MECHANICAL REGULATIONS ON THE

DESIGNING AND INSTALLATION OF

ESCALATOR AND ELEVATOR

Elevators
An elevator (lift) is a permanent lifting installation serving two or more defined landing levels,
comprising an enclosed space, or car, whose dimensions and means of construction clearly
permit the access of people, and which runs between rigid vertical guides. A lift, therefore, is a
vehicle for raising and lowering people and/or goods from one floor to another floor within a
building directly (single push-button control) or with intermediate stops (collective control).

A second category is the service lift (dumb waiter), a permanent lifting installation serving
defined levels, but with a car that is too small to transport people. Service lifts transport foods
and supplies in hotels and hospitals, books in libraries, mail in office buildings and so on.
Generally, the floor area of such a car does not exceed 1 m2, its depth 1 m, and its height
1.20 m.

Elevators are driven directly by an electric motor (electric lifts; see figure 1) or indirectly, through
the movement of a liquid under pressure generated by a pump driven by an electric motor
(hydraulic lifts).

Figure 1. A cut-away view of an elevator installation showing the essential components

Electric lifts are almost exclusively driven by traction machines, geared or gearless, depending
on car speed. The designation “traction” means that the power from an electric motor is
transmitted to the multiple rope suspension of the car and a counterweight by friction between
the specially shaped grooves of the driving or traction sheave of the machine and the ropes.

Hydraulic lifts have become widely used since the 1970s for the transport of goods and
passengers, usually for a height not exceeding six floors. Hydraulic oil is used as pressure fluid.
The direct-acting system with a ram supporting and moving the car is the simplest one.
Standardization

Technical Committee 178 of the ISO has drafted standards for: loads and speeds up to
2.50 m/s; car and hoistway dimensions to accommodate passengers and goods; bed and
service lifts for residential buildings, offices, hotels, hospitals and nursing homes; control
devices, signals and additional accessories; and selection and planning of lifts in residential
buildings. Each building should be provided with at least one lift accessible to handicapped
people in wheelchairs. The Association française de normalisation (AFNOR) is in charge of the
Secretariat of this Technical Committee.

General safety requirements

Every industrialized country has a safety code drawn up and kept up to date by a national
standards committee. Since this work was started in the 1920s, the various codes have
gradually been made more similar, and differences now are generally not fundamental. Large
manufacturing firms produce units that comply with the codes.

Safety rules are aimed at several types of possible accidents with lifts: shearing, crushing,
falling, impact, trapping, fire, electric shock, damage to material, accidents due to wear, and
accidents due to corrosion. People to be safeguarded are: users, maintenance and inspection
personnel and people outside the hoistway and the machine room. Objects to be safeguarded
are: loads in the car, components of the lift installation and the building.

Figure 2. Layout of the toe guard on the car sill to prevent trapping

Figure 3 shows a faulty situation.

Figure 3. Example of dangerous loading of a freight elevator (goods-lift).

Controls

All modern lifts are push-button and computer controlled, the car switch system operated by an
attendant having been abandoned.

Single lifts and those grouped in two- to eight-car arrangements are usually equipped with
collective controls which are interconnected in the case of multiple installations. The main
feature of collective controls is that calls can be given at any moment, whether the car is moving
or standstill and whether the landing doors are open or closed. Landing and car calls are
collected and stored until answered. Regardless of the sequence in which they are received,
calls are answered in the order that most efficiently operates the system.

Examinations and tests

Before a lift is put into service, it should be examined and tested by an organization approved by
the public authorities to establish the lift’s conformity with the safety rules in the country where it
has been installed. A technical dossier should be submitted to the inspector by the
manufacturers. The elements to be examined and tested and the way the tests should be run
are listed in the safety code. Specific tests by an approved laboratory are required for: locking
devices, landing doors (possibly including fire tests), safety gear, overspeed governors and oil
buffers. Certificates of the corresponding components used in the installation should be included
in the register.

Maintenance and inspection

A lift and its components should be inspected and maintained in good and safe working order at
regular intervals by competent technicians who have obtained skill and a thorough knowledge of
the mechanical and electrical details of the lift and the safety rules under the guidance of a
qualified instructor. Preferably the technician is employed by the supplier or erector of the lift.
Normally a technician is responsible for a specific number of lifts. Maintenance involves routine
servicing such as adjustment and cleaning, lubrication of moving parts, preventive servicing to
anticipate possible problems, emergency visits in the case of breakdowns and major repairs,
which are usually done after consultation with a supervisor

Escalators

An escalator is a continuous moving, inclined stairway which conveys passengers upward and
downward. Escalators are used in commercial buildings, department stores and railway and
underground stations, to guide a stream of people in a confined route from one level to another.

