Which ONE of the following statements would rule out an elevator as a secondary means of egress for a tower?

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Multiple Choice

Which ONE of the following statements would rule out an elevator as a secondary means of egress for a tower?

Elevators are not considered a reliable secondary means of egress in towers that are open to the general public because, in a fire, they can become unsafe or unusable. Smoke and heat may fill the shaft, power can fail, doors can malfunction, and people inside an elevator car can become trapped or exposed to rising danger. Because of these risks, building codes typically limit or prohibit using a passenger elevator for evacuation when the occupancy includes the general public, unless there is a specially designed fire-service or evacuation elevator with strict controls and restrictions for use only by trained personnel. That’s why the statement about the tower being used by the general public would rule out relying on an elevator as a secondary means of egress. The other statements don’t by themselves create that prohibition: a small occupancy, the presence of an automatic sprinkler system, or the fact that all egress capacity could be provided by stairs may influence overall egress design, but none directly establish that an elevator cannot serve as a secondary means in this scenario.

Elevators are not considered a reliable secondary means of egress in towers that are open to the general public because, in a fire, they can become unsafe or unusable. Smoke and heat may fill the shaft, power can fail, doors can malfunction, and people inside an elevator car can become trapped or exposed to rising danger. Because of these risks, building codes typically limit or prohibit using a passenger elevator for evacuation when the occupancy includes the general public, unless there is a specially designed fire-service or evacuation elevator with strict controls and restrictions for use only by trained personnel.

That’s why the statement about the tower being used by the general public would rule out relying on an elevator as a secondary means of egress. The other statements don’t by themselves create that prohibition: a small occupancy, the presence of an automatic sprinkler system, or the fact that all egress capacity could be provided by stairs may influence overall egress design, but none directly establish that an elevator cannot serve as a secondary means in this scenario.

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