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Planning Elevator Installations in Buildings

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 Lift Report 2017; 43(2): 18-28

Planning Elevator Installations in

Buildings
Lutfi Al-Sharif
Professor, Mechatronics Engineering Department,
The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan

Abstract
This paper provides a general set of guidelines on the planning of elevator
installations in buildings. It provides a set of guidelines on the dimensional aspects in
buildings in order to ensure that the optimal space is used within the building to fit the
elevator installations and its means of access. It also provides guidelines on the
selection of suitable motors, the design of the car itself and its finishes, the location of
elevators and escalators. It concludes by providing an overview of the reeving ratio
as to why it is used and its drawbacks, the RIBA design stages and a list of suitable
references.

1. INTRODUCTION
The planning of an elevator installation requires vast experience and knowledge.
This document lists and discusses the steps that the consultant needs to go through
in order to plan and design the elevator installation in conjunction with the architect
and the rest of the design team.

2. FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED
The following is a discussion of the factors that need to be taken into consideration
when planning elevator systems for buildings:

1. Assessing the demand based on the type of building: The type of building has
a significant effect on the required vertical transportation system.
The two main factors in this area are: population and arrival rate and
pattern. Examples are: railway terminals, airports, office buildings, hospitals,
universities, stadia.
In some cases the arrival is more peaky (offices), and in others the
departure is more peaky (e.g., theatres, stadia, railway stations).
The arrival and departure patterns can be modelled in a number of
ways. A uniform arrival or a normal arrival/departure pattern can be
sometimes assumed to best reflect the way people behave.
Another main factor to take into consideration is the unit of time taken.
15, 5 or 1 minute can be taken. It is customary to take the worst 5 minute
peak period and use that as the basis for demand. However, in some cases it
is more appropriate to use the worst one minute as the basis for design.
Elevator systems have been traditionally sized based on the
percentage of the population arriving in the worst five minutes. This has
usually been taken as 15% or 12% of the population arriving during the worst
5 minute period. Modern practices show that this figure in reality is nearer to
10-12%, due to the prevalence of flexible starting and finishing times.

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In stadia, theatres and railway stations this figure is probably much

higher, reaching 50% of the population attempting to leave within the worst
five minute period. In this case, queues will form at the landings of escalators
and at elevator lobbies.
More details about assessing demand can be found in [1].

2. Once the demand has been estimated, it is then possible to size the main
passenger elevator system. This is only the part of the vertical transportation
system that caters for the bulk movement of passengers during non-
emergency situations. Others aspects of the building transportation needs are
addressed later (e.g., goods movement, emergency evacuation, fire fighting,
kitchen and waste movement….). The number, grouping and method of
control of the elevator system are decided at this stage. Two criteria exist for
the selection of the number, speed, capacity, grouping and method of group
control of the elevators: Quality and quantity of service. The quality of service
is best reflected in the interval between the arrivals of the elevators, and
relates quite strongly to the waiting time of the passengers (called the
interval). The quantity of service is best reflected by the number of
passengers moved to their destination during five minutes expressed as a
percentage of the building population (called handling capacity).
The design of the elevators is basically a trade-off between these two
parameters: Quality and quantity of service. In fact the method of group
control is also a method of trade-off between these two parameters as well.
Take channelling for example, it allocate a specific elevator to a specific
passengers, so that even if an elevator arrives while the passenger is still
waiting, he/she has to let it go and wait for their allocated elevator to arrive. In
essence what has happened is the actual number of stops has been reduced
thus reducing journey time and eventually reducing the round trip time.
One control system introduced by Otis is called channelling (an
example is shown in Figure 1). In this system, each elevator serves a specific
set of floors in each journey. Thus passengers will have to board the specific
elevator that is serving their destination floor in that journey. Within such a
system channelling increases handling capacity at the expense of waiting
time. However, the advantage is that the percentage improvement in handling
capacity is more than the increase in the waiting time. This is explained as
follows:

1. As the number of stops reduces, the round trip time reduces. This
has two consequent effects: reducing the interval and also
increasing the handling capacity.

