BUILDING SERVICES AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Contents:
2.1Lift:
 Lift floor, Storey, Nomenclature of Floors & Storeys
 Total Headroom, Lift Landing, Lift landing door, Lift car, Lift door
 Call indicator, Lift suspension ropes, Lift guides, Lift well, Lift pit
 Lift well Enclosure, Lift rated load, Lift rated Speed, Lift contact Speed
 Lift machine, Lift Overhead Beam (Definitions only)
 Classification of Lift: Passenger lift, Goods Lift, Hospital Lift, Service Lift (Dumb waiter),
Fireman’s Lift.

2.2 Design Considerations

 Number of Lifts & capacity
 Occupated Load , Quantity of service, Quality of Service, Car speed
 Determination of handling capacity, Positioning of Lifts
 Shape &Size of Lift car, Access to Machine Room & Lift Pits
 Safety Measures

Introduction to Lifts
The lift is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors (levels,
decks) of a building, vessel or other structure; generally powered by electric motors that either drive cables, hoist,
or pump hydraulic fluid to raise a cylindrical piston like a jack.

For multistoried buildings the installation of lifts is a must to avoid fatigue in climbing up the stairs and for
quick vertical circulation between different floors. The architect normally appoints a specialist engineer for the
design of lifts.

The following load capacities are laid down for passenger lifts in residential building.

(i) 400 kg (small lift) – for passengers, who may be carrying loads.

(ii) 630 kg (medium lift) – for passengers with wheelchairs.

(iii) 1000 kg (large lift) – suitable for the transport of stretchers, furniture.

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 The waiting area in front of the lift shaft must be laid out and designed, so that:
(a) Lift users entering and leaving the lift do not obstruct each other more than necessary even if carrying
luggage.
(b) The heavy loaded items to be transported by the lift, can be loaded and unloaded without risk of injury to
people or damage to the building or the lift and causing least possible obstruction to other users.
Previously collapsible doors were provided both for the lift car (cage) and for the opening in the shaft at the
floor level. Now-a-days flush doors of sliding type are provided.

Location of Lift
The most efficient method of locating lifts to serve an individual building is to group them together. A group
has a lower average interval between car arrivals than a single lift. Groups should be located:
i. For easy access to and from the main building entrance.
ii. Centrally for general ease of passenger journey.
If a building has areas which give long distance to the central group elevator, then it may be efficient to
provide an additional elevator for local areas.

In larger multi-storey building, it is usual to locate the lifts at a central pedestrian circulation point. It is
recommended that the walking distance between the entrance and the lift group should not be greater than 60 m,
preferably this should be kept to 45 m maximum.

When lifts are arranged in a group it is recommended that all the lifts in that should serve the same floors.

Important Definitions Related to Lift

Floor: The lower surface in a storey on which one normally walks in a building. The general term 'floor', unless
otherwise specifically mentioned shall not refer to a „mezzanine floor‟.
Storey: The space between the surface of one floor and the surface of the adjacent floor vertically above or below
it. The term „Floor‟ shall include „Roof‟ but will exclude mezzanine floors.
Lift Car: The load carrying unit with its floor or platform, car frame and enclosing bodywork.

Lift Landing: Lift landing is the portion of a building or a structure used for discharge of passengers or goods or
both into or from lift car.

Total Headroom: Total headroom is the vertical distance from the level of the top lift landing to the floor bottom of the
machine room slab.

Lift Landing Door: Lift landing door is the hinged or sliding portion of a lift well enclosure, controlling access to a lift car
at a lift landing.

