If
you have smoke detectors tied into the elevator system you will need to have
them tested once every 5 years and witnessed by an elevator inspector. This is a big splash item that has been providing challenges for our industry, building owners and fire alarm companies. City of Chicago is excluded from this
mandate.
***There
is legislation in Springfield that gives buildings an additional year to
complete the FAID test. To date this legislation has not passed, therefore we
should all try and get our FAID testing done as soon as possible.***
Section
1000.60 Adoption of Nationally Recognized Safety Codes
i) Modification: Witnessing of
Initiating Devices for Fireman’s Emergency Operation.
All
initiating devices for all elevators shall be tested every 5 years. The test
shall be witnessed by an elevator inspector. Documentation of the results of
the testing of initiating devices must be kept on site in the maintenance
records. All hydraulic elevators shall have this documentation completed no
later than December 31, 2023. All traction elevators shall have this
documentation completed at the time of their first Category 5 test after
January 1, 2023. After the initial test, subsequent tests of the elevator’s
initiating devices shall be conducted no later than 5 years after the date of
the last test
Hydraulic
elevators – Will require all of the elevator smoke detectors that are tied into
the elevator tested prior to 12/31/23 and witnessed by an elevator inspector.
Traction
elevators – Will require to have the fire testing be part of the CAT 5 testing
after January 1st, 2023.
Challenges
– We have a few challenges to contend with in the next few years.
Coordination
- The biggest challenge is coordinating the elevator mechanic, elevator
inspector and fire company to be onsite at the same time. Frequently we do have challenges with having
the fire company show up on the same time and date. Fire companies are busy too and have
emergencies that prevent them from making it to our appointments.
Elevator
inspector supply – We love our elevator inspectors but we have a limited number
of them and adding another testing requirement will limit the
amount of testing we can accomplish in a day. The coordination
challenges we have with different fire companies at different buildings adds to the work load of the inspectors.
Additional
costs to buildings – The building will have to pay additional fees to elevator
companies, elevator inspectors and fire companies. Typically the additional fees will be one
hour for the elevator contractor and one additional hour for the elevator inspector as well as the cost for the
fire company's visit.
We
have our fire devices already tested once a year – This is going to be a common
comment by building owners and property managers. This may be true, you are correct, but the
rule is written to include an elevator inspector. That means we will need an inspector to witness this test, not just the elevator company and fire
company.
What
to do – We have been working with our inspection companies to
get a jump on this testing and trying to make it as painless as
possible. There are pain points,
logistic challenges and good questions many people may have. For now, these are
the rules let’s take action and make some good progress.
Our experience from 2021-2023 – 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.
Is
this a good thing? Absolutely a good thing to test your fire recall devices on
a regular basis.
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.
Also
check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.