2. Although the passenger waits for longer because they cannot board
the first elevator to arrive, the interval has reduced and thus they do
not wait twice as long, but less.

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 Lift Report 2017; 43(2): 18-28

Figure 1: Example of a Channeling system in Sydney, Australia.

The traffic analysis can then be either done manually or using software. This
provides a value for the handling capacity of the system and the resultant
interval. The calculation depends on a number of parameters such as: Door
opening and closing times; passenger/wheelchair transfer time (affected by
factors such as door width, car depth and width, nature of passengers,
familiar/unfamiliar); number of stops; acceleration and deceleration times; jerk;
manual calculation of flight time; express jumps; inter-floor distances; advance
door opening; torque time.
In terms of car loading a figure of 80% is usually used. However in
practice the car loading will be lower than this figure.
Consideration should also be given at this stage to the group control
method. Different methods are available such as conventional group control,
hall call allocation, channelling, static or dynamic sectoring, and static and
dynamic zoning. More information can be found in elevator traffic design in
the following references: [2] to [11]. The effect of group control and the use of
simulation tools can also be found in some of the following references ([13] to
[35]).

3. Some of the factors that need to be taken into consideration when sizing the
elevator system are the speed, and capacity of the elevator and the grouping
of the elevators. (e.g., 8 person/630 kg; 13 person/1000 kg; 16 person/1300
kg; 21 person/1600 kg; 26 person/2000 kg).
When specifying a specific car a choice has to be made as to whether
the car is selected as a deep car or wide car. In general wide cars are

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 Lift Report 2017; 43(2): 18-28

preferable to deep cars, as they provide better passenger transfer and achieve
higher car capacities. Deep cars are sometimes preferred for the sake of
wheelchair users, especially on open-through cars. Open through cars might
sometimes be preferred for dual purpose elevators where they can serve
passengers and also be used for movement of goods.

4. Once the number of cars and their size and speed have been decided, then it
is necessary to decide the suitable dimensions for the shaft and the machine
room, pit depth and headroom. Two approaches are possible: either to use
the specific manufacturer’s data sheets to see what size is needed to fit all the
models from suppliers; or to use generic dimensions as provided by standards
(e.g., ISO 4190 part 2). These give general sizes that suit all suppliers, but
might be too generous in some cases. To use the tables in such standards, it
is necessary to have decided on the type of drive.
It is necessary to add around 150-200 mm for the divider beam
between elevators in shaft to allow for supporting structures.

5. A decision has then to be made regarding the type of drive. Options in this
area are: machine room traction, upper or lower drive; hydraulic; machine
room-less (MRL). In certain cases, rack & pinion drives can be used if
appropriate.
The position of the drive depends on whether a machine room is
available at the top or not and whether the structure can support the forces
and the weight of the machine/gearbox.
The main advantages of the modern MRL’s are that they utilise
gearless- permanent magnet synchronous motors. There have advantages in
a number of areas: as they run at a low speed (around 100 rpm), they do not
need gearbox and hence generate less noise and use less energy. Also due
to the lower speed of the motor, it generates less noise as well. It is quite
compact and thus does not need a machine room.
However, the main disadvantage is that it is a fairly standard product,
and most manufacturers have value engineered it to become a standard
cheap product that they offer for most applications.
Lower traction drives have the main disadvantage that they have a
larger number of pulleys; they produce a large number of bends for the rope
during travel. Moreover, as a number of manufacturers use 2:1 roping
arrangements on those units, the number of rope bends becomes even higher.
And in an attempt not to have any pulleys on top of the car (for safety
reasons), the pulleys on the car are positioned under the car (underslung
arrangement). This makes changing the ropes an extremely difficult task.
Ropes could wear as fast as every 18 months and need replacing.
Rope wear is especially bad if the reversal happen within a short
distance. This usually happens on the lower pulleys positioned at the bottom
of the shaft (as the motor is usually in the machine room next to the shaft, and
has two idler pulleys at the bottom of the shaft).