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Fig. 1 (a) Details of Lift & Lift Shaft (b) Structure of an Electric Lift

Fig. 2: Cross-section of Shaft

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LLiifftt DDoooorr::
The lift door may be any of the following type:
(i) Centre Opening Sliding: A door which slides horizontally and consists of two or more panels which open
from the centre and are usually so interconnected that they move simultaneously
(ii) Mid-bar Collapsible: A collapsible door with vertical bars mounted between the normal vertical members.
(iii) Multi-panel: A door arrangement whereby more than one panel is used such that the panels are connected
together and can slide over one another by which means the clear opening can be maximized for a given shaft
width.
(iv) Single Slide: A single panel door which slides horizontally.
(v) Two-Speed Sliding: A door which slides horizontally and consists of two or more panels, one of which moves
at twice the speed of the other.
(vi) Vertical Bi-Parting: A door which slides vertically and consists of two panels or sets of panels that move
away from each other to open and are so interconnected that they move simultaneously.
(vii) Vertical Lifting: A single panel door, which slides in the same plane vertically up to open.
(viii) Swing: A swinging type single panel door which is opened manually and closed by means of a door closer
when released.

C
Caallll IInnddiiccaattoorr
Call indicator is a visual and audible device in the car to indicate to the attendant about the lift landings from
which calls have been made.

LLiifftt SSuussppeennssiioonn R
Rooppeess
Lift suspension ropes is the ropes by which the car and counter weight are suspended.

Lift Guides
Guide Rails: Guide rails are fixed members truly vertical in the shaft, and of steel, used to guide the movement of
a lift car or counterweight in a vertical direction.
Guide Rails Fixing: The complete set comprising the guide rails bracket and its fastenings.

Guide rails shoe: An attachment to the car frame or counterweight for the purpose of guiding the lift car or
counter weight frame.

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 Lift Well
Lift well is the unobstructed space within an enclosure provided for the vertical movement of the lift car and
any counterweight, including the lift pit and the space for top clearance.

Lift Pit
Lift pit is the space in the lift well below the level of the lowest lift landing served.

Lift Well Enclosure

Any structure which separates the lift well from its surroundings is called lift well enclosure.

Lift Machine
Lift machine is the part of the lift equipment comprising the motor and the control gear, reduction gear,
brake and winding drum or sheave, by which the lift car is raised or lowered.

Safety springs or buffers are placed in the pit, to bring the car or counterweight to a safe stop.
A buffer is a device designed to stop a descending car or counterweight beyond its normal limit and to
soften the force with which the elevator runs into the pit during an emergency. They may be of
polyurethane or oil type in respect of the rated speed.

There are two principal types of buffers in existence:

 Energy accumulation: accumulate the kinetic energy of the car or counterweight.

 Energy dissipation: dissipate the kinetic energy of the car or counterweight.

Lift Rated Load

Lift rated load is the maximum load for which the lift car is designed and installed to carry safely at its rated
speed.
Lift Rated Speed
Lift rated speed is the mean of the maximum speed attained by the lift car in the upward and downward
direction with rated load in the lift car.
Lift Contact Speed
Lift contact speed is the mean of the maximum speed attained by the lift car while moving from one landing
to another.

Lift Overhead Beams

Lift overhead beams is the members, usually of steel, which immediately support the lift equipment at the top
of the lift well.

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 Fig. 3: Cross-section of lift

CCllaassssiiffiiccaattiioonn ooff LLiifftt

The lifts are classified into following types based on the purpose of use:
(a) Passenger lifts
(b) Goods lifts
(c) Hospital lifts
(d) Dumb waiter
(e) Service lifts
(f) Fireman‟s lift
Passenger Lifts
These lifts are designed to move people between floors of a building. Their capacity is related to available floor space.
Upto 8-10 floors these operate at 1m/s and above 10 floors the speed starts at 2.5 m/s to 10 m/s.

Goods lifts
A lift designed primarily for the transport of goods, but which may carry a lift attendant or other persons necessary
for the loading or unloading of goods.

Hospital Lifts
A lift normally installed in a hospital/dispensary/clinic and designed to accommodate one number bed/stretcher
along its depth, with sufficient space around to carry a minimum of three attendants in addition to the lift operator.

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 Dumb Waiter
Dumb waiter is a lift with a car which moves in guides in a vertical direction; has a net floor area of 1 m 2,
total inside height of 1.2 m; has a capacity not exceeding 250 kg and is exclusively used for carrying materials
and shall not carry any person (whether or not provided with fixed or removable shelves).
Dumbwaiters are small freight elevators that are intended to carry food rather than passengers. They often
link kitchens with other rooms. When installed in restaurants, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, retirement
homes or in private homes, the lifts generally terminate in a kitchen. These lifts are self-contained; these lifts
can be easily moved to where they are needed.

