ASME International 

345 East 47th Street 

New York, NY 10017-2392 

U.S.A. 

Codes and Standards 

Tel: 21 2-705-8500 - I 4J*,,..’r*%WT - 

Fax: 212-705-8501 

Elevators, 

Fire, and 

Accessibility 

Papers presented at; The 2nd Symposium on Elevators, Fire, and Accessibility 

Baltimore, Maryland 

April 19 - 21,1995 

Sponsored by; American Society of Mechanical Engineers 

Accessibility Equipment Manufacturers Association 

American Hotel and Motel Association 

US Architectural and Transportation Bamers Compliance Board 

Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. 

Building Owners and Managers Association International 

Council of American Building Officials 

Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association 

International Conference of Building Officials 

National Association of Elevator Contractors 

National Association of Elevator Safety Authorities 

National Association of Vertical Transportation Professionals 

National Elevator Industry, Inc. 

National Easter Seal Society 

National Fire Protection Association 

National Institute of Standards and Technology Building and Fire Research Laboratory 

Paralyzed Veterans of America 

Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. 

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers 
Elevators, Fire and Accessibility 207 

M ULTI-PURPOSE ELEVATORS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES AND 

FIREFIGHTERS IN NEW HIGH-RISE OFFICE BUILDINGS IN THE US. 

(WITH CONCEPTS FOR ACCESSIBILITY AND 

OTHER BUILDINGS AND LOCATIONS) 

by Frederick H. Barker, Jr. 

ABSTRACT 

The primary focus is elevator egressibility for 

persons with disabilities and elevator accessibility 

for firefighters in new highrise office buildings in the 

U.S., in the event of a fire condition. The concepts 

can be adapted or expanded for other buildings and 

locations. A multiipurpose elevator(s) is proposed 

for normal productive uses, people unable to use 

stairs during a fire, and firefighters after they have 

arrived and taken command. This safety 

improvement has precedence in the U.K. and is 

believed by the author to be more practical than 

providing all elevators for fire evacuation. In part to 

compensate for the costs of this improvement, the 

secondary focus is to promote curtailment of the 

Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility 

Guidelines (ADAAG)' as they relate to providing all 

elevators in a group for full accessibility, which 

would be consistent with the proportions of other 

building provisions providing accessibility under the 

ADAAG. 

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY 

Building management, fire prevention, and 

emergency communications will be as important as 

the building's architectural compartments and 

dectro-mechanical systems. Considering the risks, 

it is basic to any evacuation elevator concept that 

the building be appropriately fully-sprinklered. 

In a building with sprinklers, it is likely a dedicated 

evacuation elevator would never be used for its 

intended purpose. This suggests the elevator be 

put to other uses, and operated and maintained to 

detect malfunctions before the elevator is ever 

needed during a fire. 

This paper supports our present model codes for 

highrise buildings that embrace the present 

"defend-in-place" concept of partial building 

evacuation, plus the muhi-purpose elevator(s) 

outlined herein. This elevator(s) will requite 

compartmentation for its lobbies, protected access 

from its lobbies to a stairway, air pressurization for 

its lobbies and hoistway, means to prevent water 

infiltration, reliable emergency power, and some 

modifications in elevator and related equipment. 

It is suggested that this multii-purpose elevator(s) be 

one elevator in each group of passenger elevators, 

one or more dual-entry elevators in the highest-rise 

group of passenger elevators, andl or, subject to the 

approval of the local code authorities, well-managed 

tiervjce elevators, as necessary to serve all floor 

areas except top floor mechanical levels. More than 

one such elevator would be required for buildings 

with large floorplates and muttiple cores; buildings 

with skylobbies, which would also require a 

protected crossover floor area; and office buildings 

with large populations of aged persons or persons 

with disabilities. 

A mutti-purpose elevator(s) is believed by the author 

to be more cost-effective than the British Standards 

for a dedicated firefightingl evacuation elevator, 

without compromising inside car size (16.6 

sq.ft./ 1.54 sq.m., minimum allowed)? and much 

more costeffective than proposals for providing all 

elevators for general evacuation, without 

compromising our present overall approaches to 

high-rise buildings. 

The ADAAG were apparently enacted without having 

been established in our model codes, adequate and 

tested design criteria for the accessible means of 

egressreferenced in the ADAAG. These means are, 

"areas of rescue assistance" or "evacuation 

elevators." Sample refuge areas were subsequently 

evaluated by the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) and found to be either "a haven 
208 Elevators, fire and Accessibility 

or a hazard" due to design variations, and in many 

cases people with mobility limitations could not 

reach the areas in time. NlSr also indicated that a 

properly designed sprinkler system would provide 

Superior protection to such areas3 Regarding the 

attemative in the ADAAG, the concept of an 

evacuation elevator presently competes with the 

BOCA National Building Code and the ASME-A17.1 

elevator code! These model codes simply require 

that an elevator be recalled if smoke is present in 

any of its lobbies. These codes also lack, for 

example, design criteria for tenability in evacuation 

elevator lobbies and hoiways, and requirements to 

avert elevator failures due to water infiltration, a loss 

of power, equipment overtemperature, and airborne 

soot. 

Even when our model codes support an evacuation 

elevator, and despite our best efforts, stairs will still, 

by their nature, be more reliable than elevators 

during a fire, and should be used as and when 

directed by everybody who can use them. In the 

final analysis, appropriate codes, designs, 

installations, and maintenance for a building's 

compartments and systems, based on the individual 

nature of the building, will significantly alleviate the 

potential or perceived magnitude of the fundamental 

concern, which is, protecting li. By now we all 

recognize the role of sprinklers in protecting life, 

followed by their roles in protecting property and 

continued operations. 