6. Sizing of elevator motors: The elevator motor needs to be sized based on the
capacity of the elevator and the rated speed. There are basically two methods
for sizing (more details can be found in reference [12]):

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a. Static sizing (this checks the power needed to move all the masses and
keep them moving at the rated speed of the elevator). It is called the
static method because it does not carry any check to check that the
motor is capable of accelerating all the moving masses up to speed. It
is only based on the counterweight balance ratio, the speed of the
elevator, the capacity of the elevator and the efficiency of the whole
elevator system (which actually is the most difficult parameter to obtain,
and usually has to be estimated).

b. The second method is called the dynamic method. This method

ensures that the motor has enough torque to be able to accelerate the
moving masses up to the required speed in an acceptable time. For
example, it is not acceptable if a motor can run the elevator at rated
speed, but can only accelerate it up to rated speed at an acceleration of
0.1 m/s2!
In most cases of elevator systems, this does not occur, and if a
motor can run the elevator at the rated speed, it usually is capable of
accelerating it at a value of more than 1m/s2. In special situations,
where the car is very heavy (due for example to special heavy finishes),
then the above situation might arise. In these cases it will be necessary
to upgrade the motor to a motor with a higher torque, despite the fact
that the power of the motor is adequate.

7. Once the motor size has been calculated, then it is possible to calculate the
starting and running current.
The ratio between the starting current and the running current depends
on the method of starting and the type of power electronic drive used.
Although it is customary nowadays to use variable frequency drives (VF),
other drives are still employed in certain situations. For completeness soft-
starters drives have a staring current of 2.5 times the rated current, star-delta
drives have a starting current of 3.5 times the running current, direct on line
starters have a starting current of 7 times the rated running current.
Diversity factors can be used to allow for a reduction in the electrical
demand in elevator systems. This is based on the assumption that all
elevators in the group will not draw the full current simultaneously. A figure of
around 0.6 can be generally used.

8. Positioning and locating the groups of elevators: When arranging the groups
of elevators there is a need to consider their position. Ideally, at one extreme,
all the passenger elevators in the building need to be grouped in one group
centrally in the premise, to give the smallest interval for waiting passengers
(Handling capacity is the same for any grouping configuration; the difference is
in the resulting interval). However, this might create a problem for a large
footprint building, where passenger walking distances become excessive, in
order for them to get to the elevators, go up or down, and then walk back to
the exit. In order to minimise walking distances, it is ideal to place at least one
elevator at every building entrance or office grouping (block). Although this
minimises walking distance, it has a detrimental effect on the interval (the
interval increases). Thus the positioning of groups of elevators for a large
footprint office block (premise) is a compromise between reducing horizontal

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walking distances, and reducing the interval (passenger waiting time for an
elevator arrival).

9. Escalators/passenger conveyors: It is important at an early stage to check the

viability of using escalators and/or passenger conveyors in the vertical
transportation scheme. For journeys limited to one or two floors, escalators
are more efficient than elevators in terms of handling capacity. They do suffer
however from the disadvantage that they cannot accommodate mobility
impaired passengers (e.g., wheelchair bound passengers). In stadia for
example, using escalators is very efficient for dealing with departing
spectators. For anything more than two floor journeys, escalators start to lose
their attractiveness, as the journey time starts to become excessive.
Passenger conveyors are only suitable for long walking distances,
where interchange is not needed, as in airports and railway stations.

10. Having decided on the position of elevators (and escalators/passenger

conveyors if applicable), it is then a good idea to check the resulting walking
distances for passengers. This check needs to be carried out in two contexts:

a. Getting into and out of the premise (e.g., morning and evening).
b. Getting from one floor to another within the building.

