6.1 Elevator Recall Phase I & II

6.1 Elevator Recall Phase I & II

Quick Answer: Phase I is emergency elevator recall—cars go to a designated (or alternate) floor and park with doors open when smoke is detected in specified elevator-associated spaces. Phase II is firefighter in-car operation under special key control. Install smoke detection, control-module outputs, hat indicators, and manual recall per the approved sequence of operation, ASME A17.1/CSA B44, and NFPA 72—not by improvising elevator logic in the field.

Why Elevator Interfaces Matter at Level II

Elevators are among the highest-stakes fire alarm interfaces. Wrong recall floor logic can dump occupants into a fire floor. Missing Phase I leaves cars free-running during a fire. Confusing Phase I with shunt trip (Section 6.2) can de-energize cars when firefighters still need them. NICET Level II installation domain work includes implementing these interfaces from drawings and the sequence of operation, coordinating with the elevator contractor, and proving function at acceptance.

Two different codes govern different halves of the handshake:

As a fire alarm installer, you do not reprogram the elevator controller’s core FEO software. You provide listed, supervised fire alarm inputs/outputs the elevator contractor expects, install the detectors that start the sequence, and verify the interface works end-to-end.

Phase I — Emergency Recall Operation

Phase I emergency recall automatically or manually returns elevators to a designated level (often the main egress floor, but always per design/AHJ), opens the doors, and takes the cars out of normal automatic service so people can exit and firefighters can take control.

Typical initiating conditions

Smoke detectors associated with elevators commonly include:

1. Elevator lobby smoke detectors on each floor served (or as the design specifies for the building’s elevator group).
2. Machine room / control space / machinery space smoke detection (equipment location terminology follows modern elevator code language—follow the drawings).
3. Hoistway smoke detection (often top of hoistway and other required locations per design).

Activation of these detectors (or the designated manual Phase I key switch at the designated level) initiates Phase I. The fire alarm system typically uses control (output) modules or dedicated elevator recall relays to signal the elevator controller: recall to primary or recall to alternate.

Primary vs. alternate recall floor

This is a classic high-yield exam pair:

Logic reason: If the main lobby is smoky, parking every car there can trap people in the fire floor’s lobby. The alternate floor (often one floor above or another AHJ-approved level) keeps cars out of the immediately threatened designated landing.

Installer implications:

• Program and wire two distinct recall commands when the design requires primary and alternate—not a single “recall any floor” dry contact if the elevator controller expects discrete inputs.
• Label modules and riser diagrams: Elevator Bank A — Primary Recall, Elevator Bank A — Alternate Recall.
• Coordinate address assignment so a lobby detector at the designated level drives alternate, and other floors’ lobby/machine-room/hoistway smoke drives primary, exactly as the sequence of operation states.

Manual Phase I

A three-position firefighter key switch at the designated level (and related landing key switches per elevator code) can place cars into Phase I manually. Fire alarm work often includes monitoring or interfacing as shown on drawings; the physical key switch hardware is elevator-scope, but the system must still behave correctly when the switch is operated during integrated testing.

What Phase I is not

• Not Phase II (in-car firefighter control).
• Not shunt trip (power disconnect before water discharge on elevator equipment).
• Not “silence the building horns so elevators keep running.”
• Not a general building evacuate signal by itself—though building alarm and elevator recall often occur together from shared smoke events.

Phase II — In-Car Firefighter Operation

Phase II allows firefighters, after arriving at a recalled car, to operate that elevator from inside the car using a special key switch and car controls. Typical concepts Level II candidates must recognize:

• Phase II is selected in the car, not by lobby smoke alone.
• Doors and car motion follow firefighter key and button logic defined by ASME A17.1, not by the fire alarm tech “jumpering door open.”
• Fire alarm systems may provide related status or power conditions, but driving Phase II is an elevator controller function.

Exam cue: Stem says “firefighters control the car from inside with a key” → Phase II. Stem says “smoke in lobby sends cars to main floor with doors open” → Phase I.

