Crash bar

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

Typical "panic bar" installed on a glass exterior door‎

A crash bar (also known as a panic bar, exit device^[1], panic device^[2], or a push bar) is a mechanism for unlatching a door, consisting of a spring-loaded metal bar fixed horizontally to the front of the door (the side of the door that opens outward) and hinged. It is operated by pushing on it, which unlatches and opens the door^[1].

Many countries' building codes require them on all fire and emergency exits. They are so named because they can be operated by someone "crashing" into them; the alternate term "panic bar" implies a similar meaning.

Many of these doors are one-way, and cannot be opened from the outside. To use this device on a two-way door, another type of handle must be mounted on the opposite side.

The idea was first put into practice after the events of the Victoria Hall disaster in Sunderland, England in 1883. However, it saw widespread use after the disastrous Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago, USA, which killed 602 people December 30, 1903.

References

This architectural element-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e