An access control system must release all door locks for emergency egress upon receiving which signal?

An access control system must release all door locks for emergency egress upon receiving which signal?

• A. Intrusion alert
• B. Fire alarm signal
• C. Power outage
• D. Maintenance alert

Answer: (B)

Releasing all door locks for emergency egress is driven by life-safety signaling. When a fire alarm is triggered, occupants must be able to exit quickly without being hindered by locked doors, so the access control system is designed to unlock or release electric locks across protected doors. This ensures a clear path to safety and meets fire and building codes that require doors to become freely open during an alarm event. Other signals don’t capture the same life-safety intent. An intrusion alert is meant to deter unauthorized entry and wouldn’t be used to facilitate evacuation. A maintenance alert or a power outage indicates service or power conditions rather than an immediate evacuation trigger, and while a power loss can cause some locks to release in certain fail-safe designs, the standard emergency egress trigger is the fire alarm signal, which directly corresponds to an actual emergency requiring immediate exit.

Releasing all door locks for emergency egress is driven by life-safety signaling. When a fire alarm is triggered, occupants must be able to exit quickly without being hindered by locked doors, so the access control system is designed to unlock or release electric locks across protected doors. This ensures a clear path to safety and meets fire and building codes that require doors to become freely open during an alarm event.

Other signals don’t capture the same life-safety intent. An intrusion alert is meant to deter unauthorized entry and wouldn’t be used to facilitate evacuation. A maintenance alert or a power outage indicates service or power conditions rather than an immediate evacuation trigger, and while a power loss can cause some locks to release in certain fail-safe designs, the standard emergency egress trigger is the fire alarm signal, which directly corresponds to an actual emergency requiring immediate exit.