Fig. 4: Passenger Lift Fig. 5: Goods Lift

Fig. 6: Hospital Lift Fig. 7: Dumb Waiter Lift

Service Lift
Service Lift is a passenger cum goods lift meant to carry goods along with people. These lifts are used in
an office building; these may be required to carry food or stationeries, in a residential building to carry a bureau
or accommodate a stretcher and in a hotel to be used for food trolleys or baggage.

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 Fireman’s Lift
Fire lift is passenger lift provided with a minimum capacity for 8 passengers and fully automated
with emergency switch on ground level. In the event of fire, the emergency switch is used to move directly
to the ground floor with maximum speed of lift.
In general, buildings 15 m in height or above shall be provided with fire lifts.
In case of fire, only fireman shall operate the fire lift. In normal course, it may be used by other
persons. Each fire lift shall be equipped with suitable inter-communication equipment for communicating
with the control room on the ground floor of the building.

The number and location of fire lifts in a building shall be decided after taking into
consideration various factors like building population, floor area, compartmentation etc.

Fig. 8: Service Lift Fig. 9: Fireman’s Lift

22..22D
Deessiiggnn CCoonnssiiddeerraattiioonnss ffoorr LLiiffttss
N
Nuum
mbbeerr ooff LLiiffttss &
& CCaappaacciittyy
The number of passenger lifts and their capacities, its load and speed, required for a given building depends
on the characteristics of the building.

The most important characteristics considered are:

(a) Number of floors to be served by the lift

(b) Floor to floor distance

(c) Population of each floor to be served

(d) Maximum peak demand (the demand may be unidirectional or a two-way traffic movement)

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 O
Occccuuppaanntt LLooaadd
Gross Area (m2 )
Occupant Load = 
Person

Q
Quuaannttiittyy ooff SSeerrvviiccee
The quantity of service is a measure of the passenger handling capacity of a vertical transportation system,
i.e., lift. It is measured in terms of the total number of passengers handled by a lift during each five minute peak
period of the day. It is expressed as a function of expected building population. A large building with single
tenancy usually provides heavier peak flows than those with multiple tenancies.

A five minute base period is used as this is the most practical time over which the traffic can be averaged.

The recommended passenger handling capacity for various buildings is as follows:

Type of building Handling capacity

Office – Diversified or Multiple tenancy 10 to 15 percent
Office - Single tenancy 15 to 25 percent
Residential 7.5 percent

Q
Quuaalliittyy ooff SSeerrvviiccee
The quality of service on the other hand is generally measured by the passenger waiting time at the various
floors.

The following should be the guiding factor for determining this aspect.

Waiting Time Rating (Quality of Service)

20 to 25 seconds Excellent
30 to 35 seconds Good
34 to 40 seconds Fair
45 seconds Poor
Over 45 seconds Unsatisfactory
Note - For residential buildings longer intervals should be permissible

CCaappaacciittyy ooff CCaarr

The minimum size of Car recommended for single purpose buildings is one suitable for a duty load of
884 kg.

Generally, for large office buildings, Cars with capacities up to 2,040 kg are recommended according to
the requirements.

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Car speed
Car speed is dependent upon the quantity of service required and the quality of service desired.

Based on the Indian Standard SP 7 (Part 8): 2005, the following recommendations are made:

No. of Floors Speed

4 to 5 0.5 to 0.75 m/s
6 to 12 0.75 to 1.5 m/s
3 to 20 1.5 to 2.5 m/s
Above 20 2.5 m/s and above

DDeetteerrm
miinnaattiioonn ooff H
Haannddlliinngg CCaappaacciittyy
The handling capacity of lift is generally calculated based on peak hours.

