State of Illinois 5 Year Elevator Fireman’s Recall A17.1 2019 Code Modification Requirement - Update

 

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.