Escape
Keyless from the inside
Thumbturns, levers or push devices on the escape side, so nobody has to find a key in an emergency.
Technical Guide
Fire Doors, Security & Locking: Keeping Escape Keyless
Residents want to feel secure behind their door. Landlords and managers want to stop unauthorised access. Fire safety needs people to get out quickly, without looking for a key, in smoke. Most locking problems on fire doors come from one of those needs being met at the expense of another. This guide is about finding an arrangement that meets all three.
The Trade-Off In Plain Terms
A fire door has two jobs that pull against security. It must be easy to open in the direction of escape, and it must remain the complete, tested assembly it was supplied as. Security upgrades often compromise both: an extra deadlock needs a key, and cutting it in weakens the leaf.
The answer is rarely to remove security. It is to choose locking that is secure from outside, keyless from inside, and suitable for that doorset — then fit it properly.
Security
Controlled from the outside
Key, fob or code entry for the people who should have it, with deadlocking that does not trap anyone inside.
Doorset
Suitable for the fire door
Lock cases, cylinders and keeps compatible with the doorset evidence, with intumescent protection where the design requires it.
Behaviour
Something people will not defeat
If residents feel unsafe they add bolts and chains themselves. A lock that feels secure prevents that.
Where The Problems Show Up
HMOs
Bedroom doors on key-operated locks
Bedroom doors fitted with sashlocks that need a key from both sides, so an occupant can lock themselves in and lose the key. Usually resolved with a lock that has a thumbturn inside and key outside, suitable for the doorset.
Flats
Resident-added bolts, chains and locks
Surface bolts, chains, extra cylinders and security plates added after occupation. Each item is assessed: removed and made good, or replaced with suitable hardware.
Flats
Deadlocking nightlatches set the wrong way
Nightlatches that deadlock from inside, or locks with the key-only function on the escape side. Often a hardware change rather than a new door.
Commercial
Access control without a fire release
Maglocks or electric strikes added to fire doors on escape routes with no clear release on alarm or power loss. The door-side work is ours; the interface sits with the alarm or security contractor.
Commercial
Doors padlocked or chained after hours
A management practice, not a hardware fault, but it often appears on reports alongside hardware items. We flag it rather than price around it.
All
Previous lock changes left scars
Redundant lock cases and cylinder holes from earlier upgrades. The making-good question is covered in our damage and alterations guide.
Hypothetical Examples
Illustrative scenarios only — not records of specific jobs or clients.
Hypothetical example
Five-bedroom HMO with keyed bedroom locks
An FRA action list notes that bedroom doors need a key to exit. The remedial is to replace each lock with one that is keyless from inside and keyed outside, compatible with the existing doorsets, then check each door still self-closes and latches.
Hypothetical example
Flat entrance door with three added locks
A leaseholder has fitted two surface bolts and a second cylinder. The added items are removed, fixings and recesses made good where the doorset allows, and a single suitable lock fitted. If the leaf has been too heavily altered, replacement is quoted instead.
What We Need To Quote Locking Works
- The report, FRA action list or a list of the doors concerned
- Photographs of both faces of each lock and any added hardware
- Who needs access, and how (keys, fobs, master suiting)
- Any existing access control system and its contractor
- Doorset labels or documentation, if available
- Whether occupants are in and how access is arranged
Sources And Further Reading
LACoRS / CIEH, Housing – fire safety: guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing (accessed 26 September 2026) — widely referenced guidance for existing HMOs and flats, including escape route and exit doors.
BSI, BS 7273-4:2015+A2:2023 scope (accessed 26 September 2026) — interface arrangements that unlock normally locked doors in the event of fire.
Related Pages
Hardware, alteration and property-type guides that link with locking decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sort Out Locking Without Losing Security
Send us the doors concerned, photographs of both faces and who needs access. We will propose and price a locking arrangement that is keyless on the escape side and suitable for the doorset.