(a) General. All buildings that have resident services located on other than the main entrance floor shall have electric or electro hydraulic 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.
(b) Requirements for new elevators. New elevators shall be installed in accordance with the requirements of Health and Safety Code (HSC), Chapter 754, Elevators, Escalators, and Related Equipment, and ASME/ANSI A17.1, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, 1996 edition, published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American National Standards Institute. All new elevators shall conform to the Fire Fighters' Service Requirements of ASME/ANSI A17.1, in accordance with National Fire Protection Association 101, (NFPA 101), Code for Safety to Life from Fire in Buildings and Structures, 2000 edition, §7-4.4. All documents published by the ASME/ANSI as referenced in this section may be obtained by writing the ANSI, 25 West 43rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10036. All documents published by NFPA as referenced in these rules may be obtained by writing or calling the NFPA, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02169-7471, or (800) 344-3555.
(c) Requirements for existing elevators. Existing elevators shall comply with the ASME/ANSI A17.1, Part XII, Alterations, Repair, Replacements, and Maintenance, and ASME/ANSI A17.3, Safety Code for Existing Elevators and Escalators, current 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, §7-4.5.
(d) Elevator machine rooms. 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 also be connected to standby power. These requirements are not applicable to existing elevators.
(e) Elevator car size. Minimum elevator car size shall be five feet wide and five feet deep. A minimum LCF elevator car size shall be five feet wide and eight feet deep.
(f) Elevator and elevator shaft doors. 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.
  (1) The smallest elevator car door opening shall be at least three feet wide and seven feet high.
  (2) The elevator car door opening for a LCF elevator shall be at least four feet wide and seven feet high.
  (3) The elevator cars for LCF shall be at least five feet by eight inches wide by eight feet six inches deep.
(g) Type of controls and alarms. Elevator call buttons, controls, and door safety stops shall be of a type that will not be activated by heat or smoke.
(h) Leveling. All elevators shall be equipped with an automatic leveling device of the two-way automatic maintaining type with an accuracy of one-half inch.
(i) Operation. 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.
(j) Accessibility of controls and alarms. Elevator controls, alarm buttons, and telephones shall be accessible to wheelchair occupants in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
(k) Location. Elevators shall not open to an exit.
(l) Testing. An SCF shall have all elevators and escalators routinely and periodically inspected and tested in accordance with ASME/ANSI A17.1. 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, §7-4.8, Elevator Testing.
(m) Certification. An SCF shall obtain a certificate of inspection evidencing that the elevators and related equipment were inspected in accordance with the requirements in 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.

Source Note: The provisions of this §506.93 adopted to be effective July 25, 2004, 29 TexReg 6911; transferred effective June 1, 2019, as published in the Texas Register May 17, 2019, 44 TexReg 2467