CERTIFIED. LISTED. LABELED.
TeacherLock is 100% Code Compliant*
Prompted by several tragic school shootings, our talented engineers partnered with a very passionate Elementary School Principal who had a great idea to develop a new "instant door lock down device" to protect students. There have been many door barricades that have popped up recently, but nearly all the products in the market are potentially ineffective and unsafe. We have found that more than a few schools have started installing these devices as a knee jerk reaction and most of them clearly violate building codes, fire codes and the ADA guidelines.
To be safe and effective, the door lock must:
Be fast and easy to use.
Be “Bullyproof” -- Only the Teacher should be able to lock a door. Never allow a person looking to do harm the opportunity to barricade themselves.
Comply with the International Fire Safety Code
Comply with the International Building Code
Comply with the NFPA101 provisions on Life Safety
Comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, can be mounted at compliant height and is egress operable without twisting or firm grip.
Provide an intuitive and fast single motion to secure the door under stress (when seconds count and fine motor skills are erased by adrenaline.)
Allows the teacher to keep her eyes on the action, without kneeling to install floor-mounted devices.
Provides a stronger bolting mechanism which is mounted higher than the floor, yet out of reach from broken glass window.
Allow an intuitive single motion egress without hard grasping or twisting.
Can be opened from the outside for emergency access.
Is easy to install with a power drill and simple tools.
In all recent school shootings, there is one common theme, students in locked rooms are safer. This is truly a ground breaking device and there is nothing like it in the market. We have taken into account that the teacher may need to barricade the door under extreme stress when even simple motions and mechanical ability are impossible. Our device is one simple motion in less than two seconds. There are many classrooms and public facility doors that don’t lock easily or the unlocking handle is within reach through a broken window. This product is installed easily and does not replace the existing lock set. In a surprising number of schools, teachers must currently find their door key, open it, lock it from the outside, then close the door! This is impossible if an active shooter is in the school and seconds count. We intend to fix it and keep the students safe!
State Guidance
Follow the links below for some information we have collected pertaining to barricade and locking mechanisms. Building and Fire code varies widely depending on your jurisdiction. TeacherLock Devices comply with the standards established by the International Building Code, NFPA, International Fire Code, and the ADA. You should always check with the authority having jurisdiction in your area before purchasing and installing any device on a rated fire door assembly.
Download our Safety and Compliance Checklist for Administrators: Here.
Colorado Dept of Public Safety Memo
Connecticut State Fire Marshal Memo Re: TeacherLock
Illinois General Assembly Bill SB1371
Kansas State Fire Marshal Memo Re: TeacherLock
Louisiana Department of Public Safety Presentation
Massachusetts BBRS Code Determination Re: TeacherLock
Minnesota Department of Public Safety
Ohio Building Code Interpretation Re: TeacherLock
Utah State Fire Marshal Memo Re: TeacherLock
*California: Please check with your authority having jurisdiction. Certain compliance requirements are unique to California.
*Always check with your authority having jurisdiction for compliance in your area.
Reports and Advisories.
Parkland Commission Report.
" Teachers were reluctant to enter the halls to lock the doors. The lack of an established policy on the locking and/or staffing of doors and gates on campus is a security failure. "
Fed Commission on School Safety.
“Regardless of the type of door used, all classrooms should have locks that allow the teacher to lock a classroom door from the inside.”
Sandy Hook Advisory Report.”
“The SSIC Report includes a standard requiring classroom and other safe-haven areas to have doors that can be locked from the inside. The Commission cannot emphasize enough the importance of this recommendation”
Virginia Tech Commission.
“Some universities have locks on classroom doors, but they typically operate by key from the hallway. They are intended to keep students and strangers out when the classrooms are not in use and often cannot be locked from the inside.”
The Columbine Commission Report.
“SWAT Teams sometimes found it difficult to enter locked classrooms and were forced to blast the locks on doors. The Library and Cafeteria could not be locked and that is where several students were killed and wounded.”
Naval Postgraduate Thesis.
“Locking doors is a proven 100% effective countermeasure to Active Shooters thus far, as no active shooter incident has had a shooter to breach a locked door and inflict injuries”.