Although it might not be problem getting in and out of a building in the morning
and afternoon, sometimes the problem exists if someone just wants to go from
one floor to another in a large footprint building. In this case, he/she might
have to walk a long distance to get to the elevators, use the elevator to go up
or down and then walk back to his/her desk. Walking distances in excess of
60 metres are unacceptable. Re-positioning of the elevators/escalators might
be a tool to improve these walking distances.

11. It is then important to check the floors served by each elevator and the need
for any special access control arrangements. For example, some elevators
would serve the car park, while others might not. If elevators in the same
group are of mixed nature (goods/passenger; scenic/non-scenic), then there
might be a need to be able to call one of the elevators and not the others (e.g.,
special guest requiring to travel in the scenic elevator; goods elevator that is
part of the group needed for moving goods). Moreover, if access is to be
restricted to the elevator serving the car park, then it is necessary to have
swipe card (or smart card) access to call the elevators to the car park, for
example.

12. Goods/kitchen needs: There is a need to consider goods that are to be

transported within the building. It is advisable to understand from the client
what sort of goods they might be moving, and their physical dimensions and
weight. It is also worth considering the positioning of any goods elevators
near to the loading bay where the main goods are coming in. It is also worth
analysing the path that any goods coming in to any point in the building would
take (along sensitive areas, or quiet areas, or space restricted areas). These
points would influence the number, capacity and position of any goods
elevators needed in the premises. Kitchen elevators are useful near kitchens

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and restaurants for moving trolleys. Service elevators can also be used,
where they are elevators that cannot be used by passengers. There range
from tray elevators (single deck or double deck tray elevators); trolley
elevators (that are waist high elevators that can accommodate trolleys, and
have rating of around 250-300 kg); and small goods/service elevators that
have capacities of up to 500 kg. These service elevators act as dumbwaiters,
so they are loaded with the goods, dispatched to the relevant floor, and then
the operator has to walk up to down to the destination floor and take the goods
out again. When the interior of these service elevators becomes larger than a
certain dimension and can accommodate a person, then they have to be fitted
with a safety gear to protect against suspension failure and the dangers of
free-fall.
In certain cases, if no goods service is provided, or if goods elevator
service is not available in all areas of the building, it is then recommended that
a top-hat and drapes are provided within the elevator to allow passenger
elevators to be used for the movement of goods as needed. Figure 2 shows
an example of a top hat in ceiling of an elevator car that will allow it to be used
for the movement of long objects. However, it is worth remembering that the
presence of a top hat on the elevator car would encroach on the available
headroom.

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Figure 2: Top hat.

13. Depending on the height above ground (or depth below ground) then a fire-
fighting elevator might be needed. In these cases the number of elevators
depends on the floor area of the premises. A fire-fighting elevator needs to be
in accordance with the latest standards. The most notable features are that it
needs two independent supplies that are fire rated. The doors have to be one
hour fire rated. The lobbies have to be protected lobbies and the final exist
floor (ground floor) must have a protected path to a safe area outside the
building.

14. In order to comply with the building regulations, every building must have
some suitable means of access for the disabled. The best way to achieve this
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is the use of an elevator suitable for access by the disabled, and in

compliance with the requirements of the building regulations.

15. Evacuation elevators: For any premise to get a fire certificate, the
management must have a plan for evacuating the disabled from the building in
case of fire. The main means of evacuation is always a protected stairway.
However, the use of elevators can assist with the evacuation of the disabled.
This depends to a large extent on the number of floors and the expected
number of disabled passengers in the building at any one point in time.

16. Vandal resistant requirements: Depending on the environment, it is a good

idea to check whether vandal resistant features are needed. Moreover, some
clients have their own requirements for vandal resistant elevators (e.g.,
railways, housing local authorities).

17. Budget price: It is a good idea to get a quotation from a number of suppliers
at this stage. This is especially important if the elevator/escalator has any
special features (e.g., low noise, high level finishes) or is a completely non-
standard product.

18. It is a good idea to list all the relevant standards (some of which might be
client standards) at the end with a list of references.

