BHMA Publishes New ANSI Standard On Egress

The Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association has added the A156.41-Door Hardware Single Motion to Egress standard to its A156 Standards Series.

The Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA) has published the latest revisions to its A156 Standards Series. Also, announced this week is the publication of a new A156 standard for Single Motion to Egress, which have been approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

The new standard, A156.41 – Door Hardware Single Motion to Egress, describes the requirements for doors and door hardware to comply with building, fire, and life safety codes for single operation egress. According to the standard, for a door to meet requirements for single operation egress, it cannot have more than one single operation release hardware device. A156.41 is available as a PDF download, free of charge on the BHMA website.

Existing BHMA Standards Revised

Revisions to to the following standards were also released: A156.20 – Strap and Tee Hinges, and Hasps; A153.23 – Electromagnetic Locks; A156.26 – Continuous Hinges; and A156.29 – Exit Locks, Exit Alarms, Alarms for Exit Devices. Changes in each edition include:

A156.20 – Strap and Tee Hinges, and Hasps

  • Addition of “bearing Grade 1” to 8.6
  • Addition of definitions and drawings for pintle, key locking, double and flexible hasps

A153.23 – Electromagnetic Locks

  • Addition of a new section for reporting power consumption
  • Reduction of residual magnetism release to 0.5 seconds
  • Application of Grading to holding force
  • Amendment of 4.3.1 to include steel doors
  • Revision of the dielectric test to be consistent with UL standards
  • Improvement of type number examples

A156.26 – Continuous Hinges

  • Updates to all mentions of ASTM 476 to reflect the latest edition
  • Re-formatting of the product type illustrations to be consistent with other standards
  • Revisions to the cycle test actuator description in order to match A156.1

A156.29 – Exit Locks, Exit Alarms, Alarms For Exit Devices

  • Removal of “13 inches” from section 5.3.2 to avoid confusion
  • Reference updates and several editorial changes