Delayed Egress Locking: How It Works and What to Confirm
A delayed egress lock keeps an exit latched for a set period after someone pushes the bar, so staff can respond before it releases. It is a common answer to an exit that keeps getting used as a shortcut or a theft route. Where it is allowed, how long the delay may run, and what has to release it are all set by the codes your jurisdiction has adopted, so this page covers how the hardware works and what to get confirmed rather than what the codes say.
Last updated: September 15, 2026
What delayed egress is
Delayed egress locking holds an exit latched for a set period after someone tries to use it. On the Detex V40 EE and Advantex EE packages it is one device, with the timer and the alarm built into the exit device itself. Other delayed egress arrangements put the logic or the locking in a separate component, so do not assume everything sold as delayed egress is shaped this way.
The sequence on these packages: someone pushes the bar, an alarm sounds, and the latch stays locked for the delay period. When it expires the device releases the delayed locking mechanism, letting the pushpad retract the latch. It does not open the door. Detex's own instructions have the person keep the pushpad depressed until it lets go. What matters is that it releases without a key, a code, or anyone coming to let the person out.
What the delay buys is response time. On the V40 EE the alarm is triggered by latchbolt movement; the Advantex EE package monitors the dead latch and can also monitor the pushpad and outside trim, so treat the exact initiating input as a per-configuration question. A short nudge does not start the sequence either: these packages carry a one second nuisance delay, so a push shorter than that pulses without beginning the delayed egress cycle.
Three different products get confused here. An exit alarm reports that an exit was used. A door prop alarm reports that a door has been held open beyond a set interval, and it has a delay of its own: the EAX-300's open time is field-selectable from one second up to several minutes before it sounds. A delayed egress lock decides when the door can be opened at all. Detex sells all three separately, and only the third one delays egress; the first two delay or report an alarm while the door opens normally.
The problem it solves is an exit being used as something other than an exit. A stockroom door that has become a smoking shortcut, a rear retail exit that walks merchandise out of the building, a ward door that a patient should not leave through unaccompanied. Note that institutional patient containment is treated as its own kind of arrangement and is not automatically the same question as delayed egress, so do not assume this page's answer fits it. Staffing an exit is expensive, and whether any locking arrangement is available to you on that opening is the first thing to ask. Where a delayed egress lock is permitted, it is the middle answer between those two.
This is a life safety device on an exit, not a security accessory. Whether a delayed egress lock is permitted on your opening, and on what conditions, is a determination for the authority having jurisdiction and the engineer of record. Get it in writing before you specify one, not after it is installed.
What to confirm first
Delayed egress locking is addressed in NFPA 101 and in the International Building Code. These are the questions to put to your AHJ and engineer of record before anyone orders hardware.
We deliberately do not restate the clause text here. The numbers attached to delayed egress move between code editions, and a figure repeated confidently from a secondary source is exactly the kind of thing that gets designed into a building and then fails an inspection. Read it in the edition your jurisdiction has actually adopted.
- Is it permitted on this occupancy at all? Ask this first, before anything else about the opening is specified.
- Which code and which edition is your jurisdiction enforcing? Ask for the specific document and edition you will be held to, and get any citation you are given checked against that edition rather than a newer or older one.
- How long a delay is permitted on this opening? Get the permitted duration confirmed before you buy a device, because the device is built around a particular timing and it is not a field adjustment you should be making to suit an answer you got later.
- What has to release the door automatically, and on what signal? Get the full list, and get the interface specified. On the Detex V40 EE and Advantex EE devices the fire alarm connection is made at the power supply rather than at the device, which is why it is the item most often missing from a quote and discovered at inspection.
- Does the building need a sprinkler or detection system for this to be allowed? Ask whether any such condition attaches, and whether it is a precondition or a recommendation, because that changes whether the device is an option for you at all.
- What signage is required, if any, and where? Ask for the wording verbatim and the mounting location, and treat the sign as part of the installation rather than an accessory to it.
- Is this a fire-rated door assembly? If so, stop and have the hardware confirmed specifically for that assembly, including whether dogging is acceptable on it. Fire exit hardware and panic hardware are not the same product, and ordering the wrong one is an expensive thing to discover on site.
Our own summaries of the governing documents are here: NFPA 101 and IBC Chapter 10. ANSI/UL 305 covers bar, pad and paddle actuated releasing devices for outward-opening doors, which includes panic hardware, fire exit hardware and exit locks. What it does not do is classify the fire resistance of the door and releasing device as an assembly. UL's own guidance for fire-rated doors is where the additional UL 10C evaluation for fire exit hardware comes from. So when you ask about listings, ask which ones your exact assembly has to carry rather than treating the exit device listing as the whole answer.
Specifying a device
Once the code question is settled, the hardware decisions are ordinary. Below are four of the choices that come up on nearly every order, for the standard non-weatherized Detex V40 EE and Advantex EE configurations we work with. Other manufacturers package these differently, and the EEX and EE ER variants are arranged differently again.
These four are not a complete configuration. A real order also settles the base series and device type, the door construction and stile, the strike application, whether the opening is single or one leaf of a pair, whether it is fire or hurricane rated, trim, power transfer, what power is already at the door and whether it needs backup, the fire alarm interface, the delayed egress timing, and the arming and rearming options. Treat the list below as the decisions worth understanding before you talk to someone, not as the order form.
