Maglocks and Emergency Situations: Ensuring Safety & Security
Maglocks are often treated as a simple commodity item, but they play one of the most important roles in any access control system: keeping doors secure while ensuring occupants can exit safely when it matters most. Choosing the right magnetic locking solution is essential, especially when planning for emergency scenarios.
How Maglocks Work
A maglock is made up of two main parts: an electromagnetic unit mounted to the frame and an armature plate attached to the door. When electrical current flows through the magnet, it generates a powerful magnetic field that bonds the plate to the magnet, holding the door shut. When power cuts, the magnetic field instantly collapses and the door is free to open.
Why Maglocks Are So Widely Used
Maglocks offer several benefits that make them a popular choice across commercial, public, and industrial sites:
- Low maintenance: With no mechanical latching components, there’s less wear and tear compared to traditional locks.
- Simple installation: Their straightforward design keeps installation time and cost down.
- Versatility: With the right brackets, they can be installed on single or double doors, wooden, glass, metal, or uPVC, and even on sliding doors.
These advantages make maglocks a practical, reliable solution for environments such as offices, education buildings, healthcare facilities, and government sites.
Maglocks During Emergencies
Two emergency scenarios are especially critical for security, compliance, and life safety: power failures and fire alarm activations.
Power outages
Maglocks are fail-safe devices—they require power to stay locked. If a building loses power, the lock releases automatically, ensuring occupants can exit safely without obstruction.
Fire alarm activation
When a fire alarm is triggered, the detection system sends a signal—usually via the access control controller—to cut power to all relevant maglocks. Once the power drops, the doors unlock instantly, creating safe and compliant escape routes.
While this fail-safe behaviour is essential for emergency exits, it means maglocks are not suitable for areas containing highly sensitive or high-value assets, where fail-secure systems may be required.
Understanding Applicable Regulations
Several standards and regulations guide how maglocks must be installed and integrated to ensure safe evacuation during emergencies.
BS EN 13637
This standard covers escape doors controlled by electronic locking systems. It requires that all components securing an escape door be tested together as a complete system. To comply, the door must release in one action within 100 ms and withstand a minimum of 100 kg sideload release.
It is voluntary in the UK but mandatory in the Republic of Ireland.
BS 7273-4
This regulation defines how fire detection systems must interface with electrically controlled door release mechanisms—including maglocks. The key requirement is simple: the lock must release quickly, reliably, and consistently in a fire scenario.
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
This UK legislation places responsibility on building owners and managers to ensure escape routes remain usable at all times. Any security measures, including maglocks, must not impede safe evacuation during an emergency.
Best Practice for Installing Maglocks in Emergency-Compliant Systems
1. Install Emergency Break Glass Units
Break glass devices provide a direct, manual method to drop power to a maglock in an emergency. When activated, the door unlocks immediately. Resettable units are now widely available, reducing maintenance and waste.
2. Use Clear Visual Indicators & Door Monitoring
Visual feedback—such as status LEDs—helps users identify door conditions quickly, even in low-light or smoke-filled environments.
Door position monitoring or fully monitored maglocks allow site managers to detect forced entry attempts, system errors, or mechanical failures.
3. Carry Out Risk Assessments & Regular Testing
Compliance isn’t a one-off process. Regular risk assessments help ensure escape routes remain safe and that integrations function properly. With security legislation such as Martyn’s Law coming into effect, routine testing and documentation are more important than ever.
Conclusion
Maglocks deliver strong, reliable security—provided they are installed correctly and in line with life-safety requirements. Whether you are an installer or a facility manager, understanding both the benefits and limitations of fail-safe magnetic locking is essential to maintaining safe, compliant evacuation routes.
If you need help choosing maglocks or designing an emergency-compliant system, your technical support partner or training provider can offer guidance, product recommendations, and hands-on education tailored to your project.
