Dorma C525 Exit/Communicating Passage Keyless Lever Lockset

The C525 is a passage function lockset, non-keyed, with no cylinder and no thumbturn. Both levers always retract the latch, so the door stays latched shut but never locked. Use it on exit and communicating doors, hall and closet doors, and anywhere the leaf just needs to stay closed. If you need the door to lock, this is the wrong model in the C500 family, which offers ten different functions.

Yes. The C525 chassis adjusts for doors 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inches thick, which covers standard 1-3/4 inch commercial leaves and the thinner 1-3/8 inch interior doors common in older buildings. It ships with a 2-3/4 inch backset latch, so the cross-bore has to be 2-3/4 inches from the door edge to the center of the hole.

No. The C525 comes with the 15250 latch, a fixed 2-3/4 inch backset unit, so it will not reach a cross-bore drilled at 2-3/8 inches. For a 2-3/8 inch prep, look at a Grade 2 passage lever built for that backset, such as the Marks USA 110 Series, which is catalogued at a 2-3/8 inch backset. Do not try to force a 2-3/4 inch latch into a 2-3/8 inch bore.

It should. The C525 is supplied with the 5001 strike, an ANSI 1-1/4 by 4-7/8 inch square corner strike, which is the standard commercial frame prep. The latch faceplate is 1 inch with square corners, so a square corner edge prep takes it as is. If your frame is prepped for a T-strike or a radius corner, the frame needs to be changed or the strike swapped.

The C525 is certified to ANSI/BHMA A156.2 Series 4000 Grade 2 and is a commercial-duty lockset. Dormakaba lists the C500 Series for hotels, apartments, churches, municipal buildings, retail complexes, offices and warehouses. For a high-abuse opening where a facility standardizes on Grade 1, the Marks USA 195 Series passage lever is a Grade 1 alternative in the same function.

No. The C525 has no locking function at all, so it will not give privacy on a restroom, bedroom or exam room door. For those openings you want a privacy function lockset such as the Orca OCL240, a Grade 2 privacy cylindrical lockset, or the Cal-Royal CAL20 Calypso if you want Grade 1. Keep the C525 for the corridor, closet and communicating doors on the same job.

The Dorma C525 is a non-keyed passage lever with a cylindrical chassis, ANSI/BHMA Grade 2, a 2-3/4 inch backset, and a 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inch door thickness range. The Orca Hardware OCL210 matches it most directly: a passage cylindrical lockset, also Grade 2, medium duty. Both are passage function, so neither locks and neither takes a cylinder - the lever simply retracts the latch from both sides. If you are standardizing corridor, hall, and closet doors across a building and the C525 lever style is not what you want, the OCL210 is the like-for-like swap.

The Dorma C525 is certified to ANSI/BHMA Grade 2, which suits hotel, apartment, office, and retail traffic. For openings that call for Grade 1 - heavily used school corridors, hospital wings, or anywhere the specification names Grade 1 - two peers cover the same passage function at the higher grade: the Cal-Royal CAL30 Calypso Series is a Grade 1 extra heavy duty passage lock with a 1-3/8 to 2 inch door thickness range, and the Marks USA 195N Survivor Series is a Grade 1 passage lever lockset with an American lever, listed as ADA compliant. All three are non-locking passage function, so the door behavior is identical; the grade and lever style are what change.

The C525 is passage function and non-keyed: it never locks, which is why it goes on halls, closets, and communicating doors. For a restroom or bedroom door that needs to lock from inside, the Orca Hardware OCL240 is the Grade 2 privacy cylindrical lockset in the same medium duty class, and the Cal-Royal CAL20 Calypso Series is a Grade 1 extra heavy duty privacy lock with a 1-3/8 to 2 inch door thickness range. Both are privacy/bed/bath function rather than passage, so they add the inside locking button the C525 does not have.

The C525 is a non-keyed passage lever, so it takes no cylinder at all. For an entry or office door that has to be locked with a key, the Orca Hardware OCL250 is a Grade 2 entrance cylindrical lockset in the same medium duty class, and the Stanley Security QCL150 is an entrance lever in the QCL100 Series, Grade 2, supplied less cylinder with a square 2-3/4 inch backset latch and a 4-7/8 by 1-1/4 inch ASA strike - the same backset and strike size the C525 uses. For a door that must always latch locked and let authorized staff in by key, the Marks USA 175RF is a Grade 2 storeroom clutched lever prepped for a small format interchangeable core, less core, on a 2-3/4 inch backset.

Check the door thickness before assuming it will. The Dorma C525 is adjustable for doors 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inch thick, which covers most existing wood and hollow metal openings. Several electronic cylindrical peers start where the C525 leaves off: the Alarm Lock Trilogy DL2700 and DL4100 are both listed for 1-5/8 to 1-7/8 inch doors, the Schlage NDEB ENGAGE lock for 1-5/8 to 2 inch, and the SDC E75 for 1-3/4 to 2-1/8 inch. On a 1-3/8 inch door those will not fit. The Lockey E985 and E995 electronic keypad lever locks are listed for 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inch doors, matching the C525 range.