The handling capacity is calculated by the following formula:

300  Q 100
H
T P

Where

H = Handling capacity as the percentage of the peak population handled during 5 min. period,

Q = Average number of passengers carried in a car,

T = Waiting interval in seconds = Rt / N [Rt = Round Trip Time and N = No. of Lifts]

P = Total population to be handled during peak morning period

Note: The value of Q depends on the dimensions of the car. The car is not loaded always to its maximum
capacity during each trip and, therefore, for calculating H the value of Q is taken as 80 percent of the maximum
carrying capacity of the car.

The waiting interval is calculated by the formula:

T = R t /N where, T= waiting interval, N= number of lifts, and

R t [Round Trip Time] is the sum of the time required in the following process:
(a) Entry of the passengers on the ground floor,
(b) Exit of the passengers on each floor of discharge,
(c) Door closing time before each floor of discharge,
(d) Door opening time on each discharging operation,

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 (e) Acceleration periods,
(f) Stopping and leveling periods,
(g) Period of full rated speeds between stops going up, and
(h) Period of full rated speeds between stops going down.

It is observed that the handling capacity is inversely proportional to the waiting time which in turn is
proportional to Rt.
The round trip time can be decreased not only by increasing the speed of the lift but also by
improving the design of the equipment related to opening and closing of the landing and car doors,
acceleration, deceleration, leveling and passenger movement.

Positioning of Lifts
A thorough investigation should be made for assessing the most suitable position for lifts while planning
the building.

The positioning of lifts also based on the type of lifts and purpose of lifts.

Arrangement of Lifts
(i) The lifts should be so arranged such that it can be easily accessible from all entrances to the building.
(ii) It is preferable not to have number of lifts in straight line and maximum of three lifts can be arranged in
this manner.

Fig 10 Arrangements of Lifts

Note: The corridor should be wide enough to allow sufficient space for waiting passengers as well as for through passengers.

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 In some cases when there are more than three lifts, the alcove arrangement is recommended.

Fig. 11 Alcove Arrangement for Four Lifts

This “alcove arrangement” permits the narrowest possible corridors and saves space on the upper floors, i.e.,
walking distance to the individual lift is reduced and passenger standing in the centre of the group can readily see
all the lift doors and landing indicators.

Fig 12 Alcove Arrangement of Lifts [A Photographic View]

The ideal arrangement of the lifts depends upon the particular layout of the respective building and should be
determined in every individual case (as discussed below for specific types of lifts).
Passenger Lifts: Low and Medium Class Flats
The lifts are arranged to serve two, three or four flats per floor, the lift may be placed adjoining a staircase,
with the lift entrances serving direct on to the landings.

The lift is to serve a considerable number of flats having access to balconies or corridors; it may be
conveniently placed in a well ventilated tower adjoining the building.
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 Fig 13 Lift Serving Two Flats

Office Buildings, Hotels and High Class Flats

It is desirable to have at least a battery of two lifts at two or more convenient points of a building.

If this is not possible, it is advisable to have at least two lifts side by side at the main entrance and one lift
each at different sections of the building for intercommunication.

When two lifts are installed side by side, the machine room shall be suitably planned with sufficient space for housing the
machine equipment.

Fig 14 Two Lifts side by side Fig. 15 Lifts in Shops

Shops and Departmental Stores

Lifts in shops and stores should be situated so as to secure convenient and easy access at each floor.

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Goods Lifts
The location of goods lifts in factories, warehouses and similar buildings should be planned to suit the
progressive movement of goods throughout the buildings, having regard to the nature of position of the loading
platforms, railway sidings, etc.
The placing of a lift in a fume or dust laden atmosphere or where it may be exposed to extreme temperatures,
should be avoided wherever possible.
Normally goods lifts have lower speeds than passenger lifts for the same travel because traffic conditions are
less demanding, and more time is required for loading and unloading.

Fig 16: Goods Lifts

Hospital Lifts
Hospital lifts [Fig. 7 at page no. 6] should be situated conveniently near the ward and operating theatre
entrances.
[Note: There should be sufficient space near the landing door for easy movement of stretcher.]
It is convenient to place the passenger lifts in a hospital, near the staircases.

Shape and Size of Lift Car

Careful analysis shall be performed during selection of shape and size of lifts so as to get full advantage of it
shape for the most effective use of lifts and building space. The dimensions of the car platform shall be such that
the car will not exceed its rated load when packed full.

