IKONIC LIFTS
WHAT MAKES A LIFT A FIREFIGHTER LIFT ?
Lifts are the safest form of vehicular transport in the world , the UK abide by various minimum design safety requirements which today are :
• EN81-21 : New passenger and goods lifts in existing buildings .
• EN81-28 : Remote alarm on passenger and goods passenger lifts .
• EN81-70 : Accessibility to lifts for persons including persons with disability .
• EN81-71 : Vandal resistant lifts .
• EN81-72 : Firefighting lifts .
• EN81-73 : Behaviour of lifts in the event of fire .
• EN81-80 : Safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts .
Many UK high rise buildings have been built long before the current British standards and even their predecessors in the early seventies . Lift design was a matter for architects , building design approval and customer requirements . A few standards and design guides were available but not nationally approved specifications .
The most dangerous misunderstanding iKONIC Lifts have come across , amongst many firefighters over the years , is that a lift with “ Fire service over-rides ” are Firefighting lifts , they certainly ARE NOT !
The most common reason for this belief is the The fireman ’ s switch ( lift over ride switch ) one of the earliest control features , located in the lobby / entrance or at ground floor level , that can be utilised by the fire service . This can be used by breaking glass , a crescent switch , yale key switch , etc . Today is most commonly via a drop key . The most common effect is to over-ride all floor calling , to return the lift to the floor where the fireman ’ s switch is located , then to open the doors and for them to remain open .
An interesting point is that in EN 81-72 dated 2001-03 every floor of the building had to be in the event of a fire served . However the new European standards no longer defines a lift to serve every floor nor the number of firefighting lifts required above one unit in a building .
iKONIC Lifts cannot stress enough , unless specifically designed , and compliant a lift is NOT a Fire Fighter Lift !
A very specific design is required with many additional built in safety features . The design standards for firefighting lifts are covered in EN81-72 and the general requirements are as follow :
• Minimum size is 8 persons ( 630 kg ).
• 1100mm wide x 1400mm deep .
• or For Evacuation , 13-person 1100mm x 2100mm .
• Doors 800mm wide Minimum .
• Reach furthest floor from FSAL in 60 seconds up to 200m travel .
• Built in Water protection .
• Escape hatch and ladder .
• Communication system between the lift car and the FSAL .
• Dual / backup power supplies and shall be protected .
• Dedicated protected lift shaft .
• If distance between consecutive landing doorsills exceeds 7m , intermediate emergency doors shall be provided .
When activated the lift Control system will :
• Isolates all landing calls and cancels car calls
• Lift car returns to FSAL and parks with doors open
• Shaft and machine room lighting is switched on
Functionality Becomes Limited to :
• Single call operation
• Doors remain closed on arrival
• Constant pressure control of doors
• Communication device operative between Lift Car , machine room and FSAL
For more information contact iKONIC Lifts Telephone : 0203 376 6440 | Email : sales @ ikoniclifts . co . uk www . ikoniclifts . com
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