Five door schedule mistakes that cost you money
Every estimator has shipped the wrong door at least once. Here are the five mistakes we see most often — and how to catch them before the order ships.
A door schedule is the spec sheet for every opening in the building. When it's wrong, the cost shows up at the punchlist — wrong handing, wrong hardware, wrong fire rating. The fix is almost always 10x more expensive than catching it in pre-order.
1. The handing is wrong on at least one door
Every project we've ever quoted has had at least one handing error in the original schedule. The architect drew it from inside the room; the GC reads it from the corridor. We've started flagging openings where the schedule's handing seems off-pattern compared to adjacent openings and asking the GC to verify before we ship.
2. Hardware function doesn't match the room use
Hardware function is a single word — passage, privacy, entry, storeroom, classroom, exit — and it determines whether the door locks, from which side, and whether it's keyed. Mixing these up sends locking mechanical-room doors out as passage sets (no lock at all).
- Passage: no lock. Used for corridors, archways, and rooms that never need to be secured.
- Privacy: locks from inside only (bath, bedroom). No key.
- Entry: locks from outside with a key, unlocks from inside with a turn. Used at exterior doors.
- Storeroom: always locked from outside. Always free egress from inside. Used for storage and mechanical rooms.
- Classroom: locked or unlocked from outside via key. Free egress from inside.
- Exit (panic device): always locked from outside. Free egress via touchpad from inside. Used for stairwell discharge, public exits.
3. Fire rating doesn't match the wall
The wall section drawings show the wall's rating. The door schedule shows the opening's rating. These often don't align — sometimes because the wall rating was changed in addendum and the schedule didn't update. Always cross-check the schedule against the most recent wall sections before ordering.
4. Vision lite cutout interferes with the rating or hardware
A 90-minute fire-rated door has limits on glazing area. A vision lite that's spec'd at 12x36 might exceed the listing for a 90-minute assembly. Similarly, a half-glass lite leaves no room for a closer-mounted plate or push-pull hardware. Check the listing and check the hardware locations.
5. Frame doesn't match the wall thickness
Frames come in standard jamb depths to match standard wall thicknesses. A 4-3/4" jamb fits a 2x4 stud wall with 5/8" drywall each side. A 5-3/4" jamb is for 2x4 with 5/8" drywall on one side and a furring channel on the other. CMU walls almost always need 8-3/4" jambs. Order the wrong depth and the frame either doesn't fit or leaves a gap.
Before any door order ships, walk through the schedule with two people: one reading the schedule, one reading the floor plan. Confirm handing, hardware, rating, glass, and frame depth at every opening. Ten minutes upfront saves a re-order — and a callback.
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