Chicago Elevator Firefighter’s Emergency Operation mandate - FEO - Fireman's Service

On 11/2/16 The City of Chicago published a mandate for all elevator’s have Firefighters emergency operation phase II be consistent throughout the City by 1/1/17.  There was a published document that wasn’t wrong but it wasn’t as thorough as could have been.  A new document came out with a better outline of the mandate’s expectations.  This mandate is affecting many elevator’s in the City of Chicago which is resulting in the failure of elevators.

First published document on 11/2/16 

 Newer testing procedure for FEO mandate

Does it effect my building?  This is a good question, you can ask your elevator inspector or your current elevator contractor.  Most of the items can be checked with one competent person.  Unfortunately the one item you cannot check with one person is what most building’s are failing for.  This only affects buildings with FEO phase II[key switch in the car station]. 

Who is checking?  Your elevator inspector[AIC or City of Chicago] or elevator contractor should be checking this for compliance.  As I mentioned until recently many people where not informed to the extend that was intended due to the document that passed around originally.

What is occurring? Many buildings are replacing their control systems or modifying their existing control systems with software updates, wiring changes or an auxiliary panel. Building’s are going to admin hearings for non-compliance and not getting their certificates and being fined.  Many buildings have hired companies to rewire their controller to try and make it work with software updates and rewiring but I have heard a lot of failures from talking to building owners/other contractors.

What is the best strategy replacement or modification?  Each building’s elevator controller will be a bit different.  If it is a simple software change with a control manufacturer that is still supporting your product this is a viable option.  If your elevator controller is 10-15+ years old then it may be time to consider the entire controller replacement.  There are also auxiliary panels that can be installed by a few different manufacturers.  We do not recommend too many auxiliary panels/rewiring at this time as they tend to get complicated.

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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