> That said, I wonder what happens at safeway during a fire or shooter.
During a fire, the gate controller will have a fire alarm input on the terminal block wired to an output from the fire alarm system that will open the gate if the fire alarm system activates. All automatic doors/gates/card access doors and fire alarm systems work the same way, fail open on fire alarm signal.
If there was a duress button system at Safeway, a signal from that could be used to automatically open gates and doors as well during an active shooter incident, but afaik it’s not mandated by code like fire alarm door and gate releases are.
Some automatic sliding double doors actually are able to be pushed open, there’s a hidden hinge in the top that allows it to open up even if the double doors are closed.
At least in most jurisdictions, the egress to a gathering area can __never__ be blocked, there is some provisions for delay on emergency exits, but those require NRTL certification, and are actually usually mechanical.
You might be able to lock it down during periods of limited occupancy, and you can rig it to an annoying alarm, and maybe try to identify the person, and ban them from future. It is possible to get variances for this, but you usually need to either be a medical or penal facility.
Thanks for clarifying the finer points, my exposure to these systems is sending people to wire them up (mostly electrical but sometimes the control wiring) and not so much on the code side.
I looked up a wiring diagram for a similar gate and saw it had a fire alarm input so I assumed the AHJ in this case approved it based on the ability for the gate to open when an alarm condition is detected. That being said, it seems like a danger to me.
A regional hardware store chain has turnstiles at the entry points and swing gates at exits, which seems much safer for access control in a big box store.
If the graphic on the machine is anything to go by, you just push on the barrier and it will swing out. If you didnt know, this is the same with all the regular motorized sliding doors, too.