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Elevators and Fire

HANDICAPPED USE
OF
ELEVATORS

by Clarence C. Fox

ABSTRACT

Elevators have been allowed to be installed in
ae buildings as a means of access for handicapped
ersons. There have not been any code require-
ients set forth to recognize the use of elevators as

means of egress for any persons. The model
uilding code organizations are reviewing proposals
which would incorporate the use of elevators on
hase II Firefighters’ Service for evacuating the
andicapped in a fire emergency. The design,
‘onstruction, maintenance, operating procedures,
nd fire fighting procedures must be addressed to
ccomplish this in a safe manner.

INTRODUCTION

This paper will present issues concerning
assenger elevators, wheelchair lifting devices, and
tair climber devices which are used by handi-
apped persons. Elevator codes should be revised
0 recognize the use of elevators for evacuation of
andicapped persons during a fire. Several building
odes require accessibility for the handicapped,
ither by elevators, ramps, or other types of lifting
evices. However, none of the codes address the
equired means of egress for handicapped people.

The ANSI A117.1-1986 Standard for Buildings
nd Facilities Providing Accessibility and Usability
or Physically Handicapped People addresses the
ssue of accessibility but does not address the issue
if egress, concerning elevating devices. The
\SME/ANSI A17.1-1987 Safety Code for Elevators
nd Escalators (including A17.1a-1988 and A17.1b-
989) does not address accessibility or egress,
xcept for elevators that are provided with

firefighters’ service features. Firefighters’ service
features are required on elevators with a travel of
25 ft or more that are installed in accordance with
the A17.1 elevator code.

PROPOSED CODE CHANGES
Pressurization

When Phase II of Firefighters’ Service is
required on the elevator, the hoistway and machine
room should be required to be pressurized and
prohibit venting of the hoistways. The pres-
surization would help prevent smoke and gases
from accumulating in the hoistway and therefore
be less hazardous to the occupants of the elevators.
An emergency power supply should also be re-
quired for all elevators; and the power supply, both
the normal and the emergency power, should be
installed within a two hour fire rated enclosure.

Standby Power

A stand-by power system, conforming to
Section 2707.0 of the BOCA National building
Code should also be provided. The system could
be programmed to automatically select an
individual elevator car instead of being required to
have sufficient power for all of the elevators in the
building.

Elevators Used for Evacuation
Rule 4.10 of the ANSI A117.1 code should be

adopted by the A17 committee to be used by
handicapped persons during a fire. When the



Elevators and Fire

elevator is operating on Phase II operation, the
hall calls must be registered in the car so that the
person operating the elevator on Phase II will
know that there is a person desiring to use the
elevator at that particular floor. Each elevator
lobby should also be required to be enclosed in a
one hour fire resistant structure which would be a
refuge area for the handicapped persons waiting
for the elevator. The fire department would have
to assign someone to operate the elevator to pick
up the handicapped persons.

Load Weighing Devices

Load weighing devices should be required on
the elevator to allow the elevator to bypass all calls
from the hallway when the predetermined weight
limit has been reached or to be manually bypassed
by the operator. This would allow the elevators to
operate more efficiently and go directly to the floor
of egress in an automatic mode,

Firefighters’ Service

Smoke detectors should be required to be
installed at each landing except the main egress
landing from the building at which the fire
department normally arrives when answering a fire
call. The smoke detectors when activated at each
floor would require the elevator to return to the
main egress floor so that the person in charge of
fighting the fire could determine if it was safe to
use the elevators. The hoistways should also be
Tequired to be more smoke proof than the codes
Presently require so that the elevators can be used
during the first few minutes of a fire to evacuate
not only handicapped but all persons in the
building.

Buildings of more than 75 ft in height do not
have any way for persons to be safely evacuated
from them. Most fire department aerial ladder
trucks can reach a workable height of
approximately 75 ft from ground level and can be
used to rescue persons from the building. The
egress floor should be sprinkled and alternate floor
recall should not be permitted.

