Elevator and Escalator Code Compliance and Inspection
What this domain tests
Georgia’s elevator program adopts ASME A17.1/CSA B44 for new elevators and escalators, A17.2 for inspection procedures, A17.3 for existing elevators, and A18.1 for platform lifts and stairway chairlifts, together with state amendments. Exam items ask you to apply the adopted edition and to distinguish construction, acceptance, periodic, and reinspection activity.
Inspection framework
- An acceptance inspection follows installation or alteration and includes witnessed tests of safeties, governors, buffers, brakes, door interlocks, and emergency communication before a certificate of operation is issued.
- A periodic inspection verifies continued compliance and maintenance; it is not a repeat of every acceptance test unless the code or rule requires a test.
- A17.2 organizes inspection by location: machine room, hoistway, car, pit, and escalator well. Record critical findings with the applicable code reference.
- Escalators require specific checks: comb segments, skirt panels, handrail speed and guard, step-to-skirt clearance, brake, and stop switches.
Worked example
An inspector finds a traction elevator car stopped about 1.2 m (4 ft) above the landing with its car door open and no landing-door interlock preventing motion. Under A17.1/B44, the landing door must be closed and locked, and the car door must be closed, before the car can move. This is a safety-circuit deficiency, not a cosmetic item. The unit should not receive a certificate until the interlock circuit is corrected and the required test is witnessed. The reinspection record should identify the repaired device and the test result, not merely note that the door “looks better.”
Traps that cost marks
- Mixing A17.1 new-installation rules with A17.3 existing-elevator rules.
- Treating a periodic inspection as an acceptance test, or the reverse.
- Missing escalator-specific items because you focused only on elevator machines.
- Citing a generic “code” instead of the adopted edition and amendment.
- Failing to distinguish a critical item from a housekeeping observation.
Exam approach
Read the scenario for the equipment type and the activity-new installation, alteration, periodic inspection, or reinspection. Then select the code family and the inspection procedure that matches it. If the question asks what must happen before operation, look for acceptance testing and certificate issuance, not routine maintenance.