Note:
i) For the same platform area, a lift having higher width to depth ratio can accommodate more
passengers and takes less time for passenger transfer.
ii) The width of the car is determined by the width of the entrance and the depth of the car is regulated
by the loading.
Lift cars shall have net inside area for different loading capacities not more than as per the following table.

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 Maximum inside Net Platform Areas for Various Rated Loads
Rated Load Maximum Available Maximum Number
(Mass) in (kg) Car Area in (m²) of Passenger

100 0.40 1
180 0.50 2
225 0.70 3
300 0.90 4
375 1.10 5
400 1.17 5
450 1.30 6
525 1.45 7
600 1.60 8
630 1.66 9
675 1.75 10
750 1.90 11
800 2.00 11
825 2.05 12
900 2.20 13
975 2.35 14
1000 2.40 14
1050 2.50 15
1125 2.65 16
1200 2.80 17
1250 2.90 18
1275 2.95 18
1350 3.10 19
1425 3.25 20
1500 3.40 22
1600 3.56 23
1800 3.88 26
2100 4.36 30
2500 5.00 36
[Beyond 2500 kg, add 0.16 m2 for each 100 kg extra.]
Note: Maximum available car area = (W×D) + Available area near the car door(s) inside the car.
Where, W = Car inside width in meter (m); and D = Car inside depth in meter (m)

Access to Machine Room and Lift Pits

(a) Access to machine room above a lift well may be either from the roof or by an internal staircase with a proper
arrangement for fixing.
(b) Access between a secondary floor and a machine room may be by ladder. Where a machine room entrance is
less than 1.5 m above or below the adjacent floor or roof surfaces, a substantial permanently attached ladder
may be used.

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 (c) Ladders should be fixed at least 150 mm clear of any wall, beam or obstruction and should extend at least to
the landing level.
(d) Above the landing level and for a height of at least 1.15 m, either the ladder stringers should be extended or
suitable hand grips should be provided.
(e) Where the machine room entrance is 1.5 m or more above or below the adjacent floor or roof surface, access
should be provided by means of stairs.
(f) The angle of inclination of the stair should not exceed 50° from the horizontal and the clear width of the stair
should be not less than 600 mm.
(g) The tread should have a non-slip surface which should be not less than 150 mm wide for open stair
construction and not less than 20 cm wide for closed stair construction.
(h) The rise of the stair should not exceed 250 mm.
(i) The rise of the stair should not exceed 250 mm.
(j) Headroom clearance of not less than 2 m measured from the nosing of the stairway should be provided on
every stairway.
(k) Heights of stairs over 5 m in length should be provided with intermediate landings.
(l) Access to a machine room in a basement may be provided from a corridor.
(m) Access to a machine room via the lift well should be prohibited.
(n) The lift pit should be capable of being examined by a separate access. In the case of a battery of two lifts, it is
possible to examine the lift pit through the adjoining one.

Safety Measures of Lifts

Though elevators are one of the safest forms of transportation available, following the simple guidelines
can help ensure passenger safety.
1. Never interfere with closing doors. Wait for the next elevator.
2. Don‟t attempt to open elevator doors on moving condition.
3. Don‟t cram into an elevator that is exceeding its capacity; actively discourage anyone else from
cramming into an elevator.
4. Don‟t block the doors open with any kind of equipment or box, or with your foot or arm. In newer
elevators, holding the doors open will cause the elevator to “time out” and shut down as a safety
feature.
5. In the event of fire, use stairs; lift shafts are often not sealed and act as a chimney when fire is
present.
6. When the elevator stops, first ring the alarm button and wait for assistance. Use the emergency
phone if that one is available.

Disclaimer: All the contents in this study material are from internet search of the Respected
Authors, and from the book “Building Services and Entrepreneurship Development” by Dr. M. N
Patra, Dr. S. Biswas & Ms.S. Biswas [ Aryan Publishing House, Kolkata ] and from Visual e-Learning
DVD of West Bengal State Council of Technical Education.

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