McKEON’s VP of Business & Code Development, David Dodge, was featured as the cover story author in Life Safety Digest.
The article, “Hoistway Opening Protection-International Building Code (IBC) 2015 Edition, Section 3006,” focuses on fire and life safety as well as building code requirements for elevator shafts and lobbies. It also covers options to meet the criteria necessary when the elevator shaft in a building connects more than three stories.
The detailed article explains how elevator shafts would function in the event of a fire emergency, and why such specific requirements are necessary to keep building occupants safe. “Elevator shafts commonly represent a large quantity of inter-connecting vertical shafts in multi-story buildings. These shafts become conduits for fire, heat, smoke, and other toxins from the fire floor(s) to additional floors. Historically, the separation of these shafts from the rest of the structure was accomplished with conventional elevator lobby construction.”
Resolves to creating an elevator lobby by instead using an opening protective are discussed throughout the article. According to Dodge, “This provision allows protection at the point of access to the car without creating a lobby, as long as the requirements of test standard UL 1784 are met. This language allowing the opening protective to be located at the point of access to the elevator car does not require the opening protective to be fire-rated, only resistant to the passage of smoke because the hoistway doors are fire-protection-rated.
However, hoistway doors are not resistant to the passage of smoke. Therefore, an opening protective at the point of access, working in conjunction with the fire-protection–rated hoistway door, functions as one assembly to meet both fire and smoke requirements.”
Ultimately building occupant safety is the number one priority. With the innovative products McKEON offers architects can find code compliant solutions that supply them with numerous options to satisfy common building code requirements. Want to learn more? Read the entirety of Life Safety Digest’s article!