The proposals for general evacuation using all 

elevators represent a very expensive or problematic 

departure from our present codes and designs for 

high-rise buildings. If all the related issues could be 

addressed safely and economically, including 

descending water and power losses, using the 

elevators well below the fire floors would help when 

it is necessary to completely evacuate a tall 

building. However, based on the issues identified 

later herein, and our progress with accepted 

concepts for even smaller scale buildings, tall 

buildings, like existing buildings, should be treated 

=W-Y* 

while a mutti-purpose elevator(s) compares 

favorably in terms of cost and core space to 

providing a dedicated elevator, or to providing all 

elevators for general evacuation, the elevator(s) will 

still increase the cost of new buildings and 

eventually the cost of substantially rehabilitating an 

existing building. To help compensate, it is 

suggested the ADAAG be curtailed for commercial 

office buildings to providing at least one elevator in 

a group for full-accessibility (from providing all 

elWat0rS). 

Cost-effectiveness may eventually become the 

prime requisite to uttimately achieve acceptance 

among owners, municipalities, manufacturers, 

design professionals, and adLocacy groups 

interested in persons with disabilities, and, be the 

catalyst for amending the ADAAG. There are also 

detailed reawns to revisit the ADAAG for elevators, 

in any event. 'These are outlined in the next section. 

If all elevators are to be both fully-accessible and be 

"evacuation elevators,' the elevator cost potential for 

the ADAAG could be a serious economic mistake. 

At some juncture we may need to consider the 

extent to which our present model codes which 

require sprinklers have been effective, to which our 

present elemtoring for high-rise office buildings 

already provides a reasonable level of accessibility 

for some persons with disabilities, and to which our 

red estate industry is already cost-burdened with 

other issues. 

me concepts herein will provide a workable and 

reasonable solution to the total elevator access + 

egress equation for persons with disabilities, and 

provide the aggregate lifesafety and property 

protection advantages of a better-protected elevator 

for firefighters. 

DETAILED REASONS FOR REVlSlTlNG 

THE ADAAG FOR ELEVATORS 

(RE: ACCESSIBILITY) 

It would be helpful if a wideinterest and multii 

disciplined interpretive body were established to 

review comments such as the following, and 

approve changes to the ADAAG. This would reduce 

the present climate of narrow -int erest 

interpretations, debates over goal versus 

requirement, fears or risks of legal action, and 

hasten improvements without reliance on our legal 

process. 

Accessible EIevators Comply with ASMEA 17.1-1 990 

ADAAG Article 4.10.1 suggests all pre-1990 

elevators be upgraded as necessary to the 1990 

edition of the model elevator code. This code has 

nothing to do with accessibility for persons with 
Elevators, Fire and Accessibility 209 

disabilities, and such upgrading would still not 

provide a single evacuation elevator during a fire. 

This article also competes with local versions and 

adaptations of the ASME-A17.1 code. 

a Door DweIl4pen Timing, Accessibilily for Every 

Elevator in a Group 

ADAAG Articles 4.10.7 and 4.10.8 suggest the doors 

be delayed from closing for every elevator in every 

group for every landing and car call, regardless of 

who is placing the call. Such delays increase 

waiting times for evetybody, or can increase 

elevator equipment or quantity to compensate. This 

can affect the net/ gross efficiency and related costs 

of new offce buildings and their alterations. 

Moreover, Article 4.10.7 and the word "elevators" 

throughout the ADAAG support the common 

elevator industry interpretation that every elevator in 

a group be made as fully-accessible as described. 

The ADAAG appear oriented toward single 

elevators, rather than groups of elevators. 

Accessibie Elevator Sizes 

For new buildings, ADAAG Article 4.10.9, et al. 

suggest standard floor plans be provided for all 

passenger elevators. The wider-thandeep 

configuration is not the only solution to wheelchair 

mobility, as evidenced by the criteria for a 60 in. 

wheelchair turning circle and 36 in. opening outlined 

under the ADAAG for an accessible route and for 

elevators in transportation facilities. This affects 

space planning. This also competes with the option 

of a dual-entry, multipurpose elevator with a side 

locatd counterweight, which is the U.K.'s approach 

to multiipurpose elevator(s) to supplement their 

dedicated fire fighting elevator@). The ADAAG floor 

plan with offset door openings to reduce platform 

width, while sometimes necessary, will increase 

waiting times further (beyond the door dwell-open 

timing in the preceding paragraph), and pose 

aesthetic challenges with asymmetrical openings in 

an elevator lobby. 

ADAAG Article 4.1.6(3)(c) does recognize existing 

hoistway constraints, technical infeasibility, floor 

plans as small as 48 in. x 48 in. inside, and 

equivalent facilitation. However, it would be helpful 

for interpretive understanding if the detailed criteria 

for existing elevator floor plans contained in the 

suggestions made by the National Elevator Industry 

Association, Inc. (NEII) in 1985' were added to this 

article as a goal. 

For major aerations, debates often ensue over 

whether floor plans for new buildings or alterations 

should apply. The minimum elevator sizes for 

aerations do not allow for turning a wheelchair, 

and there are configurations other than those in 

Article 4.10.9 for elevators in new buildings which 

would. All accessible sizes should be clearly 

recognized due to possible space constraints in 

new as well as existing buildings. 

