Quick intro: This choice affects safety during power loss and compliance at exits. Here’s a plain‑English guide.
Fail‑safe: Unlocks when power is lost (common with maglocks). Great for life safety—egress stays easy in an outage.
Fail‑secure: Stays locked when power is lost (common with electric strikes). Great for security—doors remain secured after hours.
For main egress doors, your Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) may require fail‑safe plus proper REX and fire alarm drop.
For perimeter doors after hours, fail‑secure helps keep the building closed during outages.
Mixed hardware is normal: fail‑safe at exits, fail‑secure at storerooms or IT closets.
We’ll coordinate with your fire alarm and door hardware vendors so everything works together and passes inspection.