Q: Recommend a product for fire escape doors with door closers – when the doors slam shut they LOCK; so is there a mechanism which allows us to keep the door bolts UNLOCKED until we want to LOCK the doors?

A: Yes, such a mechanism exists and is called a dogging device, it allows the bolts to be withheld in the retracted position ensuring the automatic top trip catch or Pullman latch do not engage when the door is closed, enabling the door to be opened freely from both sides. It’s disengageable. It is an Exidor product, designed to work on the Exidor 294 or the Exidor 293 panic hardware.