Firefighter’s Hat (Helmet) Indicator

Many elevators include a firefighter’s hat (helmet) indicator in the car. Industry and code-linked practice associates hat illumination/flashing behavior with smoke detection or firefighters’ service status so firefighters understand whether elevator equipment spaces are involved. Exact flash vs steady meanings are elevator-code driven; as a fire alarm installer you typically:

• Provide the required control-module or relay outputs when the fire alarm detects smoke in machine room, control space, or hoistway (and other required conditions per sequence).
• Do not invent indicator patterns that contradict the elevator contractor’s wiring diagram.
• Verify the hat responds during integrated elevator/fire alarm testing—not only that lobby detectors cause floor recall.

Control Modules, Monitor Modules, and Field Wiring

Modern addressable systems almost always use:

• Control (output) modules for primary recall, alternate recall, hat illumination, and sometimes other elevator-related outputs.
• Monitor (input) modules where elevator equipment status must be supervised back to the FACU (for example, certain power or firefighter service status points when the design requires monitoring).

Best practices:

1. Use listed modules and follow manufacturer elevator-interface application notes.
2. Keep elevator interface wiring on the pathways and classes shown on drawings (often dedicated modules near the elevator controller or machine room).
3. Supervise the circuit integrity of the interface pathway per NFPA 72—an open on the recall output circuit must not be silent.
4. Coordinate voltage and contact type (dry contact vs voltage-sourced) with the elevator controller terminal strip—wrong polarity or wet voltage on a dry-contact input is a common multi-trade failure.
5. Leave spare conductors and clear as-built labels; elevator modernizations frequently re-land interfaces.

Scenario: Designated-Level Lobby Smoke

A high-rise has designated recall at Floor 1 and alternate at Floor 2. A smoke detector in the Floor 1 elevator lobby goes into alarm. Correct Phase I behavior sends the group to Floor 2 (alternate), not Floor 1. If the installer swapped primary and alternate control-module outputs at the elevator controller, cars park in the smoky lobby—a life-safety failure that may still “look like recall works” on a casual test if only upper-floor lobbies were tested.

Scenario: Machine-Room Smoke vs Lobby Smoke

Machine-room smoke often initiates Phase I to the designated level (unless the design/sequence states otherwise for that condition) and may illuminate the firefighter hat to warn that elevator equipment spaces are involved. Lobby smoke on a non-designated floor initiates primary recall without the same equipment-space warning. Test both paths separately during acceptance.

ASME A17.1 Awareness for Fire Alarm Installers

You are not expected to recite every elevator code paragraph, but Level II awareness includes:

• Firefighters’ Emergency Operation is an elevator system requirement triggered by fire alarm detection and key switches.
• Detector locations (lobby, hoistway, machine/control spaces) and temperature ratings for heat devices used with sprinklers are coordinated topics—see Section 6.2 for shunt trip heat detectors.
• Only qualified elevator personnel adjust elevator controller FEO parameters; fire alarm personnel adjust FACU programming and field modules.
• Integrated testing requires both trades present—never “simulate” elevator behavior only at the FACU and call the elevator interface complete without car movement verification when the AHJ/design requires full functional test.

Sequence-of-Operation Checklist (Installer)

1. List every elevator bank and which detectors map to primary vs alternate.
2. Confirm manual Phase I key switch behavior with elevator contractor.
3. Confirm Phase II is elevator-scope; document any fire alarm status points.
4. Confirm hat indicator outputs and which smoke zones drive them.
5. Separate recall outputs from shunt-trip outputs—different purposes, different timing, different testing.
6. Record as-built module addresses and elevator terminal landing points.

Exam Traps

1. Calling Phase II “automatic recall.” Phase II is in-car firefighter operation.
2. Sending cars to the designated floor when designated-level smoke is active. That condition generally uses the alternate floor.
3. Equating shunt trip with Phase I. Shunt trip removes power; Phase I recalls and parks cars for fire service.
4. Assuming any building smoke detector recalls elevators. Only the elevator-associated detection (and manual keys) per design/code—not every office area detector—initiates FEO Phase I.
5. Skipping multi-trade functional tests. FACU “relay on” is not proof the elevator controller interpreted primary vs alternate correctly.

Always confirm exact detector locations, key-switch rules, and indicator behavior against the approved drawings, ASME A17.1 requirements applied by the elevator contractor, and on-screen NFPA 72 (2022) during the exam when a stem hinges on a precise code citation.