What is a final exit?
A final exit is the door at the end of an escape route where people leave the building into a place of safety in the open air, clear of the building and of any risk from it.
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<img src="https://fireoptix.co.uk/glossary/final-exit/diagram.svg" alt="final exit — diagram from FireOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
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<a href="https://fireoptix.co.uk/glossary/final-exit">What is a final exit?</a> — diagram by
<a href="https://fireoptix.co.uk">FireOptix</a>
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</figure>It has to open in the direction of escape and be openable by anyone escaping without a key, a code or specialist knowledge. Security requirements frequently pull in the opposite direction, and the resolution is hardware designed for the purpose rather than a compromise on either side.
The place it leads to is part of it. A final exit into a locked yard, a gated service area or a space directly under the building it serves has not delivered people to safety.
It is one of the few fire safety measures a member of the public interacts with directly under stress, which is why the test is whether it works first time without instruction.
In practice
An exit that is unlocked and will not open.
The push bar works. The door has dropped on its hinges and binds against the frame, and it takes a shoulder.
Unlocked and openable are different findings, and the only way to tell them apart is to physically try the door.
A crowd in smoke will not apply a shoulder in a coordinated way.
What goes wrong in practice
- Locked, chained or alarmed shut for security, with the fire risk traded away silently.
- An exit that discharges into an enclosed yard with no onward route.
- Deliveries or bins stacked against the outside of the door.