I’ve had an interesting question come up on a current project. The building is a public safety building and the client has requested a pet door (presumably for use by the K-9 officers). I’m struggling with where to put this in the specification. Division 08 seems appropriate since it will be an opening in the wall, but an argument could easily be made for Division 10 or 11. I’m curious if anyone else has specified a dog door and where you decided it belongs.
My kneejerk answer is Division 08. A door is a door. I don’t know that species limits the classification of the Work. I presume you’re using a manufactured item, not custom modification of a door or wall.
Curious if they’re using the electrical doors activated by the K9 collars?
I agree with Ken. If it’s just a little door, I’d specify it based on the door material, eg steel, aluminum, etc. And with a hardware set as needed, eg for two-way hinges.
If the door is truly a custom modification, possibly specify under 083400 Special Function Doors.
A bit off the subject, but this is an interesting technology: dog doors operated by rfid chips. We looked at this sort of system for our herd of cats, but decided to stay simple.
The reason it might make sense is that it excludes non-chipped animals, like raccoons, possums, and so forth from entering through the door. The door can be set to include or exclude certain animals at specified times. It also has a manual override to lock or unlock the door for everyone. Here’s the brand we looked at, but I think there are competitors available:
https://www.surepetcare.com/en-us/pet-doors
This particular brand may be too small for big dogs, but as I said, there are other manufacturers
Thanks, everyone. They are using a premanufactured unit: https://store.petsafe.net/wall-entry-pet-door
Yes, a special function door section is along the lines of what I was thinking, though we decided for now to put it in our Division 11 Dog Amenities section.
For one of our Florida animal rescue projects, the Architect wanted one to go in an aluminum storefront door that was rated for hurricane debris-impact-resistant…
I’d put it in the appropriate doors or doors & frames section - it’s not fundamentally different from a louver of a vision lite that are normally specified within the doors section(s)
If it is located in a door, it could be specified as an accessory, similar to a louver in a wood or hollow metal door.
Stand alone - I agree, Special Function. I like Ken keeping it simple, “a door is a door”!