5.08 Elevators for Firefighter Use (effective 10/9/08)Reference: 2007 SFFC, Section 511.1
1. Purpose. The purpose of this bulletin is to provide for safeguards and fire safety features in high rise buildings such that the fire department has a more efficient means than stairs, and safer means than Phase II elevators, for reaching and fighting fires on upper floors.
2. Scope. This bulletin applies to all new high-rise buildings more than 200 feet in height as defined by the California Building Code. For those buildings covered by the scope of this document, Firefighter Elevators designed for firefighter use during fire emergencies are required to be provided in accordance with paragraphs 2 through 6 of this bulletin.
Exception: New buildings with multiple bank elevators that serve no more than 20 consecutive floors each, whereby firefighters may ascend the building in 20 floor intervals in separated hoistways.
3. Firefighter Elevators, Number and Capacity. Where required, a minimum of one 4500 lb. capacity elevator or two 2500 lb. capacity elevators shall be provided for use as Firefighter Elevators but are not intended to be for exclusive use of the fire department. Each Firefighter Elevator shall serve every floor of the building, or shall be arranged so that every floor of the building may be reached by a series of simple transfers to adjacent banked elevators that are protected under these guidelines.
4. Protection from fire, smoke and water. Firefighter Elevators shall be designed so that they are protected from the effects of fire, smoke, or water. This will be accomplished through an approved performance-based design. All features under this section shall have a minimum duration of eight hours. The design may include, but is not limited to, the following:
· Pressurization of the firefighter elevator shaft, its associated machine room, and associated enclosed lobbies as one zone. Normally, such zones are pressurized to 0.05 inches water column relative to adjacent zones such that smoke from a fire in an adjacent zone is restricted from flowing into the pressurized zone.
· Sloping floors or floors of varying levels with strategically placed drainage. At a minimum, the drainage shall accommodate the calculated flow of the automatic fire sprinklers in the remote design area or 100 gpm, whichever is greater. This design shall not violate accessibility requirements in regard to level landing or threshold height requirements. The required drainage is not intended to accommodate water from sprinklers flowing within the elevator lobby.
· Provisions for keeping elevator equipment at the appropriate temperature to sustain operation for the length of time the building generator is designed to operate (8 hours minimum). This may require a careful review of the equipment, its operating temperatures, the HVAC system and standby power systems.
· A means for firefighters to monitor fire conditions in elevator lobbies and machine rooms, such as smoke detection and analog heat detection annunciated at the fire control room. This is intended to provide fire fighters with more information to determine whether Firefighter Elevator protection has been compromised.
5. Prescriptive requirements. The design shall include the following prescriptive requirements:
· All firefighter elevators shall be capable of operating on standby power simultaneously.
· Elevator hoistway, lobby, and machine room pressurization mechanical components used to protect the fire fighter elevators shall be protected similarly to smoke control system requirements as described in Section 909 of the California Building Code and shall be included in UUKL weekly self-testing of smoke control components. This system shall be illustrated and controllable at the firefighter's smoke control panel.
· Elevator lobbies and shafts serving Firefighter Elevators shall be 2 hour fire barrier construction. The firefighter elevator lobby shall have an access door directly into the pressurized stair enclosure. Other openings in the elevator lobby walls shall be limited to those necessary to serve or access the space.
· Equipment located on the top of the elevator car and in the shaft shall be provided with sheetmetal covers as added protection from the effects of water falling into the shaft.
· The elevator and its installation shall conform to the following sections of the American National Standards Institute ASME A17.1, 2004 edition, as well as the currently adopted California Elevator Code: Sections 2.27.3.2.6 Visual Signal, 2.27.7 Operating Procedures, and 8.4.10 Operation of Elevators Under Earthquake Emergency Conditions. The elevator shall be capable of operating at a go slow speed after the seismic switch has been tripped, provided the counterweight displacement switch has not been activated. The elevators shall be capable of this operation when placed in Phase II operation under the above conditions.
· Power transfer switches for rescue elevators and their shaft pressurization fans shall be located as close as practicable to the motors and controls they supply. The normal power feeders and the stand-by feeders supplying the transfer switches shall be by independent routes, and shall comply with the San Francisco Electrical Code.
· The entire hoistway shall be illuminated at not less than 1 foot-candle at each hoistway entrance when firefighters' emergency operation is active. This lighting shall be provided with standby power.
· The layout of the central control station shall be such that the fire alarm annunciator panel and the elevator panel may be monitored while talking on the handset of the two-way communication system.
· The central control station shall be located in an approved location proximate to the Firefighter Elevators. The approved location must be close to an entryway where Fire Department vehicle access is provided. The preferred location is near the main entrance.
· Designated Firefighter Elevators shall be identified with the symbol for fire department access as defined by NFPA 170, Section 6.2.7. The symbol shall not be less than 3 inches in size, and shall be permanently attached to each side of the hoistway door frame on the portion of the frame at right angles to the elevator lobby. Each symbol shall be not less than 78 inches, and not more than 84 inches above the floor level at the threshold.
· Automatic fire sprinklers shall not be installed in elevator machine rooms, associated machinery spaces or the top of their associated hoistways. The storage of combustibles in elevator machine rooms is prohibited. The San Francisco Fire Department will consider this building to meet the sprinkler requirements of the California Building Code for high-rise buildings if all other areas are sprinklered in accordance with the NFPA 13 standard.
6. Hoistway Venting. Firefighter Elevator hoistways that comply with this bulletin are not required to comply with the requirements of Section 3004 Hoistway Venting.
7. Submittal Requirements. All designs shall be described in narrative form either in the smoke control report or in a separate report at the site permit stage of the project. Such reports shall include a description of the proposed strategy and will include justification for the performance criteria. The report shall be written by either a design professional or a fire protection engineer who is licensed in the State of California. This individual shall take responsibility for describing the safety features of the building that will protect the elevator under this requirement.
