Elevator shaft rating

[e hilton]

Saw this in my hotel in Nebraska. 3 floors.

 

[TheCommish]

I have seen that also, seem to allow deletion of the elevator lobby and cheaper than the fancy room down protective.

Having elevator door on a rated shaft without protective seems like an oxymoron to me

 

[bill1952]

Does that door have to meet the opening force requirements for accessibility?

 

[TheCommish]

^ only if it is closed

 

[walker.t]

I thought fire-rated doors had to have a label on the hinge jamb.

I was also wondering if this door needed to have a gasket, this thread came up in the search engine results:

Thread 'Gaskets at Fire-rated Doors'

Jun 13, 2016

Are smoke gaskets required at doors into a 1-hour fire-rated corridor? Is so, what code and section determines this?

Thanks

• fj80
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Commercial Building Codes

Assuming the door has self-closing hinges, this door has a closer and a latch, that requires 12” by the latch on the push side of the door per A117.1-2021 Figure 404.2.3.2(B), I doubt the elevator door is sized to allow for that 12” but maybe it is.

I’m so excessively compulsive, they should have lined up the grout lines on the floor, makes me want to take the stairs so I don’t have to look at that!

 

[bill1952]

^ only if it is closed

If it closed - presumably because it was electrically unlatched - does that mean a person with a disability shouldn't open it?

I thought the rating was at least in part to protect the shaft from a fire on the floor.

 

[walker.t]

Does that door have to meet the opening force requirements for accessibility?

Yes, the door shown would fall into the “other doors” portion of the following:

A117.1-2021 404.2.8 Door and Gate Opening Force
Fire doors and doors or gates required to be equipped with panic hardware, break away features or other factors requiring higher opening force for safety reasons shall have the minimum opening force allowable in scoping provisions adopted by the appropriate administrative authority. For other doors and gates, the force for pushing or pulling open doors or gates shall be as follows:

1. Interior hinged door: 5.0 pounds maximum.
2. Sliding or folding door: 5.00 pounds maximum.

Exception: The force required to retract latch bolts or disengage other devices that hold the door or gate in a closed position shall not apply to panic hardware, delayed egress devices or fire-rated hardware.

 

[bill1952]

Yes, the door shown would fall into the “other doors” portion of the following:

So since it's a fire door wouldn't it be 30 pounds per 1010.1.3?

 

[walker.t]

So since it's a fire door wouldn't it be 30 pounds per 1010.1.3?

Yes, thank you, nice catch. I misread A117.1-2021 404.2.8 to mean: “Fire doors [required to be equipped with panic hardware] and doors or gates required to be equipped with panic hardware…” But what it’s saying is, “[All] fire doors[, and any] doors or gates required to be equipped with panic hardware…”.

That 30 pounds is to set the door in motion, then 15 pounds to fully open the door.

 

[TheCommish]

If there is a fire alarm and the door is closed the elevator should not be used, then the building design may need to include areas of refuge at the stair tower

 

[bill1952]

If there is a fire alarm and the door is closed the elevator should not be used, then the building design may need to include areas of refuge at the stair tower

Should it therefore lock?

Unrelated to my thinking an occupant might open it - in particular one using a wheelchair - I assume emergency responders might?

 

[TheCommish]

Possibly, elevator recall on FA should bring the car to the assigned floor usually the ground floor unless the smoke detector on the assigned floor is the one in alarm.

 

[walker.t]

then the building design may need to include areas of refuge at the stair tower

At first I was thinking the stairs would definitely need an area of refuge. It’s been a while since I’ve read the code requirements on areas of refuge, I forgot about the exception for areas of refuge at stairs in buildings sprinklered with NFPA 13 or NFPA 13R systems (1009.3.3, Exception 2.)

 

[Yikes]

1. IBC 3006.3 item #3 allows this.
2. If the door has spring hinges instead of a closer, no additional push side strike clearance is required for ADA compliance.
3. The elevator cab door provide the fire protection, this additional door is really just for the smoke seal.

3006.3 Hoistway Opening Protection​

Where Section 3006.2 requires protection of the elevator hoistway door opening, the protection shall be provided by one of the following:

1. An enclosed elevator lobby shall be provided at each floor to separate the elevator hoistway shaft enclosure doors from each floor by fire partitions in accordance with Section 708. In addition, doors protecting openings in the elevator lobby enclosure walls shall comply with Section 716.2.2.1 as required for corridor walls. Penetrations of the enclosed elevator lobby by ducts and air transfer openings shall be protected as required for corridors in accordance with Section 717.5.4.1.
2. An enclosed elevator lobby shall be provided at each floor to separate the elevator hoistway shaft enclosure doors from each floor by smoke partitions in accordance with Section 710 where the building is equipped throughout with an automatic sprinkler system installed in accordance with Section 903.3.1.1 or 903.3.1.2. In addition, doors protecting openings in the smoke partitions shall comply with Sections 710.5.2.2, 710.5.2.3 and 716.2.6.1. Penetrations of the enclosed elevator lobby by ducts and air transfer openings shall be protected as required for corridors in accordance with Section 717.5.4.1.
3. Additional doors shall be provided at each elevator hoistway door opening in accordance with Section 3002.6. Such door shall comply with the smoke and draft control door assembly requirements in Section 716.2.2.1.1 when tested in accordance with UL 1784 without an artificial bottom seal.

3002.6 Prohibited Doors​

Doors, other than hoistway doors and the elevator car door, shall be prohibited at the point of access to an elevator car unless such doors are readily openable from the car side without a key, tool, special knowledge or effort.

 

[walker.t]

2. If the door has spring hinges instead of a closer, no additional push side strike clearance is required for ADA compliance.

Can you point me to an exception in the ADA or A117.1 that says this? I understand that a spring hinge is not a closer like the devices mounted at the top of a door and frame, but considering that it exerts a force against the effort to open the door I would have thought it would be considered a closer for the sake of door maneuvering clearances.

 

[Yikes]

Can you point me to an exception in the ADA or A117.1 that says this? I understand that a spring hinge is not a closer like the devices mounted at the top of a door and frame, but considering that it exerts a force against the effort to open the door I would have thought it would be considered a closer for the sake of door maneuvering clearances.

See this post and its link to the U.S. Access Board commentary.
See also pdf page 115 here: https://www.access-board.gov/files/ada/guides/ADA-Standards-Guide_Chapters1-5.pdf