F111. That is the ANSI/BHMA designation for a passage or closet latch: both levers always active, no locking, no cylinder. If your spec or door schedule calls out F111 for an exit or communicating door, the C525 meets it.

Handing on the C525 follows the lever you pick, not the chassis. A passage function has no locking side, so the chassis itself is non-handed, but the lever style you order determines which way the return faces. Pick the lever to suit the swing of the opening and note the hand on the order.

Three lever designs, LC, LG and LR, each offered in six finishes: 605 bright brass, 606 satin brass, 613 oil rubbed bronze, 619 satin nickel, 625 bright chrome and 626 satin chrome. Every lever and finish combination ships with the same 15250 2-3/4 inch backset latch and 5001 ANSI strike, so the trim choice is cosmetic and does not change the door prep. If you are matching existing corridor hardware, 626 satin chrome is the usual commercial default.

Among commercial passage levers, the C525 sits at Grade 2 with a 2-3/4 inch backset and a 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inch thickness range. The Cal-Royal CAL30 Calypso is a Grade 1 passage lockset with a wider 1-3/8 to 2 inch thickness range, useful on thick or non-standard leaves. The Marks USA 195N Survivor Series is Grade 1 passage and listed as ADA compliant. The Orca OCL210 is another Grade 2 medium duty passage lockset. If some openings on the job are dummy trim only, the Orca OCL2170 half dummy lever covers those.

The C525 is mechanical and keyless in the sense that it has no cylinder, not in the sense that it has a code. Nothing about it grants or denies access. If you need pushbutton or credential control on a cylindrical prep, the TownSteel XCE-2000 keypad lockset fits 1-3/4 to 2 inch doors, and the Alarm Lock Trilogy DL2700 keypad lock fits 1-5/8 to 1-7/8 inch doors. Note both need a thicker door than the C525's minimum of 1-3/8 inches, so check the leaf before you swap.

Both are included and both are part of the ordering choice. Every C525 configuration ships with the 15250 latch, 2-3/4 inch backset with a 1 inch square corner faceplate, and the 5001 ANSI strike measuring 1-1/4 by 4-7/8 inches with square corners. What you specify on the order is lever design and finish. Nothing else is required to hang the lockset on a correctly prepped door.

No. The Orca Hardware OCL2170 is a Grade 2 half dummy lever - dummy function, meaning it is a fixed pull with no latch and no moving chassis, mounted on one face for an inactive leaf or a closet door held by a catch. The Dorma C525 is a passage lockset with a working cylindrical chassis and a 2-3/4 inch backset latch that retracts from either side. If the door has a bore and a latch prep and actually swings latched, you need the passage lockset; the dummy trim will not operate anything.

Both are mechanical and neither uses a key, but they do different jobs. The Dorma C525 is a lever-handle passage lockset, Grade 2, that is free from both sides at all times - no code, no combination. The Lockey 2830 is a mechanical pushbutton keyless knob lock with an auto-locking passage function, so it controls who gets through by combination and it presents a knob rather than a lever. If the opening needs a lever for accessibility or to match other lever trim in the building, the C525 is the lever; if you need code-restricted entry with no wiring or batteries, the 2830 is the mechanical pushbutton route. Note the 2830 is listed for doors 1-1/8 to 2 inch thick against the C525 range of 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inch.

Not for the same opening. Both are Grade 2 cylindrical locksets, but the Marks USA 110AB is an entrance/office function round knob on a 2-3/8 inch backset in satin stainless steel, while the Dorma C525 is a non-keyed passage lever on a 2-3/4 inch backset. Three differences decide it: knob versus lever trim, keyed entrance versus free passage, and the backset - a 2-3/8 inch prep will not line up with a door bored for 2-3/4 inch without redrilling. If you are replacing knobs with levers across a property, the C525 is the lever; if you need a keyed knob, the 110AB is the knob.

The C525 is passage function and non-keyed, so it cannot secure a classroom - it is the right choice for the corridor, hall, and closet doors around one. For classroom openings, the TownSteel XCE-2000 and XCE-9000 are Grade 1 heavy duty electronic cylindrical locksets with keypads in classroom function, and the XCE-9000 is a classroom intruder lockset; the TownSteel FCE-2000 and FCE-4000 cover the same classroom function with RFID credentials. The Schlage XE360M is a Grade 1 classroom/storeroom wireless tubular lock. All of those hold Grade 1 versus the C525 Grade 2, and the TownSteel XCE units are listed for 1-3/4 to 2 inch doors against the C525 range of 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inch.