We got great news from the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshall's Elevator Division this week. They have put on paper the extension of the FAID[Fire Alarm Initiating Device] requirement. The new extension now allows hydraulic elevators until 12/31/24 to have their system tested and pass. The previous rule required them to be compliant by 12/31/23. While rule was passed on 12/28/23, we received a formal written correspondence on 2/13/24 which was published on the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshall's website.
What is FAID? FAID is Fire Alarm Initiating Device testing. We will be testing the fire alarms that are hooked up to your elevator control system to make sure they recall the elevator to the proper floor. We also have some buildings with fire recall detectors in the hoist way that will need to be checked. Heat detectors and shunt trips do not need to be tested as part of this requirement.
Who needs to be compliant? Any elevator that has automatic recall. Any elevator that has fire alarms hooked up to its controller, which sends the elevator to a floor when the fire alarm is tripped, is required to be tested.
City of Chicago - City of Chicago is exempt from this requirement.
Additional fees - Expect additional fees from your elevator contractor, inspector and fire alarm company to perform this mandated testing battery.
Our experience from 2021-2024 – We have seen a lot of tests go well and pass. We have seen a lot of tests fail because of fire alarm programming issues, fire alarm hardware issues and in a very few cases, our elevator controller not responding correctly. Even though buildings are having their fire alarms checked every year, it appears that some of the items connected to the elevator system are not working properly and ignored.If you have any questions or would like additional information, feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107.
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