Issue: Vertical accessibility in the split level lobby and size requirements of an existing, non-conforming elevator.
Analysis: The applicant is requesting a waiver from providing vertical accessibility in the split level lobby area which contains four guest rooms as well as customer service. The application states it will be technically infeasible to install a lift in the split level due to existing constraints and because the stair is part of the required means of egress. The second portion of the waiver request pertains to an existing elevator that is a component of the c.1947 apartment/hotel building. The elevator door does not meet the required 36” minimum; the interior is not 51” x 66”; and the foyer at roof will not permit a 5 foot turnaround. According to the building department, modifying the elevator size would be disproportionate to the cost of construction as well as being technically infeasible. The hotel is located within a historic district, but no documentation was submitted for this structure.
Project Progress:
The project is in plan review.
Items to be Waived:
Vertical accessibility to all levels as required by Section 553.509 and elevator dimensions required by Section 407 and ASME A117.1.
553.509: Vertical accessibility - Nothing in sections 553.501-553.513 or the guidelines shall be construed to relieve the owner of any building, structure or facility governed by those sections from the duty to provide vertical accessibility to all levels above and below the occupiable grade level, regardless of whether the guidelines require an elevator to be installed in such building, structure or facility, except for:
(1) Elevator pits, elevator penthouses, mechanical rooms, piping or equipment catwalks and automobile lubrication and maintenance pits and platforms;
(2) Unoccupiable spaces, such as rooms, enclosed spaces and storage spaces that are not designed for human occupancy, for public accommodations or for work areas; and
(3) Occupiable spaces and rooms that are not open to the public and that house no more than five persons, including, but not limited to equipment control rooms and projection
booths.
407.1 General. Elevators shall comply with 407 and with ASME A17.1 (Incorporated by reference). They shall be passenger elevators as classified by ASME A17.1. Elevator operation shall be automatic.
Waiver Criteria: There is no specific guidance for a waiver of this requirement in the code. The Commission’s current rule, authorized in Section 553.512, Florida Statutes, provides criteria for granting waivers and allows consideration of unnecessary or extreme hardship to the applicant if the specific requirements were imposed.