Elevating Devices
The Elevating Devices domain of the TSSA EDM-B exam tests how you maintain, inspect, test, and repair elevating devices in Ontario. Questions apply the Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000, O. Reg. 209/01, and the adopted Elevating Devices Code (ASME A17.1/CSA B44) to maintenance decisions, not just definitions.
Scope and legal framework
- TSSA certifies Elevating Devices Mechanics. EDM-B covers maintenance, repair, and testing; construction and alteration are EDM-A work. Performing work outside your class is a regulatory violation.
- The owner or lessee must ensure the device is maintained and inspected under the code. The mechanic must keep records of maintenance and tests and make them available to the inspector.
- The code is enforced as adopted in Ontario; always check Ontario amendments and the regulation, not a generic A17.1 copy.
Maintenance and testing
- Maintain at code intervals and keep safety devices functional: door interlocks, car and counterweight safeties, governors, buffers, and emergency communication.
- Never bypass, jumper, or adjust a safety device to clear a nuisance fault. Find the cause, repair it, and verify operation.
- Perform and record the annual Category 1 test and the 5-year Category 5 test for electric elevators. Use calibrated instruments for governor tripping speed, buffer stroke, and rope wear.
- Before returning an out-of-service device to service, complete the repair, verify safety circuits, and document the return.
Worked example
A building operator asks you to raise the governor tripping speed because the elevator nuisance-trips when fully loaded. Reasoning: the governor is a sealed safety device; its setting is set by code and verified by test. Nuisance tripping usually points to rope stretch, guide misalignment, or a worn governor, not a need to change the set point. Inspect the suspension means and governor, perform the required test, and record results. Altering the sealed setting without authorization is a code violation and a safety hazard.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating the TSSA annual inspection as a replacement for routine maintenance.
- Resetting a tripped safety switch without finding the root cause.
- Confusing EDM-A and EDM-B scopes and signing off work outside your certification.
- Quoting A17.1 without the Ontario regulation and amendments.
- Failing to record tests or leaving records unavailable.