The elevator emergency phone

What the code covers, and who enforces it

In Alberta, the elevator code in force is ASME A17.1-2019/CSA B44-19, the Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, declared in force on 1 December 2022 (Government of Alberta, elevator codes and standards). The province’s elevating devices discipline works under the Safety Codes Act, with Municipal Affairs as the lead ministry, alongside the Safety Codes Council and AEDARSA.

The emergency communication requirement is clause 2.27.1.1 of CSA B44. We don’t reproduce the code here, and we’re not the authority on it: your elevator contractor and the authority having jurisdiction are. What follows is how a regulator has summarised it, and what that means for the phone line.

What the phone has to do

Ontario’s elevator regulator, TSSA, published a one-page advisory in 2020 summarising the emergency communication requirements as they stood in the 2010 edition of CSA B44 (TSSA Advisory 290-20). In short:

• Calls go to a staffed location where authorized personnel can act, and are redirected to an alternate location if not acknowledged within 45 seconds. Transfer to an automated answering system is prohibited.
• A visual signal lights in the car when the call connects, and only the authorized person can end the call.
• The system gives the answering person the building and elevator number on demand.
• The unit is hands-free, with no handset.
• It is backed by an alternate power source able to provide four hours of two-way communication.
• Its operation is verified end to end at least once a day, and if the check fails, the car shows an audible and visual “Elevator Communications Failure” signal.

That summary is Ontario’s and refers to an earlier edition. Alberta enforces the 2019 edition, which your elevator contractor will work to. The shape of the job is the same: a person answers, the line has power in an outage, and someone checks it every day.

How it connects

The phone in the car is usually a dedicated autodialler. Behind it is one of:

• A copper line from the phone company. The traditional setup, and the one being retired in parts of Alberta.
• A port on the building’s phone system. An analog port on an on-premise system, with the call routed out over the building’s trunk to the monitoring location.
• A cellular communicator. A small unit in the machine room with its own SIM and battery.
• A VoIP adapter on the internet connection. Possible, but with a caveat below.

The code is performance-based. The TSSA advisory says plainly that POTS, VoIP and cellular can all be acceptable if configured to meet the requirements. It also warns that a phone that met them on POTS may not on VoIP, because the phone may only be able to confirm it has reached the modem, not that the internet beyond it works. It recommends consulting both an elevator contractor and an experienced communication specialist when the line changes.

Why it gets forgotten

• It almost never rings. A line that carries one call a year looks unused on a bill, and gets cancelled in a cost review.
• Nobody owns the whole path. The elevator contractor owns the car unit. The phone company owns the line. The monitoring company owns the answering point. The property manager owns the bill.
• Lines change underneath it. A new phone system, a new carrier, or a copper line moved to fibre. TELUS, for example, says moving to fibre or wireless is mandatory inside its copper-retirement boundaries, and that apartment buildings are included (TELUS, copper retirement). See POTS line replacement.
• The daily check reports to someone who isn’t watching. A failure signal in an empty car at 2 a.m. tells nobody anything.

How to test it properly

A useful test is end to end, not “the light came on”.

1. Press the button in the car. Confirm the call reaches a person at the staffed location, not a recording.
2. Confirm what they see. Do they get the building and the elevator number, and does it match?
3. Let it time out. If the first location doesn’t answer, does the call move on to the alternate?
4. Cut the power, if your contractor will do it with you. Confirm the phone still works on backup.
5. Check the daily verification. Find out where a failure is reported, and who reads it.
6. Write it down. Date, car, line, where it terminated, who answered, who tested.

Then repeat it after any change to the phone system, the carrier or the line, and at least once a year.

How we help

We maintain the telephone circuits elevator phones depend on, including lines carried on an on-premise system. We don’t maintain the elevator, and we don’t certify code compliance; your contractor and the authority having jurisdiction do. A Telephony Health Check documents where every elevator phone terminates and whether it works. Both of our service agreements include an annual emergency-calling and life-safety test with a certificate, and treat a dead elevator phone as critical automatically. For property managers, see multi-family.

Frequently asked questions

Who is responsible for the elevator phone?

The building owner is responsible for the elevator being maintained to code, usually through an elevator contractor. The phone line behind the car unit is a telephone service like any other, and someone has to own it. Ask your contractor and your phone provider who does.

Can the elevator phone call 911 directly?

The code requires the call to reach a staffed location where someone can act. How that location then summons help is part of the building’s arrangement. Ask your elevator contractor how yours is set up.

Can we move the elevator phone onto our new phone system?

Often, yes, through an analog port with backup power. Your elevator contractor has to agree, and it has to be tested after the change.

How often should it be tested?

The phone checks itself daily. A person should test it end to end at least once a year and after any change to the line.