources checked: 31 October 2026. Source links appear alongside the relevant statements.