EN 81-72 Firefighter Lifts: What Pakistani High-Rises Need to Know
Firefighter lift design, dual power, 2-hour fire-rated shaft, controller Phase I/II sequence and coordination with the FAS panel.
What EN 81-72 requires
A firefighter lift under EN 81-72 must be housed in a 2-hour fire-rated shaft with dedicated protected lobby, use fire-rated landing doors (E60/E120 as specified), have dual power supply with automatic transfer, a fireman recall switch at the designated floor (Phase I), a fireman-in-car operating switch (Phase II), water-drainage sump in the pit, and controller behaviour that ignores all landing calls in fireman mode.
When it is required in Pakistan
Under most consultant-driven high-rise briefs, at least one shaft in buildings above 28 m or 8 storeys (whichever is lower) is specified as a firefighter lift. Government projects and hospitals increasingly require it. Coordination with the Fire Alarm System (FAS) is by dry contact input to the controller I/O — Liftech handles this integration on commissioning.
How EN 81-73 relates
EN 81-73 covers the behaviour of ALL other lifts in the event of fire: on receipt of the fire signal, cars return to the designated recall floor, open doors and park out of service. The two standards work together — the firefighter lift stays in service under fire-team control while every other lift is recalled and parked.
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