§ 14-16-108. Car and counterweight safeties and speed governors.

A.

Car safeties. Each elevator suspended by cables shall be equipped with a mechanically applied car safety (or safeties), which should be attached below the car floor and capable of stopping and sustaining the car together with its contract load.

Exceptions:

1.

Power freight-elevators and all platform elevators with a total rise not exceeding 15 feet;

2.

Hand freight-elevators with a total rise not exceeding 30 feet;

3.

Sidewalk elevators with a total rise not exceeding 30 feet.

B.

Governor for power freight elevators. All power freight elevator cars where the capacity-speed is in excess of 100 feet per minute shall have the car safeties in conformity with subsection D of this section applied by speed governor devices.

Exception: rope geared hydraulic elevators.

C.

Broken rope safeties. All power freight elevator cars with a capacity speed not in excess of 100 feet per minute and all hand-power elevator cars, subject to the requirements of subsection A of this section, may be equipped with broken rope type car safeties located either in the safety-plank beneath the car platform or in the crosshead of the car sling or on the stiles of the car sling.

When new car safeties are installed or existing car safeties replaced, they shall, subject to the requirement of subsection A of this section, be applied by speed governors.

Exception: existing broken-rope instantaneous type car safeties on rope geared hydraulic elevators may be retained in operation without governors irrespective of the car speed.

D.

Accessible safeties. Four types of safeties are acceptable:

1.

Type I (Instantaneous) which shall be limited to a capacity speed not in excess of 150 feet per minute, except as provided in subsection C of this section;

2.

Type W.C. (Wedge Clamp) with constant retarding force;

3.

Type G.W.C. (Gradual Wedge Clamp) with gradual increasing retarding force;

4.

Type F.G.C (Flexible Guide Clamp) with constant retarding force.

E.

Pawl type safeties. Pawl type safeties applying to a rack guide are permitted only on hand freight-elevators and only on power freight-elevators where the capacity-speed is not in excess of 50 feet per minute, where also the capacity is not in excess of 2,000 pounds; and where also, no person other than the operator is permitted to ride.

F.

Lubrication for safeties. Car safeties shall be kept well lubricated and operating freely.

G.

Adjustment of car safeties. Car safeties shall be adjusted to work together and the application of the safeties shall not cause the car platform to become out of level more than one-half-inch per foot measured in any direction.

H.

Setting of governors. Speed governors shall be set to apply either at not less than 15 percent over the capacity speed or at not more than 40 percent over capacity speed except that no speed governor shall be required to be set to apply at less than 175 feet per minute.

I.

Releasing car safeties. Car safeties may be arranged to release by raising the elevator car but when the car safeties are applied no decrease in the tension of the governor cable or motion of the car in the descending direction shall release the car safeties.

J.

Governor location. Governors shall be located where their full movement is unobstructed and nothing shall be stored or permitted to remain near the governors which might interfere with their operation.

K.

Testing car safety and governor. Every car safety and its speed governor shall be tested in accordance with the requirements of the ASA Safety Code for Elevators.

L.

Repainting governors and safeties. No speed governor and no car safety shall be repainted unless they are retested as required by subsection K of this section.

(Code 1967, § 49-158; Code 1985, § 46-178)