What is a panic bar, and when does a business need one?
A panic bar, also called a push bar, crash bar or exit device, is the horizontal bar across the inside of an exit door. Push it and the door unlatches. No key, no knob to turn, no thinking required. That is the whole point. When a room is crowded, dark or filling with smoke, people need to get out with a single motion, and panic hardware is built so they can.
Whether a particular door needs one depends on how the space is used and how many people it holds. Building and fire codes generally call for panic hardware on exit doors in higher-occupancy spaces such as assembly rooms, classrooms and certain hazardous-use areas. Your local building department or fire marshal makes the final call for your building. We are not the code authority and we will not pretend to be. What we do is install, repair and replace the hardware so the door behaves the way the code expects: it opens from the inside with one push, and it stays secure from the outside.
In El Segundo that covers a wide mix of doors. A rear exit behind a Main Street shop, a stairwell door in an office building, and the double doors of a meeting space on a corporate campus all use the same basic idea, but each one needs a different device and a different approach to mounting it.
What goes wrong with panic bars and emergency exit doors?
Panic hardware is mechanical, and it takes a beating. Staff shoulder through it with carts, deliveries lean on it, and some doors get slammed a few hundred times a week. Most of the calls we get for panic bar repair and push bar repair fall into a handful of patterns.
- The bar sticks or does not fully retract, so the latch stays out and the door binds against the strike.
- The door swings shut but does not latch, which leaves the building open overnight even though it looks closed.
- The bar rattles or sags because the mounting screws have worked loose or the door skin has been pulled apart around them.
- The latch no longer lines up with the strike after the door sagged or the frame shifted.
- The outside trim or key cylinder has failed, so staff cannot get in from outside even though the exit side still works.
- Someone has chained, wedged or padlocked the door, which damages the device and is a serious life-safety problem on its own.
- An alarmed exit device either sounds when nobody is leaving or has stopped sounding at all.
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Call (213) 577-1366Repair or replacement: which one makes sense?
Repair is often the right answer. A worn latch, a bad spring, a misaligned strike or a loose mount can be corrected without swapping the whole device. Replacement makes sense when the body is worn out, replacement parts for an old model are no longer made, or the device was never the right type for the door in the first place. We tell you which situation you are in and explain why, so you are not paying for a new exit device when an adjustment would do.
One more thing worth checking is the door closer. A panic bar can only do its job on a door that swings shut and latches properly, so a tired closer is often part of the story. If that is the case, our door closer repair work fits right alongside the exit device service, and doing both in one visit is usually the more sensible route.
How do we install or repair an exit device?
Every door is a little different, so we do not run one script. The general order of a panic bar installation or exit device repair looks like this.
- You call and describe the door: what it is made of (aluminum storefront, hollow metal, wood), whether it is a single door or a pair, whether there is a fire label on the edge, and what is wrong with it.
- We inspect the door, frame and any existing hardware. We check swing direction, door width, clearances, the condition of the frame, and whether the door carries a fire rating.
- We recommend a device that fits the door and how it is used, and we say plainly when a question belongs with your fire marshal or building department rather than with us.
- We remove the old hardware if there is any, prepare the door, reinforce where needed, and mount the bar, latch and strike.
- We set up the outside trim, whether that is a fixed plate, a lever or a key cylinder, depending on how the door is used during business hours.
- We adjust and test: full retraction of the latch, clean engagement with the strike, closer interaction, and the alarm if the device has one. We cycle the door repeatedly rather than testing it once.
- We walk you through how the device works, what any dogging feature does, which keys go to what, and what should never be done to the door, such as chaining it.
What types of exit devices are there?
Picking the device matters as much as installing it. The main categories we work with when handling commercial exit door hardware are below. For the wider picture of door hardware on a commercial building, see our page on commercial door hardware.
- Rim devices: the latch sits on the face of the door and catches a strike on the frame. This is the most common type for single doors and is usually the easiest to service.
