An estate agent in Staines got in touch because a couple living in a second-floor flat were locked inside and could not open their front door.
When I arrived, they passed me the key and I was able to open the door from the outside without a problem. With the door open, the fault became clear: the nightlatch gearbox handle would simply spin without pulling the latch back, so from inside the flat the tenants could not release the door. Being on the second floor, I could understand why they were shaken up.
The flat entrance door was a heavy fire-rated door with an overhead closer, but there was no separate internal pull handle. The small latch handle had therefore been used repeatedly to pull the heavy door open, which is not what that part is designed for. I advised the estate agent that a proper pull handle should be installed sooner rather than later.
About 20 minutes later, I had replaced the failed nightlatch from stock. The existing outside lock barrel was still working perfectly, so I retained it and the tenants could continue using the same key.
