| (a) General. All buildings that have resident services
located on other than the main entrance floor shall have electric
or electro hydraulic elevators. The elevators shall be installed in
sufficient quantity, capacity, and speed to ensure that the average
interval of dispatch time will not exceed one minute, and average
peak loading can be accommodated.
(b) Requirements for new elevators. New elevators shall
be installed in accordance with the requirements of Health and Safety
Code (HSC), Chapter 754, Elevators, Escalators, and Related Equipment,
and ASME/ANSI A17.1, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, 1996
edition, published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
and the American National Standards Institute. All new elevators
shall conform to the Fire Fighters' Service Requirements of ASME/ANSI
A17.1, in accordance with National Fire Protection Association 101,
(NFPA 101), Code for Safety to Life from Fire in Buildings and Structures,
2000 edition, §7-4.4. All documents published by the ASME/ANSI
as referenced in this section may be obtained by writing the ANSI,
25 West 43rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10036. All documents published
by NFPA as referenced in these rules may be obtained by writing or
calling the NFPA, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02169-7471, or (800)
344-3555.
(c) Requirements for existing elevators. Existing elevators
shall comply with the ASME/ANSI A17.1, Part XII, Alterations, Repair,
Replacements, and Maintenance, and ASME/ANSI A17.3, Safety Code for
Existing Elevators and Escalators, current edition. All existing
elevators having a travel distance of 25 feet or more above or below
the level that best serves the needs of emergency personnel for fire
fighting or rescue purposes shall conform to Fire Fighters' Service
Requirements of ASME/ANSI A17.3, as required by NFPA 101, §7-4.5.
(d) Elevator machine rooms. Elevator machine rooms
that contain solid-state equipment for elevators having a travel distance
of more than 50 feet above the level of exit discharge or more than
30 feet below the level of exit discharge shall be provided with independent
ventilation or air-conditioning systems with the capability to maintain
an operating temperature during fire fighter service operations. The
operating temperature shall be established by the elevator equipment
manufacturer's specifications and shall be posted in each such elevator
machine room. When standby power is connected to the elevator, the
machine room ventilation or air conditioning shall also be connected
to standby power. These requirements are not applicable to existing
elevators.
(e) Elevator car size. Minimum elevator car size shall
be five feet wide and five feet deep. A minimum LCF elevator car size
shall be five feet wide and eight feet deep.
(f) Elevator and elevator shaft doors. When light beams
are used for operating door-opening devices, the beams shall be used
in combination with door edge devices and shall be interconnected
with a system of smoke detectors. The light control feature shall
be disengaged when smoke is detected in any elevator lobby.
(1) The smallest elevator car door opening shall be
at least three feet wide and seven feet high.
(2) The elevator car door opening for a LCF elevator
shall be at least four feet wide and seven feet high.
(3) The elevator cars for LCF shall be at least five
feet by eight inches wide by eight feet six inches deep.
(g) Type of controls and alarms. Elevator call buttons,
controls, and door safety stops shall be of a type that will not be
activated by heat or smoke.
(h) Leveling. All elevators shall be equipped with
an automatic leveling device of the two-way automatic maintaining
type with an accuracy of one-half inch.
(i) Operation. All elevators, except freight elevators,
shall be equipped with a two-way key operated service switch permitting
cars to bypass all landing button calls and be dispatched directly
to any floor.
(j) Accessibility of controls and alarms. Elevator
controls, alarm buttons, and telephones shall be accessible to wheelchair
occupants in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
(k) Location. Elevators shall not open to an exit.
(l) Testing. An SCF shall have all elevators and escalators
routinely and periodically inspected and tested in accordance with
ASME/ANSI A17.1. All elevators equipped with fire fighter service
shall be subject to a monthly operation with a written record of
the findings made and kept on the premises as required by NFPA 101,
§7-4.8, Elevator Testing.
(m) Certification. An SCF shall obtain a certificate
of inspection evidencing that the elevators and related equipment
were inspected in accordance with the requirements in HSC, Chapter
754, Subchapter B, and determined to be in compliance with the safety
standards adopted under HSC, §754.014, administered by the Texas
Department of Licensing and Regulation. The certificate of inspection
shall be on record in each center.
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