Door Handing Chart.
The “handing” of a door refers to the direction that the door swings. It’s important to understand the
​correct handing of an opening when ordering locks, exit devices, frames, doors or other “handed” hardware. 
The Basics
  • If the hinges are on your Left side, and the door is pushing away from you, it is a Left Hand (LH) Swing.
  • If the hinges are on your Right side, and the door is pushing away from you it is a Right Hand (RH) Swing.
  • If the hinges are on your Left side and the door is pulling towards you, it is a Left Hand Reverse (LHR) Swing.
  • If the hinges are on your Right side and the door is pulling towards you, it is a Right hand Reverse (RHR) Swing.
  • Doors which swing out (Outswinging doors) are reverse bevel doors.
  • Door leafs with exit / panic devices installed are ALWAYS handed as a reverse bevel door (LHR or RHR).

Active vs Inactive
  • Double doors typically have an Active Leaf and and Inactive Leaf.
  • The Active leaf is the leaf upon which the locking hardware is installed and is used most often.
  • The Inactive leaf is the leaf which typically stays closed with flush bolts or surface bolts and is opened when a larger opening is needed.
  • It is certainly common to also have two Active leafs in the case of a pair of doors with each leaf having a panic device or push/pulls.  These doors would be handed either LH/RH or LHR/RHR.
  • If the door on the left side is to be active, and the door is pushing away from you, it is a LH Active Opening (LHA).
  • If the door on the right side is to be active, and the door is pushing away from you, it is a RH Active Opening (RHA).
  • If the door on the Left side is to be active, and the door is pulling towards you, it is a LHR Active Opening (LHRA).
  • If the door on the Right side is to be active, and the door is pulling towards you, it is a RHR Active Opening (RHRA).
  • Sometimes a pair of double doors have leafs which swing in opposite directions. This is called a Double Egress opening.  The handing will be LHR/LHR or RHR/RHR (typically both door leaves are active).