Non-Conhsct with Elevator Doors 

ADAAG Article 4.10.6 no longer recognizes that 

passenger contact with the doors may occur, as did 

ANSI-A1 17.1-1 986! Typical passenger protective 

devices for reopening elevator doors are mounted 

on the car doors and protect generally in that plane 

only. They do not protect directly against the 

connected landing doors. The range or 

responsiveness of the electronic or retracting edge 

used, the thickness and mas of the landing doors, 

particularly at the main floor, and differences in 

hoistway air movements on cold versus warm days 

can all affect the degree of protection afforded. An 

additional sensor not unlike those over automatic 

building doors could be productively incorporated 

in the car door track area, and aimed at a point or 

range in the landing opening. Additional research is 

recommended in this area. 

Door "nudging" operation also appears contrary to 

Article 4.1 0.6. 

0 Heights of Car Controls, Call Butlons, and 

€ntrance Floor Designations 

Apparent inconsistencies in heights appear among 

various articles in Section 4.10: landing buttons @ 

42 in., floor designations on entrance frames @ 60 

in., top floor buttons in car control panels s 54148 

in. (for siddfront wheelchair approach), and car 

emergency controls @ 35 in., all considered 

accessible. Call buttons are being lowered in many 

elevator lobbies, where it is usually easier to turn a 

wheelchair than inside the cab or entrance opening, 

where much higher buttons and designations are 

suggested by the ADAAG. It has also been difficult 

to lower the top floor buttons in elevators that serve 

many floors without a confusing arrangement of 

controls, and the designations for the lowest floor 

buttons and emergency controls are also difficult for 
21 0 Elevators, Fire and Accessibility 

many people to read, including by taller visually- Considering the quantities or proportions of a 

impaired people.' building's parking spaces, wheelchair spaces in 

assembly areas, toilets, entrance doors, drinking 

Wdespread modifications for existing elevators may fountains, telephones, and non-elevator accessible 

not be necessary. Also, alternative technologies routes to be made accessible under the ADAAG, 

may help alleviate the height/visibility issue for the specially-equipping and sizing every elevator in a 

elevators to be made fully-accessible. group for full accessibilw appears uniquely 

disproportionate for commercial office buildings. It 

0 Door Open and Door Close Bmns is also not necessary from a technology standpoint. 

Door-close or 5 I C buttons are typically 

inoperative in elevators in the U.S. during automatic 

operation. Moreover, placing the > I C button next 

to the door open or '< I >* button @ 35 in. can 

delay reaction time for a passenger attempting to 

stop the doors from closing on a person with 

disabilities, or for a firefighter attempting to close 

the doors. For an elevator with front and rear doors 

(dual-entry), there may simply be insufficient 

reaction time as one searches for the right button 

among an array of buttons @ 35 in. labeled, < I >F, 

> I <F, I >R, > I 4". At a minimum, door close 

buttons should be located elsewhere in car control 

panels where quickly accessible to firefighters and 

building staff. 

Alternative and New Technologies 

One of the benefits of the ADAAG interpreting body 

suggested earlier would be to review changes in 

technology and equivalent facilitation. For example, 

numerical keypads, which are considered 

accessible for public telephones and have a 

common order of buttons, could solve some height 

and visibilrty concerns if used in lieu of conventional 

floor buttons in car control panels. Actually, 

keypads may soon be found as elevator call 

stations in more lobbies in the U.S., at leas? at floors 

above the main floor in suburban office buildings for 

entering interfloor destinations in advance. New 

technologies are also arising as a result of the 

thought the ADAAG has encouraged. 

THE QUANTITY OF ELEVATORS IN A GROUP 

PROVIDING ACCESSIBIUW 

It is believed by the author that most existing 

elevators in high-rise office buildings still provide a 

reasonable degree of accessibility for some persons 

with disabilities. Having accepted this, we should 

be able to focus more closely on the quantity of 

elevators in a group to be made (or assigned as 

being) fully-accessible. 

A concept for equipping less than all elevators in a 

group for accessibility was suggested to the 

American Naiional Standards Institute (ANSI) in mid1988. This included a separate call station at every 

floor next to the specially-equipped elevator. These 

stations were to be used by persons with disabilities 

to temporarily call the speciallyquipped elevator 

away from the group, in semi-express fashion, so as 

not to delay passengers who may be aboard. Once 

a special call was placed, the elevator would not 

take any new calls until the special caJl(s) was 

answered. The elevator would stop en route or 

reverse direction after its highest or lowest car call 

and answer the special call. To reduce accidental 

or intentional misuse, signaling was included to 

announce arrival and direction separately at the 

landings, and to immediately alert passengers in the 

elevator that a special call had been placed. The 

concept avoided delaying every elevator in a group 

for every call, and should be revisited proactively 

under the ADAAG review body suggested8 

Another professional has suggested using these 

separate call stations to actuate (ondemand) the 

extended door open times for elevator car calls, and 

the in-car audible floor-passing signal or voice 

announcement suggested by the ADAAG. Still 

others have suggested a building directory of 

accessible provisions, or a nationwide key/card 

system for persons with disabilities. The latter may 

have special merit to minimize misuse of a multipurpose elevator during a fire. 

Further studies should be made to determine the 

appropriate quantity or proportion of elevators in a 

group to be made fully-accessible in commercial 

office buildings. If we accepted the elevador traffic 

performance considered acceptable for multii-family 

housing by the U.S. Department of Housing and 

Urban Development (HUD)? which is a single 

elevator interval of 144 seconds, and we based our 

calculations on standard estimating methods'* and 

the semi-express operation described above, and 

perhaps we even xijusted the elevator to maintain 
Elevators, Fire and Accessibility 21 1 

medium size car loads, we might accept one or two 

elevators per group. We might even accept one 

elevator per group based on the characteristics and 

availability of the other elevators in an office 

building, and the hope that our viewpoint might help 

pave the way for at least one evacuation elevator 

per building. 

