Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a)
All buildings that have patient services located on other than the main
entrance floor shall have electric or electrohydraulic elevators. The elevators
shall be installed in sufficient quantity, capacity, and speed to ensure that
the average interval of dispatch time will not exceed one minute, and average
peak loading can be accommodated. Elevators shall also give access to all
building levels normally used by the public. Escalators and conveyors are not
required but, when provided, shall comply with these requirements and the
requirement of §20.3 of the National Fire Protection Association 101, Life
Safety Code, 2003 Edition (NFPA 101), published by the National Fire Protection
Association. All documents published by the NFPA as referenced in this section
may be obtained by writing or calling the NFPA at the following address and
telephone number: Post Office Box 9101, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy,
Massachusetts 02269-9101, (800) 344-3555.
(b) New elevators, escalators and conveyors
shall be installed in accordance with the requirements of Health and Safety
Code, Chapter 754, Elevators, Escalators, and Related Equipment, and A17.1
Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, 2000 edition, published by the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI). All documents published by the ASME/ANSI as
referenced in this section may be obtained by writing the ANSI, United
Engineering Center, 345 East 47th Street, New York, New York 10017.
(1) Elevators shall not open to an exit or
exit passageway.
(2) A facility
located above the ground floor shall have an elevator of sufficient size to
accommodate a gurney available at all times. Minimum elevator car size shall be
five feet wide and seven feet deep.
(3) The smallest elevator car door opening
shall be at least three feet wide and seven feet high.
(4) When light beams are used for operating
door opening devices, the beams shall be used in combination with door edge
devices and shall be interconnected with a system of smoke detectors. The light
control feature shall be disengaged when smoke is detected in any elevator
lobby.
(5) Elevator call buttons,
controls, and door safety stops shall be of a type that will not be activated
by heat or smoke.
(6) All elevators
shall be equipped with an automatic leveling device of the two-way automatic
maintaining type with an accuracy of one-half inch.
(7) All elevators, except freight elevators,
shall be equipped with a two-way key operated service switch permitting cars to
bypass all landing button calls and be dispatched directly to any
floor.
(8) Elevator controls, alarm
buttons, and telephones shall be accessible to wheelchair occupants in
accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
(9) A smoke detection system for elevator
recall shall be located in elevator lobbies, elevator machine rooms and at the
top of elevator hoist ways as required by NFPA 72, §6.15.3.10.
(A) The elevator recall smoke detection
system in new construction shall comply with requirements of American Society
of Mechanical Engineers/American National Standards Institute (ASME/ANSI)
A17.1, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, 2000 edition. The publications
of the ASME/ANSI referenced in this section may be obtained by writing
ASME/ANSI, United Engineering Center, 345 East 47th Street, New York, New York
10017.
(B) The elevator recall
smoke detection system in existing ESRD facilities shall comply with
requirements of ASME/ANSI A17.3, Safety Code for Existing Elevators and
Escalators, 2002 edition.
(10) Elevator machine rooms that contain
solid-state equipment for elevators having a travel distance of more than 50
feet above the level of exit discharge or more than 30 feet below the level of
exit discharge shall be provided with independent ventilation or air
conditioning systems with the capability to maintain an operating temperature
during fire fighter service operations. The operating temperature shall be
established by the elevator equipment manufacturer's specifications and shall
be posted in each such elevator machine room. When standby power is connected
to the elevator, the machine room ventilation or air conditioning shall be
connected to standby power. These requirements are not applicable to existing
elevators.
(11) An ESRD facility
shall have all elevators and escalators routinely and periodically inspected
and tested as specified in ASME/ANSI A17.1, Safety Code for Elevators and
Escalators, 2000 edition. All elevators equipped with fire fighter service
shall be subject to a monthly operation with a written record of the findings
made and kept on the premises as required by NFPA 101, §9.4.6.
(12) An ESRD facility shall obtain a
certificate of inspection evidencing that the elevators, escalators, and
conveyors and related equipment were inspected in accordance with the
requirements in Health and Safety Code (HSC), Chapter 754, Subchapter B, and
determined to be in compliance with the safety standards adopted under HSC,
§754.014, administered by the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation. The certificate of inspection shall be on record in each
center.
(c) Existing
elevators and escalators shall comply with the ASME/ANSI A17.3, Safety Code for
Elevators and Escalators, 1996 edition. All existing elevators having a travel
distance of 25 feet or more above or below the level that best serves the needs
of emergency personnel for fire fighting or rescue purposes shall conform to
Fire Fighters' Service Requirements of ASME/ANSI A17.3 as required by NFPA 101,
§9.4.3.