19. In the appendix of the vertical transportation report a schedule must be

included of all the elevators/escalators with all their parameters (an example of
which is shown later in this document). The schedule should include the
motor sizing for all elevators/escalators. Also a layout diagram showing the
rough position of all elevators and their groupings should also be included in
an appendix. Details on the methodology for sizing the motors for both
elevators and escalator can be found in reference [12].

20. Energy consumption: On certain projects, the client might be interested in

getting an estimate of the energy consumption of the new installation. On
other project, the reduction in the energy consumed can be used to justify the
refurbishment of an installation (e.g., adding a variable speed drive system).
More details can be found on the energy consumption of elevators and
escalators in references [36], [37] and [38].

3. DIMENSIONAL ASPECTS AND SPACE REQUIREMENTS

One of the most important issues that need to be carefully considered are the space
requirements. It is necessary to clearly specify the dimensions for the associated
spaces. Some notes are presented below.

1) Once the traffic analysis has been carried, the dimensional requirements for the
elevators in the shaft can be compiled.

2) The main parameters that need to be decided for each elevator are:

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a) The shaft width: The shaft width is the clear internal width of the shaft.
The width is the dimension that is parallel to the elevator doors direction of
opening and closing.

b) The shaft depth: The shaft depth is the clear internal depth of the shaft.
The depth is the dimension that is perpendicular to the direction of door
opening and closing.

c) The pit depth: The pit depth is the vertical distance between the finished
floor level of the lowest-most floor and the floor of the pit.

d) The headroom: The headroom is the vertical distance between the

finished floor level of the top-most served floor and the underside of the
slab at the top of the shaft.

e) The machine room headroom: The headroom inside the machine room is
the distance from the finished floor level on which the motor is placed and
the underside of the slab at the roof of the machine room. This ranges
from 2000 mm to 4000 mm depending on the size of the motor.

3) Rules on the access to the pit: In order to achieve safe access to the pit, the
following is required depending on the pit depth:

a. Pit depth less than 1 m: In this case no special arrangements are needed.

b. Pit depth more than 1 m and less than 2.5 m: A permanent fixed ladder is
required in the shaft that is accessible from the lowest landing.

c. Pit depth more than 2.5 m: In this case a walk-in pit arrangement must be
provided. The door dimensions have to be at least: 350 mm wide by 1800
mm high.

d. In general good lighting must be provided within the pit.

e. A stop switch must be provided inside the shaft that is accessible from the
lowest landing. This is to provide safe access for the maintenance staff
accessing the pit (in order to ensure that the elevator is not operational
before accessing the pit and letting the landing doors close).

4) Where a number of elevators are located adjacent to each other in the same
shaft, then a divider beam must be installed in the shaft. An allowance of 150 mm
to 200 mm should be provided.

5) A schedule is then developed that provides all the details for every elevator. It
should contain the following parameter:

a) Identifier for the elevator (e.g., L1). Each elevator must have a unique
identifier.
b) The group that the elevator belongs to.
c) The number of elevators in the group.

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d) The usage of the elevator (passenger office, fire fighting, goods....etc.).

e) Floors served.
f) Capacity in kg and persons.
g) Speed.
h) Car width.
i) Car depth.
j) Car internal height (typically 2300 mm, could be increased in certain cases to
2700 mm).
k) Shaft width.
l) Shaft depth.
m) Door width.
n) Door height (typically 2100 mm).
o) Door arrangement: This usually two panel centre opening (2PCO) or two
panel side opening (2PSO).
p) Open through: The elevator is open through if it has a front door and a rear
door.
q) Shaft headroom.
r) Pit depth.
s) Safety gear on the counterweight: A safety gear is required on the
counterweight if there are accessible areas under the pit.
t) Type of drive: The drive could be electrical traction or hydraulic. In certain
cases, the elevator could be machine room-less.
u) Location of drive: The drive could be located above the shaft, below the pit or
to the side of the shaft.
v) Headroom of the machine room: This can range from 2000 mm to 4000 mm.
It depends on the size of the drive motor.