Three Detex configuration facts worth knowing up front. All three are device specifications, not statements about what any code permits: the standard EE build is a 15 second delay with a 30 second ordering option; the standard package includes the ECL-395 15 second sign; and the fire-rated EE devices are supplied less dogging only. Whether any of that satisfies your jurisdiction is a separate question, and it is the one on the checklist above.
- Device length. Match the door leaf, not the frame. A 36 in device suits a 3 ft door and a 48 in device a 4 ft door. In Detex's own ordering model the 36 in is the standard device and 48 in is a length option; we list the two as separate products because a 3 ft and a 4 ft opening are different searches, but the configuration underneath is one device with a length choice.
- Finish. The two lines do not share a default. The V40 EE is standard in 628 satin aluminum, with 711 black anodized aluminum offered. The Advantex EE is standard in 630 satin stainless steel, and its black option is 693 painted, not anodized. Confirm the lead time on any non-standard finish before you commit to it on a schedule.
- Dogging. Cylinder dogging holds the latch retracted so the door pushes open freely during open hours. The mortise cylinder is not in the base device price, so either add one to the order or have it factory-installed; otherwise the unit arrives unable to dog. The no-dogging build is listed at no charge. Note that Detex's current fire-rated EE configurations are less-dogging only, so on a fire-rated opening this choice may already be made for you.
- Power supply. The standard packages include a Detex filtered and regulated 24VDC supply. Confirm which model ships with it, and whether batteries are actually fitted. Both matter for how the opening behaves in an outage, and the battery kit is ordered separately on the supplies that take one. Detex's line is also mid-transition: the current price list introduces the PS80 as replacing the 80-800 and 90-800 while still listing the older models, and the EE package descriptions name no model at all. It matters because a 90-800 has no battery-charging circuit, so a mains outage takes its 24VDC away, whereas a PS80 or an 80-800 can carry batteries. The PS0 suffix is the ordering code for the build that omits the supply entirely.
The cheapest line on the price list is usually the wrong one. Detex lists an EE build that omits the power supply, and it is genuinely cheaper. It exists for the second leaf of a pair, where the two devices share the supply that came with the first. It is not a way to save money on a single opening. Order it for one door with no supply already at it and you receive a device that cannot run.
Worth confirming separately: the fire alarm connection. On these devices it is made externally at the power supply rather than at the device, which is easy to leave off a quote precisely because it is not part of the device itself.
Delayed egress hardware
Delayed Egress Hardware
Specifying delayed egress on an opening?
Tell us the door width and handing, the finish, the strike and trim application, whether the opening is fire rated, whether you need dogging, the delay timing you have been told to use, and how many openings. We will come back with pricing and lead time on US-made delayed egress hardware, and we will flag selection details that look missing or inconsistent. We do not determine whether a locking arrangement is permitted on your opening.
or call 714-248-6555 · email partners@usmadesupply.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a delayed egress device the same as a door alarm?
No, and the difference matters when you are specifying. A door prop alarm reports a door held open beyond a configured interval, and while it can delay its own alarm, it never holds the door. A delayed egress device controls when the door can be opened: pushing the bar sounds an alarm and starts a timed delay, and when it expires the device releases the delayed locking mechanism so the pushpad can retract the latch. It does not open the door for you. If all you need is to know that a door was used, an exit alarm is cheaper and simpler.
What happens to the door when power is lost?
Separate two different events. Loss of power at the locking device is not the same as the building losing mains power, and which one your opening sees depends on the supply that ships with it AND on whether batteries are actually fitted, since the backup kit is ordered separately. Detex is mid-transition here: the current price list introduces the PS80 as replacing the 80-800 and 90-800 but still lists the older models, and the EE package descriptions do not name one. A 90-800 has no battery-charging circuit, so a mains outage takes its 24VDC away. A PS80 or an 80-800 can carry batteries, and where they are fitted the system stays energised and the door does not release just because the lights went out. Upstream emergency power changes the picture again. Separately, and on both the V40 EE and Advantex EE, the 9V battery inside the device maintains the alarm only, never the delay. Confirm the supply model and the release conditions against your own configuration rather than a general description.
Is the mortise cylinder included with a cylinder dogging device?
On the Detex V40 EE and Advantex EE builds we work with, no. Cylinder dogging builds ship without a cylinder, so order one alongside the device or it arrives unable to dog, and the no-dogging build is listed at the same price. Other manufacturers package this differently, so check the line you are buying.
Why is the build without a power supply cheaper, and should I buy it?
Almost certainly not. On the Detex V40 EE and Advantex EE lines that build exists for the second leaf of a pair, where two devices share the supply that shipped with the first. It is not a way to save money on a single opening. The delayed locking function runs on filtered and regulated 24VDC and will not work without a supply, so ordering it for one door with nothing already at it buys hardware you cannot commission. The internal 9V still runs the alarm, which is not the same thing as a working delayed egress device.
Can I put a delayed egress device on a fire-rated door?
Do not assume so. Fire exit hardware and panic hardware are not the same product, and what is acceptable on a fire-rated assembly, including whether dogging is allowed on it, needs confirming for your specific opening before you order. It is an expensive thing to discover on site.
Do you stock delayed egress hardware?
Our current delayed egress range is shown in the products section above; if it is empty, we are not stocking that configuration yet. We can still source it. Use the quote form in that section to start it off, and expect us to come back with follow-up questions before a firm price, because a complete configuration needs more than any form usefully asks for.
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