What Is an Elevator Load Test & Does Your Building Need It?
For the majority of Americans, the daily elevator ride is a simple matter of pushing a button and waiting until the elevator brings you to your desired floor. Consequently, for those in the elevator industry, there’s a little more to it.
Very few elevator riders contemplate the complicated mechanics that are at work within that metal box-like structure, such as the counterweights that balance the elevator cars, the electric motor, the braking system, and the system of strong cables and sheaves running between the cars and the machines. State and local municipal authorities, however, do ponder and require building owners to have regular inspections, which include category 1 (cat5) and category 5 (cat5) testing for vertical transportation devices. One of the vital tests performed is the elevator full load test.
What Is an Elevator Load Test & Does Your Building Need It?
The elevator full load test ensures that the elevator can continuously lift the maximum load, as per the elevator rating; at the maximum speed, the elevator is rated. During this test, the elevator technicians gauge the elevator cab speed as the elevator ascends and descends as well as testing the lifting capacity every five years.
The objective of the maximum load capacity test is to ensure all safety systems, including the braking system, are in proper working order. To begin the assessment, the technicians load the cab with distinct test weights to attain a weight 25% higher than the elevator’s maximum weight capacity rating. For example: if the maximum weight capacity rating for an elevator is 2,000 pounds, technicians provide a weight load of 2,500 pounds. No-load tests are also a part of this elevator testing procedure.
Responsible building owners, of course, understand the need for their building elevators to operate safely and smoothly and are quite cooperative in complying with state and municipal codes requiring annual elevator inspections, with the elevator load test performed every five years. These inspections and load tests must be performed by a licensed elevator inspection firm, such as Champion Elevator, with the firm and evaluated elevator located within the same state. Both cable-supported and hydraulic elevator lifts require the full load or no-load testing procedure. Hydraulic elevators also require pressure relief testing. Failure to perform inspections and load tests can result in the ending of the building’s elevator service, along with hefty fines for violation of these mandated requirements.
Consideration of an annual maintenance contract, with such a firm as Champion Elevator, ensures inspections and load tests get performed on schedule. Contact us today to maintain the safety of your building!