Access Control
Fail-Safe vs Fail-Secure Locks: Power Loss and Escape
Guidance only. Verify any statutory or insurer requirement against current official South African sources. CapeCore does not publish unverified legal claims.
The two behaviours
Fail-safe unlocks when power is removed. Fail-secure stays locked when power is removed. Maglocks are usually fail-safe. Many electric strikes can be ordered either way. The choice is a life-safety and security decision, not a preference for a brand.
Escape comes first on escape routes
Doors on an escape path must still let people out. That may mean fail-safe locking, a mechanical panic bar, fire-alarm release, or a combination. Do not copy a storeroom strike onto a staircase.
Power and batteries
A UPS or battery pack can keep a fail-secure door working during a short outage — or keep a maglock holding when you actually needed it to release. Document the behaviour. Test it.
CapeCore will not guess the fire plan
We match lock behaviour to the door’s role and to what the client’s fire consultant or approved design requires. We do not invent a SANS outcome on a blog page.
Related reading
Next step
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