Egress

Accessibility to buildings is required by ANSI
A117.1, Michigan Elevator Laws and Rules, and
other local codes, but means of egress are not
addressed for elevators. The BOCA building code,

81

Section 814.7, requires auxiliary passenger elevators
when horizontal exits are provided on floors
located 12 or more stories above the level of exit
discharge; also BOCA Section 602 requires ele-
vators for buildings with a height of more than 75
ft form ground level. This section, 602 also
Tequires access to the elevator through horizontal
egress to be provided with a two hour fire rated
enclosure. The A17.1 code should be amended to
all of the provisions of the high rise BOCA
building code. The elevators for high rise buildings
should be required to have a minimum speed of
500 fpm and a capacity of 5000 Ib and be provided
with automatic power operated doors. Section
807.6 of the BOCA building code should be
amended since this section prohibits the use of
elevators for egress. The National Fire Protection
Association 101, Section 7-4, Code for Safety to
Life from Fire in Buildings and Structures, also
prohibits use of elevators for egress.

Sprinklers

A17.1 requires sprinklers in the machine room
or hoistway be provided with a means which will
automatically disconnect the power supply before
water is applied. This provision could result in an
elevator being stranded in a hoistway with persons
in the car. This provision should be removed
from the A17.1 code or sprinklers should be
prohibited from being installed in machine rooms
or hoistways. An alternative to fire extinguishing
system such as carbon dioxide or halon gas. There
are some negative reasons for allowing this type of
fire protection also. Therefore a study should be
made of what type of fire suppression should be
allowed in elevator machine rooms and hoistways.

Wheelchair Lifts

Wheelchair elevating devices are permitted to
be installed in buildings for accessibility
handicappers. Wheelchair lifts should be required
to be enclosed in at least a one hour fire rated
enclosure; and due to the slow speed of these lifts
which is generally 8 to 10 fpm and have manually
operated doors, the travel distance of the
wheelchair lifts should be limited to 6 ft. This is
based on the travel distance permitted in the
BOCA codes. For instance, a wheelchair lift that
is traveling at a rate of 8 fpm would require 45 sec
to travel a 6 ft distance. In a fire this might be too
slow of a speed. Wheelchair elevating devices also
be required to have constant pressure operating



‘ices instead of the key operated devices that are
uired ANSI A17.1.

Stair climber types of lifts should not be
ywed to be installed on stairways since they do
ck the required means of egress. It does not
tter whether the stairway is a required means of
ess or an auxiliary stairway, during a fire or
lic situation persons in the building will use
Se stairways anyway and this could contribute to
ile up of persons on the stairway.

e Rating

Buildings that are more than 10 stories in
ght from the ground level should be required to
’e an elevator which is installed with a 4 hr
2d hoistway so that it can be used for evacuation
all persons in the building. At the present time
elevator industry does not manufacture a pas-
ger hoistway door or entrance with more than a
2 and one half hour rating on it. The hoistway
ors for a 4 hr rated hoistway would be required
have a 3 hr rating.

vator Controls and Fire Alarms

The elevator control system should be
inected into the building alarm system in such a
nner that when a fire alarm signal is registered
he main fire control panel, the elevators will
Tespond to any hallway calls in the up direction
| be dispatched to the top floor to respond to
lway calls in the down direction.

ergency Power

All elevator and emergency power systems
vuld be required to be tested on a quarterly basis

Elevators and Fire

and would require a test of the complete system to
ensure that it does function properly. Past
experiences have shown that there has been a lack
of proper testing procedures and when the systems
have been called upon to function during a fire
they have frequently malfunctioned. Therefore, it
must be stressed that the test should be conducted
quarterly by competent persons and a record kept
of the inspections.

Codes

All code requirements for elevators should be
adopted by the A17.1 elevator code and the local
building codes should reference A17.1. This would
help to reduce the confusion that now exists
between elevator codes, fire codes, building codes,
and handicapped codes.

Clarence C. “Pete” Fox is Chief Elevator Inspector
for the State of Michigan, a post he has held
since 1975. Prior to that, he had twenty years of
elevtor experience with Otis Elevator Co., Wes-
tinghouse Elevator Co., Liberty Mutual Insurance
Co., as well as the State of Michigan. Mr Fox is
a member of the ASME A17 Elevator and
Escalator Main Committee and several
subcommittees. He is also a member of the
National Association of Elevator Safety
Authorities and ASME. Mr Fox is a Certified
Elevator Inspector and Inspection Supervisor by
NAESA.