The question asked on installation day

"Should it open in or out?" By the time that is asked on site it is already late, because hinge and lock positions are set in production. More to the point, it is not a matter of preference. On a building entrance the direction follows from whether the door forms part of an escape route.

What an escape route is

An escape route is the path anyone inside follows to reach the street: flat to hall, hall to stair, stair to entrance, entrance to pavement. Doors along that chain have to open by being pushed, under panic, so they are planned to swing in the direction of escape, which means outward.

In Turkey the framework comes from the regulation on fire protection of buildings. Which doors count as part of an escape route, how many escape exits a building needs and which doors carry panic hardware are decided project by project, from the architectural drawings and the fire strategy. A door manufacturer does not make that call; the manufacturer builds to it.

Practical consequences of an outward swing

Outward swing changes several details. The hinges end up on the outside, which makes hinge-side security pins mandatory so the leaf cannot be lifted off. The leaf sweeps over the pavement or landing, and that sweep must not block the walking route; some entrances solve this with a recess in front of the door.

The third detail is sealing and water. On an outward door, the gasket line and the threshold are detailed differently, and drip profiles matter more so rain is not loaded onto the seal.

Locking follows the escape direction

A door on an escape route must open from inside without a key. That does not mean it is free from outside; hardware exists precisely to give a single inside movement while staying locked externally. The same logic governs electrified hardware: on an escape route the door is expected to release when power is lost, and that determines which device is specified.

Whether panic hardware is required is again a project decision. Doors with panic bars generally sit on stairs and escape exits, and there the leaf and frame are planned on the same basis as products in our fire doors group.

Double leaves: which one opens

On a double leaf entrance the escape width is judged by what the active leaf alone provides. A narrow leaf held by shoot bolts is not something anyone will fight with in an emergency. So the clear passage through the active leaf is planned to meet the building's requirement on its own. If both leaves are meant to serve escape, the narrow one gets hardware that releases in a single movement too.

When an entrance may open inward

Not every main entrance belongs to an escape route. Where a building has a separate escape exit straight to the street and the main door is not counted in that chain, it can be planned to open inward. Pavement width, the level difference in front of the door and the size of the landing are further physical limits on the choice. The assessment is made from the architectural drawings.

What goes on the order

  • Whether this door is part of an escape route, taken from the fire strategy.
  • Swing direction, inward or outward, with a sketch.
  • Hinge side, and security pins where the swing is outward.
  • Panic hardware, and on which leaf.
  • Whether electrified hardware stays locked or releases on power failure.
  • Pavement or landing width and any level difference outside.
  • Clear passage through the active leaf on a double door.

Who decides

Direction and hardware are settled by whoever reads the architectural drawings and the fire strategy, usually the project architect or the building inspector. A residents' committee should not decide alone, and should not copy the existing door's swing when replacing it either, since the old door may have been wrong.

Once the direction and hardware are settled, send them with the measurements; leaf division, hinge layout and lock type are planned around them and quoted accordingly. Compositions in building entrance doors can be built to swing either way. For an internal door outside the escape chain, sheet panel doors give a plainer answer.