Elevator Code Compliance Calculator
ASME A17.1 code requirement checklist scoring.
About this calculator
This calculator scores an elevator installation against 10 key ASME A17.1 / ADA checks (drawn from 11 total inputs) and reports the share that pass. Most checks are independent of one another, but not all: Pit Depth OK and Overhead OK are BOTH driven by Rated Speed alone (the buffer-stroke and run-by calculations respectively), so raising Rated Speed can flip both of them from pass to fail at once -- at this calculator's other defaults, pushing Rated Speed to its 10 m/s maximum fails both Pit Depth OK and Overhead OK simultaneously, since the default 1,500mm pit and 3,500mm overhead no longer clear the much larger clearances a 10 m/s car requires. Neither check has any connection to Door Closing Force, Leveling Accuracy, Ventilation, Car Floor Area, or either emergency-equipment toggle, which remain genuinely independent of every other check. Suspension Safety Factor OK is a simple threshold at 8.0, the ASME minimum for traction elevators.
One check (door reopening device) is always counted as passing, since this calculator has no input to represent whether a reopening device is actually installed -- it contributes a fixed 1 of 10 to every score regardless of any input, so a 100% compliance score here still assumes that specific requirement is met, not confirmed by any answer you gave. Max Car Area for Capacity comes from ASME A17.1 Table 2.16.1.1, which sets a MAXIMUM inside net platform area per rated load, not a minimum -- the code's concern is a car so large relative to its rated load that it invites overcrowding beyond what the load rating accounts for. Car Floor Area OK therefore fails when your entered Car Floor Area EXCEEDS Max Car Area for Capacity, not when it falls short of it; this calculator's own default Car Floor Area (2.9 sq m at 1,150 kg rated capacity) is itself slightly oversized against the real table limit (2.70 sq m at that capacity, read directly from the SI/metric column of ASME A17.1 Table 2.16.1.1 -- NOT a unit conversion of the imperial column, which is a separate, independently-tabulated soft-metric series and would give a less conservative ~2.734 sq m) and fails this check at the defaults.
Inputs
Results
Compliance score (%)
90%
Checks passed (of 10)
9
Figures current as of 2004. Source: ASME A17.1, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, Section 2.16 (Capacity and Loading), Table 2.16.1.1
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter Car floor area (m²), Rated capacity (kg), and Rated speed (m/s).
- Set Pit depth (mm), Overhead clearance (mm), and Suspension safety factor.
- Adjust Door closing force (N), Leveling accuracy (mm) as needed.
- Review Compliance score (%) and Checks passed (of 10).
- Compare Car floor area against Max car area for capacity (m²) -- ASME A17.1 caps how LARGE the car may be for its rated load, so exceeding this maximum, not falling short of it, is the violation.
- Use Min required pit (mm) and Min required overhead (mm) to inform your decision.
How the result changes with Car floor area (m²)
| Car floor area (m²) | Compliance score (%) | Checks passed (of 10) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.45 | 100% | 10 |
| 2.17 | 100% | 10 |
| 4.35 | 90% | 9 |
| 7.25 | 90% | 9 |
What each input means
- Car floor area (m²)
- Interior floor area of the elevator car.
- Rated capacity (kg)
- Maximum rated passenger/freight load.
- Rated speed (m/s)
- Elevator contract speed.
- Pit depth (mm)
- Actual pit depth below lowest landing.
- Overhead clearance (mm)
- Clearance from top landing to underside of overhead beam.
- Suspension safety factor
- Ratio of rope breaking strength to suspended load. ASME requires ≥ 8.0.
- Door closing force (N)
- Kinetic energy of closing door. ASME/ADA limit: 135 N (30 lbf).
- Leveling accuracy (mm)
- Car leveling deviation from floor. ADA requires ≤ 6 mm (¼ in).
- Ventilation area (%)
- Ventilation opening as percentage of car floor area. Minimum: 3.5%.
- Emergency comm (1=yes)
- Emergency two-way communication installed (required by code).