A sample schedule with notes and diagrams is shown next.

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Typical Elevator Schedule with Notes and Layout

(1) All Dimensions in mm

(2) In cases where more than one elevator is in the shaft, an allowance of 150 mm has to be added per steel divider beam
between every two elevators (i.e., for a shaft with 4 adjacent elevators, add 450 mm).
(3) Shaft headroom is the distance from the finished floor level of the topmost served floor by the elevator upto the underside of
the slab inside the elevator shaft (see figure below).
(4) Machine room headroom is the distance from the slab on which the motor is sitting (i.e., above the shaft) upto the underside
of the slab forming the roof of the machine room (see figure below).
(5) Total headroom includes the shaft headroom, plus the machine room headroom plus a 300 mm allowance for the slab on
which the motor will sit.
(6) Machine room area projection will be equivalent to the elevator shaft as well as the lobby.
(7) Reserved.
(8) These elevators can be made machine-room-less removing the need for a machine room.
(9) 2PCO: Two panel centre opening; 2PSO: Two panel side opening.
(10) When the pit depth is between 1000 mm and 2500 mm, then a permanently fixed ladder is required to allow safe access.
When the pit depth is more than 2500 mm then a walk-in pit door is required.

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Figure 3: Pit arrangement. Figure 4: Top of the shaft and machine room arrangement.

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6) Electrical Interlocking: Where emergency access is provided to the pit, then it

should be fitted with an electrical interlock switch. This ensures that if someone
opens the emergency access door to the pit, the elevator will stop and not move any
further. The switch will be wired into the safety line for the elevator controller. This
switch will be normally closed (when the door is closed the switch is closed) and
opens when the door is opened.
The concept of electrical interlocking is an important concept in all control
systems in general. It is widely used in the industry to protect personnel (e.g., on the
door of a microwave oven; on the mesh preventing access to a metal cutting
machine).

7) The Human Rectangular Block: The concept of the “human rectangular block”
is an important concept in the protection of personnel working inside the elevator
shaft, either in the pit or on top of the car. In the pit, when the car is sitting on the
fully compressed buffer(s), the space should be able to accommodate a rectangular
block of dimensions 0.5 x 0.6 x 1 m sitting on one of its sides.
When the counterweight is sitting on its fully compressed buffer(s), a space
should exist above the car that can accommodate a rectangular block of dimensions
0.5 x 0.6 x 0.8 m, sitting on one of its sides.

8) Notes on the derivation of the Headroom: The headroom is built up from a

number of components. The electrical over-speed limit is 15%. So when the
elevator is travelling at an over-speed of 15% (i.e., 115% of rated speed), the
distance required to bring it to rest at a deceleration of 1 g is:

v 2 − u 2 = 2 ⋅ g ⋅ ∆d
− (1.15) ⋅ (v rated ) = 2 ⋅ (− 9.81) ⋅ ∆d
2 2

∆d = 0.0674 ⋅ v rated
2

To this is added a margin of 1 m (to provide space for someone on top of the car),
and the height of the car itself (at least 2500 mm).

So the headroom is equal to the sum of the slowdown distance, the car height and a
1 m margin.

9) Equipment in the Pit: The pit contains the buffers for the car and the
counterweight (Figure 5). The car might have one or more buffers. The buffer is
usually placed on top of a concrete block. The purpose of the concrete block is to
provide the necessary space for the “human rectangular block” mentioned above.
The buffer can either be of the energy storage type (spring or polyurethane block) or
of the energy dissipation type (spring and hydraulic damper). The energy storage
type is usually used at low speed (1.6 m/s or less) and the energy dissipation type is
used at higher speed (above 1.6 m/s).
An interlock switch is placed on the hydraulic buffers in order to prevent any
motion of the elevator if it is sitting on the fully compressed buffer.
The pit should contain a light, an outlet socket, fitted with a residual current
device (RCD) and a stop switch (Figure 6). The stop switch should be accessible

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from the landing to allow the user to press it before entering the pit and letter the
landing door close.