- Surface vertical rod devices: rods run up and down from the bar to latch at the top and bottom of the door. These are often used on pairs of doors with no center post.
- Concealed vertical rod devices: the rods are hidden inside the door for a cleaner look, but they take more care to install and adjust.
- Mortise lock devices: the latch body is set into the edge of the door, which suits many aluminum storefront-style doors.
- Narrow-stile devices: made for aluminum doors with slim frames, where a standard bar will not fit.
- Fire-rated exit hardware: tested and listed for use on fire-rated doors. A rated door needs rated hardware, and it should not be drilled or altered casually.
- Alarmed, delayed-egress or electrified devices: these add sounders, controlled release or electronic locking. When they connect to a card reader or a building system, they overlap with access control installation.
Locked out or need a locksmith now?
We answer around the clock, every day of the year.
Call (213) 577-1366What affects the cost of panic bar installation in El Segundo?
We do not quote a figure before we know the door, because the same phone description can hide very different jobs. These are the things that move the cost up or down.
- Repair versus replacement. Adjusting or rebuilding an existing device is usually the more economical route when the body is sound.
- Device type. A basic rim device, a vertical rod device and a fire-rated or alarmed device are not the same product or the same labor.
- Door material and condition. Aluminum, hollow metal and wood doors take hardware differently, and a door that is bent, sagging or damaged may need work before it can hold a new device.
- How many doors. A single door and a pair of doors are different jobs, and several doors on one site can often be handled in one visit.
- Fire rating. Rated doors call for rated hardware and more careful preparation.
- Trim and keying. Outside lever trim, a key cylinder, or keying to match an existing system all add parts and time. If you want the new device on your existing keys, our master key system service explains how that works.
- Electronics. Alarms, delayed egress and electrified hardware add components and testing.
- Timing. Work scheduled during the day usually costs less to arrange than a late-night call to secure a building that cannot be locked.
Why call Wilshire Lock & Key for exit hardware?
We have been in business since 1987, and exit devices are work we understand from the mechanical side up. We run a storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Westwood plus mobile service vans, so parts, tools and a technician are not on opposite sides of the city. We are one company: the person who answers the phone is part of the same outfit that sends the van, with no dispatch middleman reselling your call to whoever is closest.
David, the owner and lead technician, oversees the work. For a life-safety item like an emergency exit, that matters, because someone with decades of experience looks at whether the door actually works, not just whether the bar is bolted on.
Our line at (213) 577-1366 is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year. If a door will not latch tonight and you cannot lock up the building, our 24-hour locksmith service is the same number and the same company.
What does panic bar work look like around El Segundo?
El Segundo is two different places. The residential west side is a compact grid of older bungalows, Spanish-style homes and low-rise apartments, while the east side is almost entirely aerospace, media and office campuses with little housing. Panic hardware work lives mostly in the second part, though not exclusively.
Around Continental Park and Campus El Segundo, the typical call involves commercial lock and access-hardware service for office and aerospace-style campuses, with stairwell doors, back-of-house exits and pairs of doors that see steady traffic. Those buildings tend to want exit devices that match across many doors, sometimes tied to a keying plan or to electronic access. In Smoky Hollow, where creative offices sit in converted buildings, an older door can end up with a new use. A space that used to be one thing becomes an open office with more people in it, and the exit door suddenly has a different job than it was set up for. That is a good time to have someone look at the hardware and to talk with the building department about what the new use requires.
Downtown El Segundo along Main Street and the shops around Plaza El Segundo and The Point bring a different kind of door: rear exits and service doors on retail and restaurant spaces, where deliveries, trash runs and tight back hallways wear on a push bar fast. For the front-of-house side of those buildings, see our storefront lock repair service.
The coast also matters. El Segundo sits directly on the water, and the persistent marine layer and salt air are hard on exterior hardware, most noticeably on the west side closest to the beach. Inland office campuses see milder exposure. If your exit door opens to the outside and sits in coastal air, corrosion can make a bar stick or a latch seize, and we look for it during any panic bar repair or replacement. We handle jobs across ZIP code 90245 and beyond, and for the full range of business work, our commercial locksmith page covers what else we do for El Segundo properties.