THE PEFEND4N-PLACE" CONCEPT 

Our present model codes and designs for highrise 

buildings generally embrace the concept of paItial 

evacuation, sometimes referred to as "defend-inplace."" The components of this concept may 

include systemized smoke and heat detection, 

automatic sprinklers, pressurized egress stainways, 

air pressure sandwiching of and smoke venting for 

the fire floor(s), shaft venting, fireresistive 

compartments and materials, smoke baniers, 

firestopping, doors, emergency power, signaling, 

communications, a fire command station, and a 

host of other considerations beyond the scope of 

this paper.12 

Perhaps the strongest argument for partial building 

evacuation is found in an argument for 

nonevacuation in compartmented fireresistive 

buildings. It is argued that most deaths occur when 

people attempt to evacuate under conditions of 

smoke and open doors, and concluded it is safer 

for disabled and nondisabled persons alike to 

generally stay in-place and be protected by the 

building's fireresistive compartment^.'^ Certainly, 

the inhalation of smoke and gases is commonly 

recognized as causing most deaths in building fires, 

or approximatd 75%, as compared to 25% by 

thermal causes.y4 However, total non-evacuation 

concepts can fall apart during multiple citywide 

emergencies or the widespread failure of a 

buikling's compartments or systems (e.g., terrorist 

attack), as examples. Pure compartmentation 

theories also attempt to debate the need for 

sprinklers. 

Our pertinent concerns with the defend-in-place 

concept appear to be that some people with 

disabilities may be unable to reach a stairway 

landing or other refuge area in time, that the refuge 

area may not be reliable, and that some people with 

disabilities may not be able to use an egress 

stairway. The mufti-purpose elevator will provide an 

accessible means of vertical egress for people who 

cannot use stairs. It will not improve the potential 

of reaching its lobby, particularly if the elevator's 

emergency entrance is away from a regular access 

path. There is also potential that the elevator will 

not respond, in which case the elevator's lobby or 

the stairway landing area connected to its lobby by 

way of a door, must be relied upon for refuge or 

rescue. 

All things considered, including the performance of 

the model codes or insurance criteria that require 

sprinklers, and the case studies of people helping 

their fellow man during a fire? the mutti-purpose 

elevator will be a safety improvement to what we 

now have, and a workable alternaive to redesigning 

our buildings to provide all elevators for general 

evacuation. In the final analysis, we could help 

alleviate our residual concerns by stressing fire 

prevention, training, drills, communications, and 

even "buddy" assignments for persons with 

disabilities. 

After all is said and done regarding the period of 

time a person with disabilities may require an 

evacuation elevator, a better-protected elevator will 

still help firefighters help us all, "defend-in-place." 

The New York Ci Fire Department has for several 

years sought just one water-resistant devator? 

They postponed their quest pending the final 

outcome of an evacuation elevator(s) under the 

ADAAG, and/ or their efforts as part of a task group 

initiated by the ASME-A17.1 Emergency Operations 

Committee to study the issuesf elevator reliabilrty 

with water entering hoistways. 

ALL ELEVATORS FOR EVACUATION, TALL 

BUILDINGS, SMOKESPREAD 

Arguments against using all elevators for general 

evacuation can also be derived from the somewhat 

radical argument for nonevacuation referenced 

earlier." Adding to these arguments would be 

issues regarding human behavior, elevator lobby 

sizes to accommodate the crowd, holding elevator 

lobby doors open, car overloading and holding 

elevator doors open, heightened concerns of 

elevator reliability, increased elevator dependency 

on building emergency systems, protected access 

from elevator lobbies to a back-up stairway(s), the 

amount of pressurized fresh air required, the 

amount of emergency power required (even with 

the advantage over the counterweight of full car 

loads going down), and firefighters' issues such as 

counterflow traffic and conflicting demands for 
21 2 Elevators, Fire and Accessibility 

vertical transportation. There are also detailed 

issues, some of which can be found in a later 

section herein on designs to provide just one muttipurpose elevator. 

Full evacuation elevatoring would change high-rise 

buildings radically. Elevator lobbies would have to 

be oversized, which would increase core space and 

normal elevator boarding and waking times. Openended elevator lobbies which facilitate normal peak 

pedestrian flows would have to be provided with 

special automatic folding doors. Protected access 

to a back-up stainvay(s) would have to found, along 

with alternate locations in or out of the core for 

restrooms, for example. These are in addition to 

the increases in supportive building mechanical and 

electrical systems. 

A proposal to shuttle elevators to help evacuate one 

floor at a time to increase elevator group handling 

capacity, and help freeup the stairways, may 

someday help facilitate the volumetric challenge of 

completely evacuating a tall building? The 

margins for safe exitin have been noted as more 

limited in tall buildings! However, this suggestion 

should only be considered for elevators located 

entirely and well below the fire floors. These 

elevators can still be affected by descending water, 

a power loss, and cool smoke. While the 

complexities of smoke movements are better 

understood today, thanks to earlier research 

efforts?' similar research efforts will be required on 

the movements of water as they relate to all building 

emergency systems. 

