David Bolton How a Maglock Talks to Your Fire Alarm: Wiring the Release Circuit the Right Way What This Guide Covers and Who It Helps This article explains how electromagnetic locks (maglocks) must be wired to connect with a building fire alarm system. It is written for commercial electrical c... access control wiring egress compliance electrified hardware electromagnetic locks fire alarm integration Aug 22, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Mantrap Installations: How to Specify the Right Hardware for a Two-Door Security Vestibule What This Guide Covers and Who It Is For A mantrap, also called a security vestibule or airlock entry, is a controlled access passage that uses two doors in sequence to prevent tailgating and unauthor... access control commercial door hardware electrified hardware exit devices security vestibule Aug 20, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Delayed Egress Alarm Modules: What Specifiers and Facility Teams Get Wrong Before the Door Goes Live What This Article Covers -- And Who It Helps Delayed egress alarm modules are one of the most misunderstood options in the exit device world. Specifiers order the wrong configuration. Facilities teams... code compliance delayed egress electrified hardware exit devices life safety Aug 17, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton From Signal to Secured: How Emergency Lockdown Systems Actually Talk to Door Hardware What This Article Covers and Who It Helps When a building triggers a lockdown -- whether at a K-12 school, a hospital campus, or a corporate facility -- the door hardware has to respond correctly, imm... access control electrified hardware life safety lockdown integration school security Aug 16, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Anti-Passback Rules: What Access Control Specifiers and Facility Teams Get Wrong at the Door What This Article Covers -- and Who It Helps Anti-passback is one of the most misunderstood rules in access control system design. Facility managers, security integrators, and commercial contractors o... access control door position switches electric strikes electrified hardware security hardware Aug 16, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Adding Card Access to an Existing Mortise Lock: What Actually Has to Change at the Door What This Article Covers and Who It Helps Facility managers, security integrators, and commercial hardware specifiers frequently face the same challenge: a building already has solid-performing mortis... access control credential readers electrified hardware mortise locks retrofit Aug 8, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Door Position Switches: Where They Go, How They Wire, and What Goes Wrong on the First Install What Is a Door Position Switch and Why Does Every Access-Controlled Opening Need One? A door position switch (DPS) is a two-piece magnetic sensor -- a reed switch module and a matching magnet -- that ... access control hardware commercial door hardware door monitoring door position switch electrified hardware Aug 7, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Electric Strike Monitor Switches: Latch-Bolt Sensor vs. Cam Switch and Why the Difference Matters for Your Access Control System What This Article Covers and Who It Helps When an electric strike is part of an access control circuit, the question of how the system knows the door is secured comes up on nearly every project. Two p... access control hardware door security electric strikes electrified hardware monitor switches Jul 30, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Concealed Power Transfer on Doors With Closers: Routing Wires When the Frame Head Is Already Occupied The Problem Nobody Plans for Until the Closer Template Goes Down This article is for commercial hardware contractors, access control integrators, school facilities teams, and specifiers who need to tr... access control door closers electrified hardware fire-rated openings power transfer Jul 29, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Frame Head Reinforcing on Hollow Metal Frames: What Gets Missed Before the Hardware Goes In What This Article Covers and Who It Helps Frame head reinforcing is one of those line items on a hardware schedule that looks minor until a closer arm pulls out of an underbuilt header, or an inspecto... door closer prep electrified hardware fire-rated openings frame head reinforcing hollow metal frames Jul 28, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Electric Latch Retraction on Exit Devices: How Access Control Unlocks the Door Without Touching the Bar What This Article Covers and Who It Helps If you are specifying or installing an access-controlled opening that also requires panic hardware, electric latch retraction (ELR) is the mechanism that ties... access control electric latch retraction electrified hardware exit devices fire-rated hardware Jul 28, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Electrified Exit Device Trim: How the Outside Lever Controls Ingress Without Blocking Egress What This Article Covers and Who It Helps Electrified exit device trim is the outside lever, handle, or pull mounted on the secure side of a panic bar that is controlled by an access system rather tha... access control electrified hardware exit devices fire-rated door hardware panic hardware Jul 24, 2026 Our Blog
