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[Toretti]

Do you or any of the flatchat participants have any suggestions to this practical dilemma?

A strata committee for a 9-floor, 32 apartment building with only one lift, which is becoming increasingly unreliable, has to decide on how to ensure the safety of residents when the lift is out of operation.

Fire safety standards quite rightly require that a fire door must not be chocked open. When you enter the stair well, you must descend to the exit.

However, in a situation where the lift is not operational, and it is NOT a fire situation, this can mean that a person who exits via the fire stairs cannot return as the fire doors are closed for people on the inside of the stairwell. And, a person who, for example, who needs to go to the aid of another during this time cannot access the floor of the person in need because the fire door does not open onto the floor.

I have no interest or desire in advocating any measures that would undermine fire safety (quite the contrary). It is a practical issue, and I’d be very interested in any suggestions or accepted standards/measures in other buildings as this must be a common problem with ageing lifts in the period leading up to their refurbishment/replacement.

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