Emergency exiting worked during the fire following 

the explosion at the World Trade Center. What we 

should recall from that event is that smoke can 

quickly migrate up elevator hoistways and onto 

upper floors, due partially to the gaps around 

conventional elevator doors, open elevator lobbies, 

and natural stack effect.= Smoke migration by way 

of elevator hoistways could be substantially reduced 

in the future with flexible smoke sealdbrushes 

around the gaps of all elevator landing doors in the 

building. Brushes suitable to N0F. (204'C.) and 

representative wind velocities have been tested in 

the U.S., have been installed on firefighting elevators 

in the UK, and will reduce the size of the 

pressurization fan(s) for an evacuation elevabor. 

(Such brusheslseals may also have some impact 

on reducing normal HVAC energy costs.) 

ADAAG IN CONTEXT 

Faced with a fire on a high-rise floor, most of us 

who do not have a mobility limitation could safely 

reach and use an egress stairway, particularly if we 

had participated in the building's fire prevention 

program and received a fire warning. We would not 

have to rely on help from our fellow man (although 

we all do to some degree). We would not have to 

wait for firefighters to make their way through busy 

city traffic, learn our location, take a conventionallyprotected elevator to no higher than two floors 

below usla and then walk to find and reach our 

area of rescue assistance. 

DEVELOPING CODES AND DESIGNS FOR THE 

MULTI-fURPOSE ELEVATORS 

In the final analysis, improvements in building 

compartments and systems will be needed for the 

multiipurpose elevator(s). Elevator manufacturers 

cannot provide an elevator for evacuation purposes 

all by themselves. 

Significant code thought on such elevators can be 

found in the British Standards, BS5588: Parts 5 and 

8." Included are dual-entry elevator(s), which are 

consistent with the option of providing the muttipurpose elevator(s) as part of the high-rise group of 

elevators. The following upon some of the detailed 

issues for any evacuation elevator: 

0 Water From Sprinklers and AtEack Lines, 

Water Flow Switch Signals 

Water from sprinklers and firefighters' attack lines 

can affect the reliability of elevators, related 

electrical systems, and certain hoistway wall 

construction. Elevator operation can quickly cease 

after water infiltrates hoistways or machine rooms, 

or related electrical distribution or supply areas. 

Means to prevent wa!er from entering these areas 

initially will reduce the elevator and electrical 

designs necessary to hedge against failures and 

hamrds. Criteria for floor drains and/ or slope at the 

elevator's landings can be found in BS5588: Part 5. 

Full width guide gibs or guide gib brackets at the 

bottom of elevator landing door panels, non-contact 

closure angles at the trailing edges of the panels, 

and smoke brushWseals for all remaining door 

gaps may help impede or strategically divert some 

water as it heads for the hoistway. To the extent all 

such preventive measures test ineffective, the 
Elevators, Fire and Accessibility 21 3 

location, arrangement, covering, and/ or enclosing 

of certain elevator equipment will need to be (and is 

being) revisited? 

"Appropriately fully-sprinklered" in the Introduction 

and Summary referred to the appropriateness of 

sprinklers in elevator machine rooms and topofhoistways, as examples, consistent with the latest 

requirements of the National Fire Protection 

Association (NFPA).~ Fires in newer elevator 

machine rooms are infrequent, not known to have 

caused any major fires outside the room, and will 

be even less likely to occur with the adoption of the 

CSA-644.1/ASME-A17.5 code for Elevator and 

Escalator Uectrical Equipment for new elHOrS, 

and elevator components upgraded. When elevator 

machine room sprinklers discharge, property may 

be damaged, the elevators will likely be out of 

service for firefighters, and unless the appropriate 

systems are installed, there is the potential that 

passengers or firefighters will be stalled somewhere 

in-travel for the long-term. Where machine room 

sprinklers are mandated or appropriate, it is 

appropriate to provide coordinated systems of 

smoke detectors to recall the elevators, a preaction 

sprinkler system with compatible hightemperature 

on-off heads, an indication the elevators operating 

have safely arrived at the main floor, heat sensors 

to arm the preaction system, circuit breakers in lieu 

of fused disconnect switches as the normal means 

to disconnect the power, and an automatic power 

disconnecting means. 

In lieu of such systems for sprinklers in a machine 

room, it may be appropriate to focus more closely 

on sprinklering the non-hoistway areas surrounding 

the room, means to keep the water from infittrating 

the room, and elevator controller overtemperature 

signals in the car and at the elevator fire command 

station to inform building staff and firefighters of the 

condition at the machine room. In the final analysis, 

local debates over sprinklers in machine rooms may 

disappear someday, considering we are at the 

advent of enclosed a.c. motors, and brakes which 

can be covered for high-speed elevator machines in 

the U.S. 

Sprinklers in hoistways are considered ineffective, 

problematic in terms of safe elevator operation, and 

unnecessary under the latest edition of NFPA 13 

where elevator car enclosures have limited 

combustibility in accordance with the 1985 or later 

edition of ASME-A17.1. The most useful place for 

such sprinklers is in the pit, particularly for service 

and freight elevators. The related elevator 

operation, equipment, and drainage issues for 

sprinklers in pits are beyond the scope of this 

paper. (Some code criteria for sprinklers in pits can 

be found in BS5588; Part 5.) 

We all recognize water as lifesaving and we are 

beginning to recognize water as &primary design 

criterion. From a combined perspective, signals 

from the sprinkler system water-flow switch at every 

floor can be useful in pinpointing the location of the 

fire floor(s). Due to the dynamics of building air 

movements, smoke detector signals, while 

necm, may be relatively less accurate. 

