Electronically Controlled Escape Door System
Specifying a secured escape door?
MF ServicesMF ServicesMF Services
Specifying a secured escape door?
An escape door has a contradiction built into it. It must stay free — anyone, at any moment, able to get out in a single action — yet stay secured the rest of the time against misuse, theft and unauthorised entry. In a hospital, a school or a transport hub, getting either of those two jobs wrong is where the real risk sits.
It’s also the part of the specification most often solved with a workaround. A chain, a padlock or an extra key lock secures the door and quietly defeats the escape route — and none of them passes a fire-safety review.
MF Services specifies, supplies and installs complete EN 13637-compliant escape door systems — an electrically controlled solution that keeps the door secured against misuse and releases it the instant anyone needs out. Here’s how it works, and what it means for specifying a secured escape door in Ireland.
the standard it's certified to meet
the lock releases automatically on power loss
a single actuation releases the door to escape
one slim terminal: emergency button, keypad, pictogram, access control
EN 13637 is the European standard for electrically controlled exit systems on escape routes, adopted in Ireland as I.S. EN 13637:2015. It exists to resolve one point most specifications leave open: how a door on an escape route can be genuinely secured against misuse while still releasing, in a single action, the instant anyone needs to get out.
In Ireland, that’s not just good practice. Where an escape-route door is electrically locked or access-controlled, the installation falls under PSA 67:2021 — the Private Security Authority’s access-control standard — which requires compliance with EN 179, EN 1125 or EN 13637, fitted by a PSA-licensed contractor. Specify electric locking without it and the install isn’t compliant.
A complete EN 13637 system removes that risk: the initiating, locking and controlling elements certified and installed together, not assembled from loose parts. For healthcare, education, transport and public projects — where escape routes carry the highest security pressure and the closest compliance scrutiny — that certified, PSA-licensed approach should be the default position, not something retrofitted after sign-off.
An escape door has to do two opposite jobs at once — stay locked against misuse, and release the moment someone needs out. The ECO Schulte Sentinel FT escape door terminal does both. An electrically latching emergency button gives a single-action release, an electric locking element holds the door on the fail-safe principle, and the terminal handles control on board — with no separate control unit, compliant with EN 13637.
Everyone escapes with one push, and an alarm sounds every time. Authorised staff pass through alarm-free with a key, code or access control. The slim terminal integrates into popular switch ranges with a backlit status pictogram, mounts surface or in-wall, and retrofits to most existing escape doors — interior or exterior.
A two-page reference covering EN 13637, the PSA 67 route for electrically locked escape doors in Ireland, and the specifier questions architects ask most often. Save it for project meetings, share it with colleagues, or attach it to your specification notes.
Fail-safe electric locking holds the door against misuse and forced entry, then releases instantly on demand or on power loss — security that never stands between a person and the way out.
A slim terminal that integrates into popular switch ranges, with a backlit status pictogram and modular key, keypad and pictogram options — programmed on the terminal itself, with no separate control box to house.
MF Services specifies the terminal, locking element and controller together as one EN 13637 system, installed by a PSA-licensed team and handed over with a Certificate of Compliance.
It electrically locks a door on an escape route against misuse, while guaranteeing that anyone inside can release it with a single action and escape. The system combines three certified elements — an initiating element, an electric locking element and a controller — tested and approved to work together.
EN 13637 itself is a voluntary European standard, adopted here as I.S. EN 13637:2015. But where an escape-route door is electrically locked or access-controlled, PSA 67:2021 requires the installation to comply with EN 179, EN 1125 or EN 13637 — so in practice, EN 13637 is the route for a secured escape door.
In most cases, yes. The Sentinel FT terminal and locking element retrofit to most existing escape doors, interior or exterior, fitting standard in-wall boxes — a practical way to bring an existing door up to standard.
EN 13637 allows delayed egress — Class 1 up to 15 seconds, Class 2 up to 180 seconds — for situations where misuse is a genuine risk. It’s only permitted with documented written approval from the relevant authority, and we’ll advise what your project allows.
The system is certified to EN 13637 (adopted in Ireland as I.S. EN 13637:2015) and works alongside the mechanical escape standards EN 179 (emergency exit) and EN 1125 (panic exit). In Ireland it’s installed to the PSA 67:2021 access-control standard, with a Certificate of Compliance.
Yes — from early design through to installation, certification and aftercare. Send us the door schedule or an outline of the project and we’ll recommend the right configuration, supply it, and install it as a PSA-licensed contractor.
Wards, dementia units and care settings need doors that prevent wandering and unauthorised access — without ever trapping anyone in an emergency. EN 13637 secures the route and still releases it in a single action.
Schools and campuses lock down perimeter and stairwell doors for safeguarding and security, yet every one of them is an escape route. EN 13637 reconciles controlled access with guaranteed egress.
Offices, civic buildings and transport hubs carry both the theft-and-misuse risk and the closest compliance scrutiny. A certified EN 13637 system secures the escape door and protects everyone who has to use it.
Whether you’re at concept stage or finalising a door schedule, we’ll help you specify the right escape door system. Send us drawings, a sample specification or an outline of the project, and we’ll come back with recommendations, datasheets and indicative pricing.
You’ll also find us at Architecture Expo 2026, Stand B25, RDS Dublin, 7–8 October — come and see the system in person and talk through your current projects with the team.
MF Services
Unit 26 Doughcloyne Court Industrial Estate,
Sarsfield Road,
Wilton, Cork, Ireland.
