The City of Vancouver’s ban on doorknobs in all new buildings, which went into effect last month, has drawn a strong reaction from the public and heated debate across Canada as other jurisdictions consider the measure. The code revision, which substitutes door levers for knobs, is part of a broader campaign to make buildings more accessible to the elderly and disabled.
Critics, particularly doorknob manufacturers, have complained about government overreach. The Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) says that Vancouver, the only city in Canada that determines its own building code (provincial governments have that power elsewhere), changed the rules on its own. If the city had asked for a revision of the national regulations, detailed cost studies would have been performed, the trade group says.
Other criticism has centered on the danger of bears, common denizens of British Columbia, to more easily enter a home through a door equipped with a lever rather than a doorknob. Pitkin County, Colorado, has banned door levers to diminish the possibility of bear intrusions.
Support for the door lever provision is widespread, however. Members of the municipal council in Halifax and city councilors in a Toronto suburb are considering asking their provincial government to follow Vancouver’s example.
Related Stories
Windows and Doors | May 5, 2017
Product Roundup: 16 hot window + door systems
Multiglide doors from Andersen Windows, SL73 from NanaWall Systems, and EpicVue from Jeld-Wen are three of the 16 products included in BD+C's May Product Roundup.
Sponsored | Windows and Doors | Apr 5, 2017
Tall windows and a unique vision - Welcome to the Beranger Condos
Combining product flexibility with outstanding performance, tall fiberglass windows and weather-friendly aluminum-clad wood doors were a natural choice for this mixed use building.
Sponsored | Windows and Doors | Jul 11, 2016
From past to present – bringing Mitchell Hall into the 21st century
With 60-year-old windows and high energy usage, the University of New Mexico building was in need of a historically accurate renovation that would reintroduce it as an environmentally sustainable education facility
Windows and Doors | Nov 3, 2015
Pop-out window concept offers 'more sky' for multifamily dwellers
Windows in the More Sky system jut out the side of the building and fan out like an accordion.
Windows and Doors | Oct 12, 2015
2015 IECC Code recognizes benefits of high-speed doors
New code includes maximum air leakage requirement.
Windows and Doors | Aug 28, 2015
Newly formed group challenges Florida building code
Window, door companies oppose provisions that raise costs
Green | Jun 8, 2015
Maryland tech firm is developing spray-on solar panels for windows
Made primarily out of hydrogen and carbon, the coating can turn see-through surfaces into solar panels.
Sponsored | Windows and Doors | Apr 14, 2015
Energy Retrofits: Getting the Whole Picture on Energy Analysis
![Windows, doors, and storefronts: Optimizing safety, durability, and client satisfaction [AIA course]](/sites/default/files/styles/list_big/public/apple.jpg?itok=vSF6RItl "Windows, doors, and storefronts: Optimizing safety, durability, and client satisfaction [AIA course]")
Windows and Doors | Mar 23, 2015
Emerging trends in windows, doors, and storefronts [AIA course]
In nonresidential construction, Building Teams are finding that product and system selection is becoming increasingly complicated, due to increased demands from building occupants, according to fenestration experts.
Sponsored | | Mar 3, 2015
New York’s Fulton Center relies on TGP for light-flooded, underground transit hub
Fire-rated curtain wall systems filled this subterranean hub with natural light.
