Commercial · Caledon
Panic & Exit Hardware
The daycare wants the yard gate and the classroom door alarmed so a staff member hears the moment it opens, without turning either into something a child could be shut behind.
Panic & Exit Hardware
In plain words
Which device goes on a door depends on what the door already is. A single interior door usually takes a rim exit device and a simple pull or lever outside. Listed fire-exit hardware covers many tall, narrow-stile and fire-rated openings too, so a mortise or vertical-rod device is chosen for its latching arrangement or the door's own preparation, not from height or fire rating alone, and a fire-rated opening can never be held open by a mechanical dogging function. Reading the door correctly before ordering hardware is most of the job; fitting it well is the rest.
How the visit goesAfter the fit-out, the gym floor now holds more people than the old office space ever did, and the exit door at the back still has the same turn-lock it had when the room held desks.
Caledon
How the visit goes
What the access-control side of the door needs
When a card reader, keypad or intercom is part of the plan, the assessment includes a conversation about the exit side of the same door: does the reader need a request-to-exit signal so the panel knows someone left rather than forced the door, and does the door need electric latch retraction so it can be released remotely without ever compromising the crossbar's push-to-exit function. These questions are answered before the device is ordered, because retrofitting an electrified function onto hardware chosen without it in mind rarely goes cleanly.
Recording what was fitted
The visit closes with a written account of the work: which device went on which door, its type and rating, the outside trim fitted, any electrified function added, and the tests the assembly passed. This record travels with the building rather than staying in the locksmith's memory, so a fire inspector, an insurer or a new manager reviewing the space later has a clear account of the exit hardware and when it was fitted.
Staff who understand the dogging key
Whoever holds the dogging key or keyed dogging cylinder now knows what it does and, just as importantly, when not to use it: a door in a fire separation keeps its active latch at all times, so dogging belongs on openings where that restriction does not apply. Staff who prop doors for deliveries or busy periods have a legitimate tool for that instead of wedging the door with whatever is nearest, and the building keeps control over who can use it.
Panic & Exit Hardware
In the van
- Installation template and jig
- Through-fixings and mounting hardware
- Outside trim (pull, lever or cylinder)
- Dogging key or keyed cylinder
- Strike and reinforcement
What affects the quote
Same fees day, night or weekend
1Condition of the existing hardware
A device that only needs adjustment, cleaning and new fasteners costs less in labour than removing a seized or badly worn device and fitting a replacement in its place.
2Fire-rated versus non-rated opening
A fire-rated door needs hardware specifically listed for that assembly and installed to keep the rating intact, which is more involved than fitting a standard device to a non-rated door.
3Outside trim selected
A plain pull is the simplest outside trim. A lever with a key cylinder, or a trim matched to other hardware finishes in the building, involves more parts and more fitting time.
Panic & Exit Hardware: questions
What happens with a pair of doors instead of one?
It depends on the pair. Some latch independently and need nothing extra. Where the hardware calls for a set closing order, a coordinator lets the two leaves close in the right sequence, letting the active leaf's device seat properly into a strike carried on the inactive leaf, or into an astragal. Alternatively, the centre mullion can be removed and a vertical-rod device fitted to each leaf, turning the pair into one wide exit. Whichever applies, both leaves are tested working together, not one at a time.
How is panic hardware different from fire exit hardware?
Panic hardware and fire exit hardware share the same push-to-release action, but fire exit hardware is additionally tested and listed for use on a fire-rated door assembly. That extra listing matters because a fire door has to keep an active latch bolt at all times; it cannot carry a mechanical dogging function the way ordinary panic hardware sometimes can, so the two are not interchangeable on a rated opening.
Can a padlock or extra deadbolt stay on a door that has this hardware?
No additional fastening should stay on an exit door that does not release the same way the primary device does. A hasp, padlock or separate deadbolt added at some point for extra security is a common finding on an older door, and removing or replacing it with something that releases under the same push is part of bringing that opening back to a single, reliable exit.
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Panic & Exit Hardware near you
A locksmith's week in Caledon is a mix of small fixes and bigger decisions. A cylinder rekeyed after a lost key, a deadbolt added to a door that never had one, a shop rekeyed after staff changes, a safe that finally opens. The pages below describe each service and how the visit usually goes.