General safety requirements

Escalators consist of a continuous chain of steps moved by a motor-driven machine by means

of two roller chains, one at each side. The steps are guided by rollers on tracks which keep the
step treads horizontal in the usable area. At the entrance and exit, guides ensure that over a
distance of 0.80 to 1.10 m

Figure 4. Escalator step unit 1 (X: Height to next step (not greater than 0.24m); Y: Depth
(at least 0.38m); Z: Width (between 0.58 and 1.10m); Δ: Grooved step tread; Φ: Cleated
step riser)

Figure 5. Escalator step unit 2

People may ride with their shoes sliding against the balustrade, which can cause trapping at the
points where the steps straighten out. Clearly legible signs and notices, preferably pictographs,
should warn and instruct users. A sign should instruct adults to hold the hands of children, who
may not be able to reach the handrail, and that children should stand at all times. Both ends of
an escalator should be barricaded when it is out of service.

The incline of an escalator should not exceed 30°, though it may be increased to 35° if the
vertical rise is 6 m or less and the speed along the incline is limited to 0.50 m/s. Machine rooms
and driving and return stations should be easily accessible to specially-trained maintenance and
inspection personnel only. These spaces can lie inside the truss or be separate. The clear
height should be 1.80 m with covers, if any, opened and the space should be sufficient to
ensure safe working conditions. The clear height above the steps at all points should be not less
than 2.30 m.

The starting, stopping or reversal of movement of an escalator should be effected by authorized

people only. If the country code permits operating a system that starts automatically when a
passenger moves past an electric sensor, the escalator should be in operation before the user
reaches the comb. Escalators should be equipped with an inspection control system for
operation during maintenance and inspection.

Maintenance and inspection

Maintenance and inspection along the lines described above for lifts are usually required by
authorities. A technical dossier should be available listing the main calculation data of the
supporting structure, steps, step driving components, general data, layout drawings, schematic
wiring diagrams and instructions. Before an escalator is put into service, it should be examined
by a person or organization approved by the public authorities; subsequently periodic
inspections at given intervals are needed.

Moving Walkways (Passenger Conveyors)

A passenger conveyor, or power-driven continuous moving walkway, may be used for the
conveyance of passengers between two points at the same or at different levels. Passenger
conveyors are used to transport a great number of people in airports from the main station to
the gates and back and in department stores and supermarkets. When the conveyors are
horizontal, baby carriages, pushcarts and wheelchairs, luggage and food trolleys can be carried
without risk, but on inclined conveyors these vehicles, if rather heavy, should be used only if
they lock into place automatically. The ramp consists of metal pallets, similar to the step treads
of escalators but longer, or rubber belt. The pallets must be grooved in the direction of travel,
and combs should be placed at each end. The angle of inclination should not exceed 12° or
more than 6° at the landings. The pallets and belt should move horizontally over a distance of
not less than 0.40 m before entering the landing. The walkway runs between balustrades that
are topped with a moving handrail that travels at substantially the same speed. The speed
should not exceed 0.75 m/s unless the movement is horizontal, in which case 0.90 m/s is
permitted provided the width does not exceed 1.10 m.

The safety requirements for passenger conveyors are generally similar to those for escalators
and should be included in the same code.

Fire Hazards

Generally, the hoistway for any lift extends over the full height of a building and interconnects
the floors. A fire or the smoke from a fire breaking out in the lower part of a building may spread
up the hoistway to other floors and, under certain circumstances, the well or hoistway may
intensify a fire because of a chimney effect. Therefore, a hoistway should not form part of a
building’s ventilation system. The hoistway should be totally enclosed by solid walls of non-
combustible material that would not give off harmful fumes in case of a fire. A vent should be
provided at the top of the lift hoistway or in the machine room above it to allow smoke to escape
to open air.

Lifts and Health

While lifts and hoists involve hazards, their use can also help reduce fatigue or serious muscle
injury due to manual handling, and they can reduce labour costs, especially in building
construction work in some developing countries. On some such sites where no lifts are used,
workers have to carry heavy loads of bricks and other building materials up inclined runways
numerous floors high in hot, humid weather.
Breakthroughs and innovations in elevator and
escalator design
1. TOUCHSCREEN ELEVATOR CAR SELECTION comes to Vancouver high-rise

The system reduces long wait times and unnecessary stops.

2. WORLD’S LARGEST SPIRAL ESCALATOR ascends Shanghai department store

The escalators achieve smooth movement through specially designed chains that respond to
angles of motion. Rails and handrails are made with proprietary processing techniques for
optimal flexibility.

3. WORLD TRADE CENTER ELEVATORS built for speed — take that, Usain Bolt!

The company installed 71 elevators at One World Trade Center, each using trademarked
intelligent software and kiosks that group passengers to move them to their destinations the
fastest.

4. Multifamily mid-rise will feature FIRST SOLAR-POWERED ELEVATOR

The Gen2 Switch’s battery technology allows the unit to operate at 0.5 kw—less than a
toaster or a light bulb when on standby. The battery is made from 97% recycled
materials.
5. Intuitive technology gives WTC tower ENERGY savings, added SECURITY

Advanced Edition escalators that connect the building to a retail concourse.