Sprinkler flow signals could provide valuable 

information for firefighters operating an elevator 

manually, or enable more dynamic automatic recall 

operation beyond today's alternate floor recalp for 

the other elevators. In developing more dynamic 

elevator recall operations, it will still be important to 

firefighters to have elevator service at the main floor, 

which supports the concept of a protected elevator. 

0 Protecting Related Electrical Work from 

Water and Heat 

The importance of maintaining the necessary 

electrical power cannot be overstated for essential 

lifesafety systems, including elevators to be used 

during a fire. Power supplies and distribution can 

be affected by water or heat. It would be prudent 

to dedicate the electrical feeder and emergency 

power transfer switch for the evacuation elevator(s), 

and protect these services by placing them in the 

hoistway and machine room, respectively. The 

protection and location of the emergency power 

source, which is usually diesel engine generators 

that are sometimes located near the top of the 

building, are beyond the scope of this paper? 

Placing an elevator main electrical feeder in an 

elevator hoistway is an area where trade and code 

jurisdictions may need to compromise and 

coordinate for the common good. Similarly, wiring 

for intercommunication for the evacuation elevator's 

lobbies and wiring for addressable smoke detectors 

and sprinkler water-flow switches related to this 

elevator could also be protectively, and 

productively, placed in the elevator's hoistway. 

0 Smoke and Air Movements, Elevator Door 

Operation 

Pressurized fresh air is neceSSary for tenability for 
214 

R 

Elevators, Fire and Accessibility 

the elevator's evacuation purpose. Only firefighters 

presently have self-contained breathing apparatus. 

Pressurization should be provided for the elevator's 

compartmented lobbies to help keep smoke from 

infittrating into these lobbies, and indirectly into the 

car enclosure. The hoistway should also be 

pressurized for the event the elevator is stalled intravel. The capability of venting the hoistway to 

outside air, which could be by way of rated duct 

through the elevator machine room, should be 

provided for the event power to the fan(s) ceases as 

a means to smokepurge the hoistway. The 

capability of venting the machine room separately 

may also be necessary. 

As introduced earlier, flexible smoke brushed seals 

should be provided around the perimeter gaps of all 

elevator landing door panels involved to help 

reduce smoke infittration, help reduce the size of the 

air handling equipment (particularly since the 

elevator's hoistway may be shard with other 

elevators), and help reduce leakage for the overall 

smoke control efbrt. (As described earlier, such 

brushed eaJs shouM actually be installed on every 

elevator landing door in the building to reduce 

smoke migration onto the floors by way of elevator 

hoistways.) 

me multiipurpose elevator could share its now-airtighter hoistway with up to three other elevaitors, 

consistent with standard practices. As a design 

option to reduce the air handling equipment and 

connected emergency power load, and to add 

compartmentation, a hoistway divider wall could be 

provided. The wall should leave at least two high 

speed elevators in a common hoistway with 

adequate space to allow for normal air piston effect, 

compounded by normal or reverse stack effect. As 

further necessary to maintain normal high-speed 

elevator Me quality, pistoneffect relief vents to 

inside air could be considered in the hoistway, 

coordinated with smoke control dampers, and 

smoke venting at the top. 

The elevator's doors must be able to close based 

on the induced air pressures and natural stack 

effect conditions, including times when firefighters 

would fold revolving building entry doors open on 

a cold wintry day in Chicago or New York, for 

example. Weighted-type auxiliary landing door 

closers and closed-loop elevator door operator 

controls would help provide positive closing 

assistance through the entire travel of the door, and 

maintain safe motive closing power based on the 

varying air resistances, respectively. 

To help minimize the amount of soot and heat that 

can enter the machine room, the deflector or 

secondary sheaves for all elevators in the room 

should be arranged to reduce penetrations between 

the floor and hoistway to the minimum manageable 

amount for ropes. (Optimally, these sheaves would 

be located above the machine room floor for 

servicing and acoustics.) Machines localed bdow 

could be similarly arranged with a protective wall 

utilizing two deflector sheaves on the hoistway side 

of the "basement" machine room wall. 

All code and detiign professionals involved with 

elevators and fire will become keenly interested in 

a building's neutral pressure plane at the hoistway 

as it relates to temperature and pressure 

differentials outside the building, and normal and 

reverse stack effects moving buoyant hot smoke 

upwards and cool smoke downwards, as well as the 

effects of wind, leakage, and induced changes in 

pressure.a 

0 Equipment Temperature Tolerance 

Machine room air conditioning prolongs reliable 

controller operation and component life, provides a 

comfort level for personnel providing needed 

maintenance and repairs, and if properly 

coordinated, could work to extend emergency 

elevator operation during a fire. While air 

conditioning may be a dedicated unit inside the 

machine room that recirculates the air, such units 

may or may not be shut down during a fire, 

depending upon the locations of connected smoke 

detectors and local code requirements. A crossdisciplinary effort should be undertaken to review 

the issues involved with maintaining machine room 

air conditioning during a fire. Reliable sprinkler 

protection for all non-hoistway areas surrounding 

the machine room will also work to reduce 

temperature. 

Operating temperature tolerances should be 

established for the evacuation elevator's equipment. 