- Fire service (1=yes)
- Firefighters' emergency operation Phase I & II installed.
What each result means
- Compliance score (%)
- Percentage of 10 key ASME A17.1 / ADA checks passed.
- Checks passed (of 10)
- Number of compliance checks passed out of 10.
- Min required pit (mm)
- Minimum pit depth based on rated speed.
- Min required overhead (mm)
- Minimum overhead clearance based on rated speed.
- Max car area for capacity (m²)
- Maximum inside net platform area allowed for the stated rated capacity, read from the SI (metric) column of ASME A17.1 Table 2.16.1.1 -- exceeding it is the code violation, not falling short of it.
- Pit depth OK (1=pass)
- 1 if pit depth meets minimum for speed.
- Overhead OK (1=pass)
- 1 if overhead clearance meets minimum.
- Safety factor OK (1=pass)
- 1 if safety factor ≥ 8.0.
- Door force OK (1=pass)
- 1 if door closing force ≤ 135 N.
- Leveling OK (1=pass)
- 1 if leveling accuracy ≤ 6 mm.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersCar floor area (m²) = 2.9, Rated capacity (kg) = 1150, Rated speed (m/s) = 2.5, Pit depth (mm) = 1500 = 11 input(s) provided
- Calculate Compliance scoreCompliance score = (passedChecks / totalChecks) * 10090 = 90%
- Calculate Checks passed9 = 9
- Calculate Min required pitMin required pit = bufferStrokeMm + 600966 = 966
- Calculate Min required overheadMin required overhead = 2400 + round(speedMps * 100) + 6003250 = 3250
Figures and sources
- ASME A17.1 Table 2.16.1.1 (Maximum Inside Net Platform Areas for the Various Rated Loads) (2004) — ASME A17.1, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, Section 2.16 (Capacity and Loading), Table 2.16.1.1
Engine last updated . Checked against 5 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Door Closing Force affect whether the pit depth check passes?
No. Pit Depth OK compares your entered Pit Depth against a minimum computed purely from Rated Speed (the buffer-stroke energy calculation) -- Door Closing Force, Leveling Accuracy, Ventilation Area, Car Floor Area, Rated Capacity, and the two emergency- equipment toggles have no bearing on it at all.
Is one of the 10 compliance checks always counted as passing?
Yes -- the door reopening device check is hardcoded to pass in every score, because this calculator has no input representing whether a reopening device is physically installed. A reported Compliance Score of 100% therefore still assumes that specific ASME requirement is genuinely met on-site; it is not something any of the 11 inputs actually verifies.
What does the required overhead clearance assume about car height?
Min Required Overhead is computed from a fixed assumed car height (2,400mm) plus a speed-dependent run-by allowance and a machine-beam allowance -- this calculator has no Car Height input of its own. A cab taller than 2,400mm would need more overhead than this check requires, so Overhead OK should be read as a baseline check against a standard-size car, not a guarantee for an unusually tall cab.
Does raising Rated Speed ever change more than one check's pass/fail status at once?
Yes -- Pit Depth OK and Overhead OK are both driven entirely by Rated Speed (via the buffer-stroke and run-by/beam-clearance formulas), so a single change to Rated Speed can flip both simultaneously. At this calculator's other defaults, moving Rated Speed to its 10 m/s maximum fails both checks at once, dropping Checks Passed by two and Compliance Score by a full 20 percentage points in one step -- not the isolated, one-check-per-input behavior every other input in this calculator shows.
Is Max Car Area for Capacity a minimum floor area requirement or a maximum limit?
A maximum. ASME A17.1 Table 2.16.1.1 caps the inside net platform area allowed for a given rated load specifically to prevent overcrowding a car beyond what its rated load accounts for -- so Car Floor Area OK fails when your entered Car Floor Area is LARGER than Max Car Area for Capacity, the opposite of a minimum-size check. A small, cramped car for its rated load is not what this check flags; an oversized one is.
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