You could take the stairs for some exercise, but it’s hard to beat the convenience of a well-placed elevator (lift). While there are around 900,000 elevators worldwide, your location largely determines if you face their ups and downs. New York City, for example, is home to 84,000 elevators. In the United States and Canada, ASME A17.1 (or CSA B44) is the safety code for elevators. To facilitate compliance with elevator inspections, there’s ASME A17.2-2020: Guide For Inspection Of Elevators, Escalators, And Moving Walks.
About ASME A17.2-2020 for Elevator Inspections
ASME A17.2-2020, an American National Standard, is a guide for inspection and testing procedures for electric and hydraulic elevators, escalators, and moving walks. The systems covered by this document are listed in its subtitle:
Includes Inspection Procedures for Electric Traction and Winding Drum Elevators, Hydraulic Elevators, Inclined Elevators, Limited-Use/Limited-Application Elevators, Private Residence Elevators, Escalators, Moving Walks, and Dumbwaiters
These recommended procedures help conform to ASME A17.1-1955 and later editions (although ASME A17.2-2020 does address some requirements from prior editions) and ASME A17.3. It also includes Canadian references and applicable exceptions for CSA B44.
ASME A17.2-2020 assists qualified inspectors in performing routine inspections and witnessing periodic and acceptance inspections and tests. However, it is not intended as a basis for government regulations, and it does not contain information on handling discrepancies.
Furthermore, while the guide illustrates methods of complying with ASME A17.1 requirements, professionals test may employ other methods to demonstrate compliance. Qualified inspectors have the knowledge and experience to recognize potential deficiencies and focus the inspection where necessary.
Changes to ASME A17.2-2020
As the eighth edition of the elevator inspections guide, ASME A17.2-2020 underwent numerous revisions from the 2017 version. Some major changes include:
- The guide was expanded to cover the inspection of dumbwaiters. With this, five new sections were added to the standard document:
- Part 12, “Dumbwaiter – Car”
- Part 13, “Dumbwaiter — Machinery Space, Machine Room, Control Space, and Control Room”
- Part 14, “Dumbwaiter — Top of Car”
- Part 15, “Dumbwaiter — Outside Hoistway”
- Part 16, “Dumbwaiter — Pit”
- Inspection guidance for door reopening devices was added
- An emergency power acceptance checklist was added
- Acceptance for access to machine rooms and machinery spaces was clarified
- New Table 4.2.1-1, “Maximum Allowable Opening for a Hoistway Door or Gate in the Closed Position”
- Periodic inspection for elevator equipment in public locations was added
- New Figure 5.8.1.1-1, “Safety Gripping Face and Guide Rail Minimum Clearance”
- New Nonmandatory Appendix J, “Acceptance Checklist for Standby/Emergency Power”
You can find all changes identified by the margin note (20) throughout the ASME A17.2-2020 document.
ASME A17.2-2020: Guide For Inspection Of Elevators, Escalators, And Moving Walks is available on the ANSI Webstore.
Other ASME A17 Standards for Elevator Safety
ASME A17.2-2020 procedures were written to aid compliance with ASME A17.1 and ASME A17.3, but these three documents do not comprise the entirety of the series of standards pertinent to elevators, escalators, and related machinery. You can learn more about these standards documents in our post ASME A17 Elevator Safety Standards.
Several elevator safety standards—parts 1 through 6 of ASME A17—are available together at a 35% discount as the ASME A17. Elevator and Escalator Safety Package.
