Elevator Recall Design

The requirements for readiness relate to use of elevators for the fire department in the event of a fire. What this means is that if a fire breaks out or a fire alarm is activated, elevators must be available for recall so that they are immediately available for the use of firefighters.

Specified buildings must have a certain number of elevators available for the fire department. These are defined in terms of occupancies and include:

• High-rise buildings that are used for storage, business, mercantile operations (department stores, retail stores, drug stores, markets and so on), buildings that cater for educational needs, are institutions of some sort, are factories or industrial buildings, or incorporate areas that cater for a variety of types of assembly (theaters, concert halls, churches and so on), or are high hazard buildings.
• Buildings used for business that have a gross area of 200,000 square feet (18,581 square meters).
• Buildings that are in residential group 1 or 2:
  • Group R-1 including buildings that are occupied on a temporary basis for less than a month including motels, hotels, and vacation timeshares.
  • Group R-2 including buildings or portions of buildings that have more than two dwelling units that are occupied permanently by adults requiring supervised care, people in custodial care (including children), as well as apartments and non-transient apartment hotels, convents, monasteries, and student apartments.

Of course, the number of elevators found in any of these buildings will depend on the design of the building including the number of floors, the height of each floor, the usable area of each floor, and the number of people who will be served by the elevators.

When a floor is serviced by a maximum of three elevators, each car must be kept available for the sole use of fire personnel in the event of a fire.

If there are more than three elevator cars, at least three of these must be kept available for the sole use of fire personnel. Additionally, these cars must include at least two that service all the floors in the building and at least one in a different bank of cars that services that floor. Each of these cars must have a total rated load capacity of at least 6,000 pounds or 2,722 kg.

Buildings higher than five stories that do not fall into the occupancies mentioned above must have at least one elevator car that is kept available for the Fire Department’s sole use. So, if the building only has one (which is the minimum) elevator, this must be available to firefighters. The elevator or elevators must be kept available during all hours of the day and night, every day of the week, including Saturdays and Sundays, and holidays.

While the recall function will be part of the elevator system design, the Building Code also requires that a competent person should be available at all times to operate the elevator. Attendants are not, however, required if the building has occupied floors of 150 feet or less measured from the lowest level of the Fire Department’s vehicle access provided the elevators have continuous or automatic pressure operation with keyed switches that meet the requirements of ASME A17.1 and the modifications mentioned above.

All automatically operated elevators and all elevators in the building types listed in terms of occupancies above must have manual operation capability. 

The National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code,NFPA 72-2019,is a lengthy handbook that specifies the “application, installation, location, performance, inspection, testing, and maintenance of fire alarm systems” as well as emergency and fire warning equipment and their components. It has been adopted by federal, state, and local authorities throughout the U.S. as a standard required for the enforcement of fire code regulations, usually with amendments to suit a particular state or city.

A supplement to the Fire Alarm Code explains how fire alarm systems interface with elevator controls. This interfacing is vital to ensure that both are fully coordinated for maximum efficacy. It is also vital to maintain safety by minimizing the possibility of people getting trapped in elevator cars and possibly ending up on the floor where the fire is.

The Code also discusses firefighters’ recall, which was first included in NFPA 72A, Installation, Maintenance and Use of Local Protective Signaling Systems in a section titled Elevator Recall for Firefighters’ Service that, like the Safety Code for Elevators & Escalators, required smoke detectors used to initiate firefighters’ recall to be located in elevator lobbies and machine rooms. The belief was that as long as elevators weren’t in danger from fire – which was determined by the smoke detectors – they could continue to operate and be used by occupants of the building.

Elevator recall design at that time required the smoke detector in the designated lobby to actuate the first circuit and the smoke detectors in other lobbies and the machine room to actuate the second circuit. The two circuits were designed to differentiate signals coming from the different areas of the building to help detect where the fire was.

NFPA 72 has changed a lot over the decades, with regular revisions every three years.

There have been substantial, ongoing changes that relate to smoke detection and smoke alarms, which is clearly vital for elevator recall design.

There have also been changes and additions that relate to circuit and pathway performance designations, general wiring requirements, emergency communication systems, and emergency recall operations.

Emergency recall operations are detailed in Chapter 21, Emergency Control Function Interfaces, and, amongst other things, require all the fire alarm initiating devices used to initiate elevator Phase I emergency recall operations to be connected to required building fire alarm system.

Nearby Engineers New York Engineers has considerable experience in elevator recall design and our team of professionals constantly updates their knowledge to ensure designs are compliant and technologically advanced.