Figure 5: Buffers for the car and the counterweight.

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Figure 6: Stop switch in the pit.

10) Lifting Beams and Hatches: It is good practice to install a lifting beam at the
top of the shaft and another lifting beam at the top of the machine room (above the
motor).
A lifting beam is usually a steel I-beam that is rated for a certain load (e.g., 1.5
metric ton). It has to be usually tested before using it, and it should have a label on it
showing the rated load and a test certificate (see Figure 7 below).

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Figure 7: Lifting beam with a 1.5 metric ton rated load.

The lifting beam can be used to raise loads inside the shaft or for the removal and
reinstatement of the motor in the machine room. It is also good practice to install a
hatch in the floor of the machine room in order to lower the motor down onto the
topmost landing and remove it from the building (see Figure 8 for an example).

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 Lift Report 2017; 43(2): 18-28

Figure 8: Hatch in the floor of the machine room for motor removal.

11) Safety gear on the counterweight: In cases where populated areas are
present under the pit of the elevator shaft, there is a risk that the counterweight
suspension will fail and go into free fall and thus injure persons present under the pit.
In such a case, the counterweight should be fitted with a safety gear (and a
dedicated speed governor installed in order to activate it in case of over-speed).

4. NOTES ON THE REEVING RATIO

The reeving ratio is the ratio of the car speed to the rope speed. It is customary to
have reeving ratios of 2:1 or even 4:1. Thus a reeving ratio of 2:1 means that the
rope moves at twice the speed of the elevator car. Any reeving ratio other than 1:1 is
implemented by using pulleys on the elevator car, the counterweight and at the top of
the shaft. Where the pulleys are placed at the car top it is referred to as an over-
slung arrangement; where the pulleys are placed under the car it is referred to as an
under-slung arrangement.

There are three advantages to using a reeving ratio that is not 1:1:

1. The reeving ratio reduces the required torque from the motor. For example a
2:1 reeving ratio would reduce the torque required from the motor by a factor
of 2. At the same time it provides a reduction in speed of the car without the
need for a gearbox. Reeving effectively acts as a gearbox, providing matching
of speed and torque, between the motor and the elevator car.

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 Lift Report 2017; 43(2): 18-28

2. More importantly, the reeving ratio reduces the static vertical loading on the
bearings of the motor (radial loads). The static vertical load of the elevator car
and the counterweight is shared between the end of the rope fixings and the
motor bearing (50% for a 2:1 reeving ratio and 25% for a 4:1 reeving ratio).

There are however, three disadvantages when using reeving ratios other than 1:1:

1. The pulleys cause extra bending on the ropes, thus reducing rope life.
2. Extra space is required on the car and in the shaft, leading to a reduction in
the available headroom.
3. The presence of pulleys introduces the risk of entrapment for personnel
working on the car top.

Appendix A: RIBA Stages

The following is a cross reference between the vertical transportation design stages
and the RIBA (Royal Institute of Building Architects) stages:

• Concept Design (RIBA Stage A-C): Number position, capacity, grouping of

elevators and traffic analysis. Deliverable: Report including assessment of
traffic, traffic analysis calculations and results, schedule of elevators showing
position, capacity and grouping.

• Detailed Design (RIBA Stage D-E): Type of drive, shaft dimensions, machine
room dimensions, detailed control mechanism, idea of finishes, Identification
of any special requirements that need to go into specification. Report
including a more detailed and refined traffic analysis, an updated schedule of
elevators, identification of fire fighting/disabled evacuation requirements and
any other features, e.g., vandal resistant features.

• Specification and Tender Documentation (RIBA stages F-H): Drafting of

specification and tender documentation.

• Factory acceptance, site commissioning and testing and final acceptance and
handover (RIBA stages J-L).

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