ASME A17 Package: Elevator and Escalator Safety Codes – Latest Edition PDF Download
Download the complete ASME A17 2025 PDF package now–Just about $3 !
Note: All versions are high-definition scanned copies without bookmarks.
As of now, the latest versions of the A17 codes are summarized below:
| Code Designation | Common Name | Latest Official Edition |
|---|---|---|
| ASME A17.1 | Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators (US & Canada Harmonized) | 2022 Edition |
| ASME A17.2 | Guide for Inspection of Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Walks | 2023 Edition |
| ASME A17.3 | Safety Code for Existing Elevators and Escalators | 2023 Edition |
| ASME A17.4 | Emergency Evacuation Guide | 2015 Edition |
| ASME A17.5 | Elevator and Escalator Electrical Equipment Safety Code | 2025 Edition (Published) |
| ASME A17.6 | Standard for Elevator Suspension, Compensation, and Governor Systems | 2022 Edition |
| ASME A17.7 | Performance-Based Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators | 2012 Edition |
1. ASME A17.1 Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators
- Commonly known as: The “Bible” of elevator safety.
- Scope: Covers the entire lifecycle (design, manufacture, installation, testing, maintenance) of new passenger elevators, freight elevators, escalators, moving walks, dumbwaiters, and material lifts.
- Key Points:
- Structural Strength: Wire rope safety factor ≥ 12; car must reliably stop with 125% overload.
- Door & Interlocks: Horizontal sliding door closing force ≤ 135 N; response time for light curtains/safety edges ≤ 30 ms.
- Emergency Operations: Phase II Firefighters’ Emergency Operation, Power Failure Auto-Leveling, 24-hour two-way car communication.
- 2022 Edition Additions: Cybersecurity, Remote Interactive Operations, Test Enable Mode.
2. ASME A17.2 Guide for Inspection of Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Walks
- Commonly known as: The inspector’s “field manual.”
- Scope: Provides standardized inspection procedures and test protocols for QEI-certified inspectors and maintenance personnel.
- Key Points:
- Offers device-specific checklists (“what to inspect, how to inspect, acceptance criteria”) for traction & hydraulic elevators, escalators/walks.
- Includes mandatory forms for periodic/annual inspections covering critical components like safety gears, buffers, governors, and hoistway door locks.
- Details “witness test” sequences and pass/fail thresholds to facilitate compliance reporting.
3. ASME A17.3 Safety Code for Existing Elevators and Escalators
- Commonly known as: The “retroactive” code for older equipment.
- Scope: Establishes minimum public safety upgrade requirements for installed devices, referenced by authorities, insurers, and building owners.
- Key Points:
- Mandatory Upgrades: Unintended Car Movement Protection (UCMP), door lock electrical monitoring, pit ladders, step/skirt vertical safety devices for escalators.
- Provides a clear “assessment → correction → acceptance” workflow, generating actionable retrofit lists.
- 2023 Edition Additions: Step/skirt performance indices, fire emergency operation clauses for easier compliance benchmarking.
4. ASME A17.4 Guide for Emergency Personnel
- Commonly known as: The rescuer’s “pocket guide.”
- Scope: Provides step-by-step rescue procedures for firefighters, building staff, and technicians during entrapment, fire, earthquake, or flood scenarios.
- Key Points:
- Details manual operation sequences for Phase I (Recall) and Phase II (Firefighters’ Service).
- Covers power isolation, brake release, manual winding, and extraction methods for hydraulic/traction elevators and escalators/walks.
- Includes pre-rescue checklists for “risk assessment – isolation verification – communication” to prevent secondary accidents.
5. ASME A17.5 Elevator and Escalator Electrical Equipment Safety Code
- Commonly known as: The electrical safety “codebook.”
- Scope: Specifies fire and shock protection requirements for all electrical components: control cabinets, drive machines, door operators, signaling, lighting, cabling, etc.
- Key Points:
- Control cabinet protection rating ≥ IP54; main contactors require mechanically linked normally closed contacts.
- 2025 Edition Additions: Mandatory Short-Circuit Current Rating (SCCR) labeling, minimum PCB conductor spacing, EMC immunity testing.
- Permits use of control assemblies certified to UL 508A/CSA C22.2 No. 14, simplifying certification.
6. ASME A17.6 Standard for Elevator Suspension, Compensation, and Governor Systems
- Commonly known as: The “materials spec” for ropes/belts.
- Scope: Covers materials, design, testing, and replacement criteria for suspension, compensation, and governor components: steel ropes, aramid ropes, non-circular elastomeric-coated steel belts, etc.
- Key Points:
- Defines discard limits for diameter loss, number of broken wires, corrosion levels; provides sheave groove hardness compatibility tables.
- Includes initial tensioning, creep testing, and life assessment models for aramid ropes.
- Offers type testing and field replacement guidance for new technologies (composite belts, coated ropes).
7. ASME A17.7 Performance-Based Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators
- Commonly known as: The “alternative compliance path” for innovation.
- Scope: Provides a risk analysis-validation-certification “performance-based path” to demonstrate equivalent safety when innovative designs, materials, or processes cannot meet prescriptive rules of A17.1/A17.3.
- Key Points:
- Outlines a four-step process: “Risk Scoring → Hazard Scenario Identification → Verification Testing → Independent Review.”
- Enables adoption of new technologies like machine-room-less designs, linear motor drives, carbon fiber ropes, electronic governors.
- Requires an “Equivalent Safety Package (ESP)” from a third-party certification body (accepted by the AHJ) prior to market entry.