Locked out or need a locksmith now?
We answer around the clock, every day of the year.
Call (213) 577-1366What should you ask any locksmith about licensing and permits?
California requires locksmith companies to hold a license from the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS), known as an LCO license. Ask any locksmith, including us, for the license number, and check it with BSIS before anyone starts work on your property. It is a fair question and a reasonable one to put in writing.
Permits and inspections are a separate matter. Installing basic panic hardware on an ordinary door often involves none, but fire-rated doors, alarmed or delayed-egress devices and anything tied into a fire alarm system can bring in the building department or fire marshal. If your situation might involve one of those, check with them early. We can describe what the hardware does and what is being changed, so the conversation with the inspector is short and clear.
What should you do tonight if an exit door is stuck or will not latch?
Safety comes first. Never chain, padlock or block an exit door while people are inside, even as a temporary fix. If the door must stay usable from the inside and you cannot secure it from the outside, the better temporary plan is to keep someone on site until we arrive, rather than disabling the exit.
If a lock on the outside of the same door has also failed and no one can get in, that falls under business lockout service. Tell us on the call which of the two problems you have, or whether it is both, and which door it is. A photo of the bar and the edge of the door, if you can send one, helps us bring the right parts.
Frequently asked questions
Are a panic bar, push bar, crash bar and exit device the same thing?
Yes, for practical purposes. They are different names for the same kind of hardware: a bar on the inside of a door that unlatches it when pushed. Technicians and code books tend to say exit device or panic hardware, while most customers say panic bar or crash bar. Call it whatever you like and we will know what you mean.
Can you repair my existing panic bar instead of replacing it?
Often, yes. Sticking latches, worn springs, loose mounting and misaligned strikes can usually be corrected without a full replacement. If the body is worn out, parts are no longer made, or the device is the wrong type for the door, we will say so and explain why replacement makes more sense.
Does my El Segundo business have to have panic hardware?
It depends on your occupancy type and how many people the space holds. Codes generally require it in higher-occupancy and certain hazardous-use spaces, but your local building department or fire marshal decides for your building. We install and repair the hardware once you know what is needed, and we can help you describe the door when you ask them.
Can I lock a panic bar door from the inside or chain it at night?
No, and it is not safe to try while anyone is inside. The door must open from inside with a single push at all times people are in the building. Exit devices can be secured from the outside with proper trim or a key cylinder, and some have a dogging feature for specific uses. We will show you what is appropriate for your door.
Can you put a panic bar on a fire-rated door?
Yes, but the hardware has to be listed for fire doors, and the door itself should not be drilled or altered carelessly. We check for the fire label on the edge of the door before we recommend a device. If the situation is unclear, your fire marshal or building department is the right place to confirm.
Do you work on aluminum storefront doors with narrow frames?
Yes. Narrow-stile exit devices and mortise-style devices are made for those doors, and a standard bar will not fit them. We check the frame width and the existing prep before we pick a device, so the hardware matches the door instead of fighting it.
Does the salt air near the coast affect exit hardware?
It can. El Segundo sits right on the coast, and persistent marine layer and salt air corrode exterior hardware, with the heaviest exposure on the west side near the beach. Inland office campuses see milder conditions. If your exit door opens to the outside, we check for corrosion on the latch, strike and trim, and tell you if it is shortening the life of the device.
Can you come out after hours, and can the new device use my existing keys?
Our phone at (213) 577-1366 is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so a door that will not latch after closing is something you can call about right away. If you want the outside trim keyed to match your current system, tell us when you call and we will plan the parts for that. For repairs that are not urgent, we can also schedule around your business hours.
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Panic Bar Installation near El Segundo
Reviewed by David, Owner & Lead Technician, Wilshire Lock & Key — in the locksmith trade since 1987.
Last updated 2026-10-11.