These couM be based on a dedicated air 

conditioner mounted on and powered with the 

elevator controller, simplified singlecar emergency 

operation, the passage of regenerative power 

including for variable frequency ac. drives, and/ or 

practical improvements in elevator controller 

components including electronic insulators, boards, 

and wiring connections.30 Firefighters may also 
Elevators, Fire and Accessibility 215 

desire a selectable option for reduced speed, 

particularly during the advanced stages of a fire, 

which will work to reduce heat generated by the 

elevator. 

e Elevator Fire Command Stab‘on 

For high-rise office buildings where there are several 

groups and/or scattered locations of elevators, a 

centralized elevator fire command station should be 

provided for the emergency management of the 

vertical transportation system amongst other 

complex building systems. The station should 

clearly display the location, position, direction, 

doors open/closed, and operation mode of every 

elevator dmuftaneously. . me station should be 

equipped with elevator emergency power Controls, 

an auxiliary firefighters’ recall switch for each group 

of elevators, a controller overtemperature signal for 

each elevator, an intercommunication master station 

encompassing all elevators, machine rooms, and 

evacuation elevator lobbies, and shouM be located 

near the building’s fire command station in an area 

staffed at all times. Computer keyboardactuated 

controls should be avoided for elevator emergency 

controls requiring timely actuation. (Elevator fire 

command stations can be productively combined 

with normal elevator management and security 

controls.) 

SERVICE ELEVATOR(S) OPTlON FOR THE 

MULTI-PURPOSE ELEVATOR 

The term “sewice elevator,” as used herein, is an 

accessible passenger elevator used primarily or 

secondarily to transport materials, with the required 

combination freight ratings. It would be helpful if 

service elevators were defined as such under the 

ASME-A17.1 code. What are traditionally known as 

%eight elevators” may have vertical biparting 

doors, operation, or control of leveling not 

conducive to use by persons with disabilities; are 

provided in few office buildings today, and are not 

considered accessible under ADAAG Article 4.10.1. 

Service elevators usually share the important 

advantages with freight elevators of being larger, 

serving most floors with minimal transfers, and 

having a core location with a separate vestibule. 

On the other hand, service elevators may similarly 

be operated by an attendant who can walk away, 

where emergency signals followed by a delayed 

response would be required, and their lobbies may 

be cluttered with debris and materials and extend to 

basement areas. If the service 

exercised for the mufti-purpose 

fire prevention issues will need 

elevator option is 

elevator(s), these 

to be addressed 

proactively by owners, managers, and local code 

enforcing authorities. 

Considering the advantages of service elevators, 

and that a Servjce elevator may be provided for 

every 300,OOO to 500,OOO gross square feet of space 

in a commercial office building, based on some old 

tvles of thumb,” it may be practical to equip all 

primary sewice elevators as multipurpose elevators. 

The code option of providing senrice elevators as 

the multkpurpose elevator(s) should not be 

discounted. We should consider the anticipated 

magnitude of the problem for new sprinklered 

buirclings, and question of establishing consistent 

code concepts when we begin to examine the 

requirements for substantially rehabilitating an 

existing high-rise office building. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

The author gratehlly acknowledges many 

contributions and comments over the pest several 

years from many individuals wtth or formerly with 

the following organilations: Jaros, Baum & Bolles 

Consulbng Engineers; the ASME Emergency 

Operations Committee, including the Task Group 

on Elevator Opetation During a Fire; The City of 

New York Fire Department, Building Department, 

and Elevator Phase II Improvements Committee; 

Otis Elevator NAO, Schindler Management AG, and 

others. Particular thanks are extended to William 

Lewis, Donald Mongitore, Richard Masters, Robert 

Bend, Julius Bogad, Michael Robens, Donald 

Ross, John Hodgens, Nalin Patel, Elmer Chapman, 

John Faup, Joseph Walker, John Chapman, John 

Walker, Donald Grossmann , Mark Burns, Gerald 

Hahn, Gregory Dime, Lucille Scully, and Melody 

Barker for their isolated comments and assistance. 

Thds mml Is not llD be duHhW or mW in any 

hm Wuwt dhe wi&w tnmission of Ihe aulhor or 

HA 
21 6 Elevators, Fire and Accessibility 

A Low-Rise 

Elevator Lobby 

1 

t 

f 

1 Doorsathigh-rise elevator bbbtes wow 

/ 

\ \ 

turning cirdo 

Figure 1: Example of a multi-purpose elevator as part of a high- rise group of passenger elevators (alternate would be to rearrange 

doors to exit stairs with service elevator lobbies) 
21 7 
21 8 Elevators, Fire and Accessibility 

REFERENCES 

U.S. Department of Justice, 1991 

FOR ACCESSIBLE DESIGN, ADA 

ACCESSIBILITY GUI DELlN ES FOR 

BUILDINGS AND FACIUTIES, Federal 

Register, Vol. 56, No. 144, July 26, 1991. 

APPENDIX A TO PART 36 - STANDARDS 

BSI BS: 5588, Part 5: 1991, Part 8: 1988 

FIRE PRECAUTIONS IN THE DESIGN, 

CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF 

BUILDINGS, PART 8, CODE OF PRACTICE 

FOR MEANS OF ESCAPE FOR DISABLED 

PEOPLE, end PART 5, CODE OF 

PRACTICE FOR FIREFIGHTING STAIRS 

AND UFIS, British Standards Institution, 

London, U.K. 

Mote, J. H., Nelson, H. E., Deal, S., and 

Levin, 8. M., 1992 

STAGING AREAS FOR PERSONS WlTH 

MOBILITY LIMITATIONS, Report NlSnR 

4770, US. Department of Commerce, 

Technology Administration, National 

Institute of Standards and Technology, 

Gaithersburg, Md. 

ASME-A17.1, 1993 

SAFtrv CODE FOR ELEVATORS AND 

ESCALATORS, American Society of 

Mechanical Engineers, New York. 

