Accessible elevators – EN 81-70 compliant solutions

The standard introduces requirements for elevator car size and interiors:

• A handrail must be installed in the elevator car on the side of the car operating panel (COP)
  • If the distance between the COP and the adjacent corner is less than enabling 400 mm handrail fit on wall, then a handrail must be installed on both sides of the COP
  • For car types 1, 2, and 3 (please see table 1) the handrail can be installed on the wall opposite the COP, if the front wall width is less than the depth of the handrail
  • For car types 4 and 5 the second handrail must be installed on the wall opposite the COP or on the back wall.
• Mirror is mandatory for car types 1, 2, and 3
• Decorative finishes must not reduce the nominal car depth and width of each car type by more than 15 mm on each wall:
  • There shall be no additional features attached to the car walls below a height of 800 mm which may restrict the accommodation and turning of passengers using wheelchairs or passengers with other walking aids. This would particularly be the case for type 1 and type 2 cars restricting the minimum depth and for type 4 cars restricting the smaller minimum dimension. In some cases it may be necessary to increase the nominal car width or depth by a few mm, depending on wall finishing used, to allow for the extra space needed.

The standard introduces requirements for elevator car size and interiors:

• The audible signal strength must be adjustable between 35 and 65 dB(A) for car environments. In noisy environments, sound level should be adjustable up to 80 dB(A).
• A 30% contrast is required between:
  
  • push button and faceplate or immediate surroundings
  • symbol on push button and button background
  • faceplate and the surroundings on landings
• There is no luminance contrast requirement for devices mounted on the doorframe
• There is no luminance contrast requirement between the COP and the faceplate when the COP contains five (5) or more buttons