TeacherLock is the best choice for life safety.
Certified, Listed, and Labeled to UL10B, UL10C, NFPA252, AND CAN/ULC S104
The absence of TeacherLock on a classroom door actually CREATES a more dangerous environment.
Here's how:
1. Due to the recent active shooter incidents in the news, schools are doing anything possible to secure doors. It's a problem that never existed before.
2. Schools are presently installing non-compliant barricades which cannot be opened from the outside.
3. Schools don't have the funds available to replace lock sets with expensive solutions from door hardware companies. Accordingly, they are compelled to find less desirable solutions to locking the door.
4. Teachers are locking the classroom doors every day, all day long. This makes fire rescue more difficult in an emergency.
5. Schools are presently defeating the latching mechanism on fire doors with magnets and duct tape, creating the ability for fire to spread more rapidly.
TeacherLock was designed from the ground up to solve for these issues!
Protects from Threats Both Inside and Outside the Door
Conceived by Educators, Designed by Engineers
"I was concerned by the number of products that flooded the market after the recent tragic news of school shootings. I quickly realized that many barricade-style door locks, and door bars may be unsafe and give a false sense of security, especially when they are so complex to use and don't follow building and safety regulations." - Amy Emma, Elementary School Principal, Inventor of TeacherLock.
Who is better equipped to express the need to protect our students? The idea for TeacherLock was conceived by an Elementary School Principal who saw that there were a large number of unsafe and non-compliant barricade locks flooding the market in the wake of recent school shootings.
There is one very important defensive lesson learned about these tragic events: Students and Teachers are safer when there is a fast and effective barricade device available when needed.
Police to TeacherLock: All we need is 4 minutes.
Time and time again, law enforcement officers praise us for doing one simple thing: we can buy some time. All the police need is 4-6 minutes. We do our job, so they can do their jobs. But, in order for the lock to work it has to be easy to use and fast to deploy under stress. Law enforcement officers and emergency personnel train and drill constantly to overcome the adrenaline induced by a stressful situation. It is impossible for an untrained person to overcome the loss of fine motor skills and clear thought necessary to find keys, deploy a complex lock, and to call emergency personnel while protecting the students in a classroom. This is why TeacherLock is different. The school security barricade device is always at the ready, but out of reach of smaller children. It is simple to deploy with one motion in two seconds. It also lets the teacher keep her head up to look out of the classroom door during deployment, with only one hand to deploy so that the other is free for a cell phone. Many of our competitor's products are installed on the floor, making a weaker barricade, and requiring the user get onto his/her knees, use two hands to install, and run through a series of complex deployment steps. TeacherLock solves this problem and is especially simple to use under stress. l
Code Interpretations for Building and Fire Inspectors
In the context of installing door barricade devices on existing classroom doors, pending changes in Chapter 15 Existing Educational Occupancies of the 2018 edition of NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, recognize that use of such devices needs to be addressed separately (and differently) from new doors. Specifically, item 3 under Section 15.2.2.2.4, Classroom Door Locking to Prevent Unwanted Entry, permits two distinctly separate releasing operations from the egress‐ side (the classroom side) of the door, provided that no keys, tools, or special knowledge or effort is needed to open the door. The TeacherLock® door‐mounted lockdown device requires no additional effort, motion, or knowledge and the unlatch is accomplished by gently bumping a lever which is in-line with the door handle for egress, requiring no special keys, tools, or special knowledge. TeacherLock® has been tested with uninformed elementary school children and they understand how to unlock the door.
TeacherLock II: Some jurisdictions have not yet adopted the NFPA101(2018) life safety guidance. TeacherLock II was built to address these jurisdictions. TeacherLock II unlocks and unlatches in a single operation. Several states have issued code determinations for TeacherLock II and have found that meets the requirements of the International Building Code. TeacherLock I is still available for use in these jurisdictions as long as the door is not in a path of egress (adjoining classroom doors, etc. )
*Interpretation of building and fire code varies widely and is subject to the Authority Having Jurisdiction