National Elevator Industry Association, Inc., 

1985 

MINIMUM PASSENGER ELEVATOR 

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE 

HANDICAPPED, National Elevator Industry, 

Inc., New York. 

ANSI A117.1-1986 

BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES- PROVIDING 

AMERICAN NATIONAL STANDARD FOR 

ACCESSIBIUW AND USABIUTY FOR 

PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED PEOPLE, 

American National Standards Institute, Inc., 

New York. 

Confidential conversation with a 

representative of a municipal building 

authority who reported receiving a 

complaint from a representative of an 

association for blind persons. 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

Barker, F. H., 1988 

RE GROUPS OF ELEVATORS AND THE 

HANDICAPPED, letter June 27, 1988, 

Barker Vertical Transportation Consulting, 

Buffalo, N.Y. 

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, 1973 

HUD MINIMUM PROPERTY STANDARDS, 

MULTIFAMILY HOUSING, 1973 (with 

February 1976 revisions), Document 491 0.1 , 

p. 6142.6~. 

Strakosch, G. R, 1983 

VERTICAL TRANSPORTATION: 

ELEVATORS AND ESCALATORS, John 

wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. 

Isner, M.S., and Hem, T. J., 1993 

FIRE INVESnGATlON REPORT, WORLD 

TRADE CENTER EXPLOSION AND FIRE, 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, FEBRUAFM 26, 

1993, National Fire Protection Association, 

p. 56. 

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban 

Habitat, Committee 8A, 1992 

FIRE SAFETY IN TAU BUILDINGS, 

McGraw-Hill, New York, N.Y. 

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban 

Habitat, Committee 56,1992 

BUILDING DESIGN FOR HANDICAPPED 

AND AGED PERSONS, McGraw-Hill, New 

York; pp. 165176. 

Stein, B., and Reynolds, J. S., 1992 

MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL 

EQUIPMENT FOR BUILDINGS, John Why 

& Sons, Inc., New York, p. 692. 

Pauls, 3. (with Gatfield, A. J., Gallate, E,), 

1991 

ELEVATOR USE FOR EGRESS: THE 

HUMAN-FACTORS PROBLEMS AND 

PROSPECTS, The American Society of 

Mechanical Engineers, The Symposium on 

Elevators and Fire, Baltimore, Md., February 

19.20,1991. 

Ci of New York 

ELEVATDR PHASE II IMPROVEMENT 

COMMITIEE, The Ci of New York, 

Depertment of Buildings, New York. 
Elevators, Fire and Accessibility 21 9 

17 

10 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

n 

The American Society of Mechanical 

Engineers, et al. 

TASKGROUP ON ELEVATOR OPERATION 

DURING A FIRE, AWE-A17.1 Emergency 

Operations Committee. 

See Note 13. 

Mote, J. H., Alvord, 0. M., 1992 

ROWINEFORANALYSISOFTHE PEOPLE 

MOVEMENT TIME FOR ELEVATOR 

EVACUATION, NlSTlR 4730, National 

Institute of Standards and Technology, 

Gaithersburg, Md. 

See Note 12., p. 11. 

Mote, J. H., 1983 

SMOKE CONTROL FOR ELEVATORS, 

NBSlR 83-2715, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, Center for Fire Research, 

Washington, D.C. 

See Note 11.' pp. 40.42 and Figs. 4 and 7. 

Fire Department, City of New York, 1990 

TRAINING BULLETIN, ELEVATOR 

OPERATIONS, DO 22/ 90, Fire Department, 

Ci of New York, p. 16. 

See Note 2. 

The New York City Fire Department, the 

City of New York Department of Buildings; 

the American Society of Mechanical 

Engineers, and the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology had jointly 

begun research into the potential for 

elevator water damage well in advance of 

this first draft of this paper. 

NFPA 13,1994 

INSTALLATON OF SPRINKLER s/S"lS, 

National Fire Protection Association, 

Quincy, MA. 

Sumka, E. H., 1991 

ALTERNATE FLOOR RECALL PROVISIONS 

FOR ELEVATORS SHOULD BE 

MAINTAINED, American Society of 

Mechanical Engineers, The Symposium on 

Elevators and Fire, Mimore, Maryland, 

February 1W0,1991. 

28 Kusko, A,, 1989 

EMERGENCY/ STANDBY POWER 

SYSTEMS, McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 155- 

157, 200. 

29 See Note 12, pp. 17-52. 

30 Marchitto, N., 1991 

HIGH TEMPERATURE OPERATION OF 

ELEVATORS, American Society of 

Mechanical Engineers, The Symposium on 

Elevators and Fire, Mimore, Maryland, 

February 1~20,1991. 

At the time of writing, Rick Barkar ws 

Manager, Vertical Transportation & 

Materials Handling for Jaros, Baum & 

Bolles Consulting Engineers (JB&B). As of 

January 3, 1995, he will be Director, 

Technical Services for Ob's Elevator, WHQ. 

He has been in the elevator industry since 

197'3 also with Delta Elevator in Boston, 

Westinghouse Elevator, and self-employed 

as an elevator consultant. He is or has 

been a member of the AsME-Al7.1 

Emergency Operations Committee 

including the Task Force on Elevator 

Operation During a Fire, The City of New 

York Elevator Phase I/ Improvements 

Committee including the Machine Room 

Sub-Commiltee, and led a mini-symposium 

at JB&B on the crossdiscipline issues 

involved with elevators and fire.