Tall Building Elevator Codes and Fire Safety: A Global Perspective
Author: Paul Burns | Design Director, D2E
Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of blogs sharing expertise from VDA’s webinar, Reaching New Heights: Tall Building Elevator Design.
Elevator code decisions made early can keep a tall building on track. Decisions made too late can trigger approval issues, compromise fire and life safety strategies, and force costly redesign when the core and building systems are already taking shape.
In our recent webinar, Reaching New Heights: Elevator Design for Tall Buildings, I joined Michael Muñoz of VDA and Eric Peterson of GUNN to help architects, developers, and building owners understand the vertical transportation requirements that need attention from the start.
My talk focused on the variety of global codes and standards that shape lift design and emergency operation. Requirements vary by country and jurisdiction, and projects may need to navigate national regulations, international standards, local fire strategies, and operators’ specifications. Managing these often-overlapping requirements can be complex, which is why early coordination with elevator and fire safety experts is essential to reduce compliance risks and avoid costly redesign during later stages of design and construction.
In this blog, I’m summarizing the key points. For a more in-depth look at lift codes and standards, I encourage you to watch the on-demand recording, or contact one VDA’s global experts to discuss your next tall building project.
What Do We Mean by “Tall”?
Height is relative, so it helps to agree on terms. Using data from the Council on Vertical Urbanism (CVU), we define a tall building as at least 200 metres (650 feet) and a super-tall building as at least 300 metres (984 feet). There are roughly 2,580 tall buildings worldwide, around 256 of them supertall, with the majority located in Asia.
That spread matters. A supertall tower in Kuwait or Egypt, where the VDA family has consulted on Al Hamra Tower and Iconic Tower, sits within a very different regulatory framework from one in New York or London. As buildings rise, so do the demands on fire and life safety.
Why Codes Exist, and What Sits Alongside Them
Codes, standards, regulations, and guidance range from full legal requirements to general best practice. They protect passengers and technicians, and many also address emergency preparedness, equal access and dignity for people with mobility impairments, operation in seismic zones, and electromagnetic compatibility with other building systems.
Alongside these sit operators’ specifications. Developers and operators often have their own requirements, built on years of experience, covering car occupancy, acceleration, dimensions and passenger demand. Authorities won’t enforce them, but meeting them is no less important.
A Global Patchwork with Two Common Roots
Most countries have a national body for standards, certification, and inspection. Encouragingly, a large number of these bodies base their lift requirements on either the North American ASME A17.1/CSA B44 harmonized code or the European EN81 series.
Other common references include the ISO 8100 series, NFPA 70 and the International Building Code (IBC), which is increasingly adopted worldwide and, given its North American origins, tends to reference ASME and CSA rather than EN81.
Firefighters’ Lifts: Let the Fire Strategy Lead
Perhaps surprisingly, the lift codes say very little about how many firefighters’ lifts a building needs or where they go. That information should come from the fire strategy, the domain of the fire consultant, so early collaboration on elevator design is essential.
In the UK, Building Regulations Part B, BS9999 and BS9991 provide that guidance. A firefighters’ lift is required where an occupied level is more than 18 metres above, or 10 metres below, the fire service access level. Floor areas above 900 square metres need a second firefighting shaft, and shaft spacing is governed by maximum hose distances, which depends on whether the building is sprinklered.
Where the codes do give clear guidance is on configuration. ASME/CSA requires a minimum capacity of 900 kg (about 2,000 lb.), service to all levels, no more than one changeover to reach the top of the building, standby power and communication with the fire command centre. EN81-72 sets a minimum of 630 kg (about 1,390 lb.) with minimum car and entrance dimensions, and requires the lift to reach the top within 60 seconds for buildings up to 200 metres, plus one second for every additional three metres. It also requires standby power, communications, and measures to keep water out of the shaft and away from electrical components.
Evacuation Lifts: Two Approaches
It is almost universally accepted that you don’t use the lifts in a fire, yet lifts can make evacuation faster, and strategies have evolved accordingly.
In North America, occupant evacuation operation (OEO) was developed following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It is not mandatory; the local authority approves the protocol, and it supports rather than replaces evacuation by stair. Driven by the fire alarm system, OEO monitors smoke at the lobbies it serves and will not stop at an affected lobby, nor at the fire floor and typically the floors around it.
In Europe, EN81-76, published in summer 2025, is intended for people with mobility impairments who cannot use the stairs, and it is increasingly mandatory where the fire strategy calls for evacuation lifts. It limits the vertical distance between landings to 7 metres and uniquely defines three operating modes: driver-assisted, with an assistant in the car; remote-assisted, with an assistant directing from elsewhere in the building; and automatic, following a predefined protocol much like OEO.
In the UK, the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 changed everything, driving a root-and-branch review of building construction, escape stairs, and firefighting cores. We increasingly require a secondary escape stair in certain residential buildings defined as High Risk Buildings (HRB’s), and one London tower, 22 Bishopsgate, uses an OEO-style evacuation system. In my view, OEO is leading the world in showing that lifts can help evacuate everybody, and the industry is moving in that direction.
Ready to dig deeper?
Hear from our experts — watch the full on-demand recording of Reaching New Heights: Elevator Design for Tall Buildings, including the live Q&A.
Plan Early, Coordinate Often
If there is one lesson here, it is to involve your vertical transportation and fire consultants early and ensure they are talking to each other. If you are planning a tall or supertall project, I would welcome the conversation. VDA, GUNN, and D2E are an international group with consultants working on projects around the world, from offices across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, as well as Mumbai, Jordan, and Dubai.
About the Author
Paul Burns is Design Director at D2E, a VDA company, where he leads the firm’s Vertical Transportation team, drawing on more than 20 years of industry experience. His work includes developing vertical transportation strategies for complex projects such as 40 Leadenhall and Battersea Power Station in London, and Prestige Liberty Towers in Mumbai, India. For these projects and many others, he helps clients navigate system planning, design changes, and evolving building requirements. Connect with Paul on LinkedIn.