The subject of fire safety in elevators is quite complicated so I’m going to break it down into three parts, architecture, electrical and mechanical. This first part is meant for architects as a quick reference guide to capture some key requirements for allocating space for elevators in buildings.  

There’s a number of documents which contain fire safety requirements for elevators.  Most regions in the US require compliance with the IBC.  Any building with federal government funding normally requires compliance with NFPA 101.  Compliance with NFPA 101 and 5000 is required in a number of countries in Asia, especially in the Middle East. Another important document is ASME A17.1.  This is important as it is referenced by NFPA 101, NFPA 5000 and the IBC.  

Types of Elevators:

There are 2 main types of drive systems – hydraulic or traction (cable and motor).  Hydraulic elevators tend to be cheaper, but are much slower than traction elevators.  Hydraulic elevators tend to be used only for smaller buildings.    

Elevator Pits:

Virtually all elevators require a pit and its size depends on the type of elevator.  The manufacturer should be consulted when sizing the elevator pit.  In some cases the pit will need to be as much as 2.1m (7’ deep).  

Space for equipment.

Hydraulic elevators require little space for machinery.  Most of the machinery can be installed in the elevator pit.  

Traction elevators require a space for the motor and these are normally located either in the top of the shaft or in a penthouse plant room on the roof of the building.  If the motor is located in the top of the shaft, it will need to be located on a platform with 2.1m of headroom.   

Elevators require a control panel which will be used for periodic testing and maintenance.  This panel cannot be installed in the top of the shaft or in the lift pit for obvious reasons.  It needs to be in a lockable plant room or in a lockable cabinet in an accessible location outside the elevator shaft.    

Fire Rating of shaft. 

Elevator shafts are required to be sealed and fire rated unless the elevator is located in an atrium or adjacent a convenience opening.  Penetrations from cables and the like will require fire stopping.  For 2-3 storey buildings elevator shafts should be 1 hour fire rated. 

For 4 storeys and above the elevator shafts should be 2 hour fire rated.  Note 4 storeys includes basements so a building with 3 storeys above ground and one basement would require 2 hour fire rated shafts.  

Minimum size of elevator for safety:

IBC and NFPA 5000 requires all buildings with four or more stories to provide at least one elevator sufficiently large to accommodate stretchers and have a minimum car size of 2032 mm x 1372 mm. 

IBC and NFPA 5000 both require Fire Service Access Elevators (FSAE) if the effective building height is above 36.6m (120’) effective height which is about 10 storeys.  A minimum of 2 fire service access elevators are required.  Each FSAE needs to be rated to 1600 kg (3500 lbs) which corresponds to an areas of 3.5 square metres of 38 square feet inside the car. Fire service access elevators are normally sized at least 2.03m deep so they can also serve as the required stretcher elevator.

Are enclosed lobbies required?  

IBC requires smoke sealing if 4 or more storeys are connected ether by providing lobbies or some other form of smoke sealing like smoke curtains or elevator shaft pressurization.  NFPA 101 doesn’t specify a maximum number of connected floors, but it does require all floors to be smoke sealed so the authority will likely require all elevators be fitted with some form of smoke seal.  There are a few situations where elevators don’t require smoke sealing for example elevators in atriums aren’t required to be smoke resisting. 

Elevator lobby may be required for security reasons so the doors can be locked to prevent people from entering a tenancy from the elevator. NFPA 101 generally doesn’t require the lobby to be connected to an exit stairway provided certain other conditions are met, mainly that the lobby doors automatically unlock on a fire alarm (refer NFPA 101 2018 7.2.1.6.3).  Note, high rise buildings are not permitted to have lockable elevator lobbies without access to escape stairs.  NFPA 101 and NFPA 5000 also permit elevator lobbies to be lockable provided they have access to at least one exit stairway.  IBC permits lockable elevator lobbies only if the lobby has access to an exit stairway.  Naturally the exit stairway will not be locked enabling occupants to escape if the elevator is not available.  

If Fire Service Access Elevators (FSAE) are required, i.e. if the effective building height is above 36.6m (120’) then elevator lobbies are also required and this should have direct access to an exit stairway.  Lobby walls should be 1 hour fire rated and smoke sealed.  IBC specifies that elevator lobbies must be 14 square metres (150 square feet) minimum dimension 2.44m (8’).  NFPA 101 and NFPA 5000 do not specify a minimum dimension for elevator lobbies. 

There should be no reason to have elevator lobbies on the ground floor regardless of what is required in the upper floors.  There’s no need for the ground floor elevator doors to be smoke resisiting. 

Stairway Adjoining Elevator Lobby

Both IBC and NFPA 5000 require the elevator lobby to have “direct access” to a stairway. Not sure why they would need this feature because fire-fighters usually take the elevator to a staging area one or two floors below the level of the fire. Maybe it saves the fire fighters a minute looking for a stairway when they get to the staging area – because the stairway is right in front of them.

Fire fighters need to be able to get from the stairway to the floor without crossing through the elevator lobby. This would seem to be so that the elevator lobby can be kept free from smoke in case they need to use it for rescue.

Any Comments?

I hope this gives a useful guidline for anyone involved in fire safety or building architecture.  Please feel free to comment if you have anything to add or if you disagree with any of this commentary.