Bathroom door locks

[Chris Bernhardt]

Are bathroom door locks a requirement anywhere or are they an accessory?

I think that they are required by some state agencys where foster care is involved.

Chris, Oregon

[ozofprev]

Wow, I'm trying to think of who would be the AHJ for such a thing. In general, it certainly is not a requirement. Foster rules? Dunno.

[hausdok]

I guess I'm wondering why I would even care.

If the door was missing, the doorknob was missing or the door lacked a lockset I'd write it up, but as to whether there was a lock or not? No, don't care - not even if they are required by code. There's a whole lot of stuff in a home that's more important than whether or not a door has a lock, so I don't concern myself with stuff like that.

Here's an analogy I like to use. Think of the house as a car. Now think about what the mechanic will look at when you bring that car with 100,000 miles on it to him for a checkup. He'll check the compression and look at the plugs for fouling, listen for motor noises, check the cooling system for leaks and the coolant for traces of oil or water, maybe examine the oil that comes out of the pan for metal filings, check for wear on your brake pads, disks and drums, bearings, steering linkage, transmission, and U-joints and examine the exhaust system for leaks, but he won't be looking at the condition of the upholstery and carpeting, worrying about scratches on the paint, the condition of the headliner, whether or not a radio pulls in a certain station strongly enough or whether the fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror are the same size or whether one is slightly lopsided. He especially won't worry about whether or not the lock on the glove compartment door works. In short, he's only concerned with what makes the car work right and he couldn't care less about the accessory items.

Buyers need me to point out that there isn't a GFCI in that bathroom, explain why that's significant and recommend a course of action to correct it. They need me to point out when a light fixture of the wrong type is too close to the tub, explain why that's significant and recommend a course of action to correct it. They do need me to tell them why that soft floor around the wobbly toilet isn't correct, tell them why it's significant and recommend a course of action. But buyers don't need me to notice that a bathroom door doesn't lock. They can do that themselves.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Chris Bernhardt]

Well then are all locks accessories? Exterior door locks and window latches?

Some of those front door locksets are spendy. Why would the front door lock be any different then the bathroom lock?

The old ASHI training manual said that the locks, if they had them and were readily checkable, be checked. Of course thats different from reporting on their existence or not. The Dearborn Engineering reference that I have doesn't appear to address locks at all.

So would you agree if a lock is there and you can check it that it should be checked?

If the lock is not there it doesn't require reporting because its an accessory. I think the texas SOP specifically mentions something about locksets being outside the scope of the inspection. can any Texas brotheren confirm that?

Buyers need me to point out that there isn't a GFCI in that bathroom, explain why that's significant and recommend a course of action to correct it. They need me to point out when a light fixture of the wrong type is too close to the tub, explain why that's significant and recommend a course of action to correct it. They do need me to tell them why that soft floor around the wobbly toilet isn't correct, tell them why it's significant and recommend a course of action. But buyers don't need me to notice that a bathroom door doesn't lock. They can do that themselves.

Interesting. That makes sense to me that there are many things in the house that could easily be checked out by the buyer and whose implications are self evident and don't need any explaining by me however buyers assume that you are checking that stuff. If you give an SOP to a buyer they won't read it but lets say they did where does it clearly explain that accessories to the function of the items of inspection are not covered and particularly locks?

It seems to me that you would have to make that clear in your contract.

Chris, Oregon

[hausdok]

Hi,

I think the lock on an exterior door is significantly different than a lock on a bathroom door. Hell, I've inspected homes where they didn't even have a door on the bathroom.

A homeowner's security goes hand-in-hand with their safety. We check windows and window latches don't we? That's because they're part of the exterior envelope. When that exterior envelope can't safely protect it's occupants - either because there's a hole in the roof or because the front door can't be locked, it makes sense to report it. Think of the car example. You wouldn't care if the glove compartment lock was broken, but you would care if the hood latch was defective or the doors wouldn't lock, because if the hood flew up while driving or a door flew open while going around a corner yourself or somone in your family could be injured or worse.

What possible harm could come to someone because the bathroom door will close and latch but can't be locked? Oh, wait a minute - I suppose it would be a good idea to have a working door lock on an outhouse. One wouldn't want a grizzly wondering in while one is sitting in that two holer. [:-scared]

By the way, why did they make two-holers anyway? [:-boggled

OT - OF!!!

M.

[mthomas1]

Mike,

Good analogy.

[rthitoff]

Hi,

Texas SOP says: 2) report as in need of repair accessible doors that do not operate properly, excluding locks and latches;

Rick

www.tcinspections.net

[Richard Stanley]

c-"2) report as in need of repair accessible doors that do not operate properly, excluding locks and latches; "

That applies to interior doors.

e-(2)Report as in need of repair deficiencies in the condition and operation of exterior doors and garage doors, including locks and latches when present.

Edit: I ususally note the absence or defect of privacy locks on bathroom doors - been doing it for years...not sure why - must have got it from somewhere. I can't locate any code reference right now, but, there must be a reason most bathroom doors have locks installed. I don't think the builders would install them out of pure charity.

[Les]

Two holers were used for the obvious reasons; Mike just wasn't thinking! My needs would be met with a hole approx 9" across, while a child would (and did) slip through. Usually the holes were different diameters and sometimes a little different shape. Men typically did not urinate while standing, so the advent of the oval.

I participated in a lawsuit regarding bathroom door locks. It got way more complicated than we can get into here, but basically there is a reasonable expectation of privacy when using the stool and no demonstrated expectation of privacy while using the sink, shower or bathtub.

[Scottpat]

HUD and VA require them on all exterior doors.

[Richard Moore]

Originally posted by Les

.... My needs would be met with a hole approx 9" across...

That's more info than I need, not to mention a rather disturbing mental image I would now like to get rid off. [:-blindfo