Escalator Field Guide

A plain-English field reference for working on escalators and moving walks. Built from the same three official documents that govern this equipment — the construction/maintenance code (A17.1-2016 / CSA B44-16), the inspection guide (A17.2-2017), and the safety code for existing units (A17.3-2008) — with field experience folded in.

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An escalator is governed by more than one document, and they don't all do the same thing. Knowing which book answers which question saves a lot of arguing on the job. This guide is written for two readers at once — the mechanic asking "what do I check?" and the building or facilities manager asking "what does this cost me if I get it wrong?"

1. The three books

• B44 / A17.1 — how the equipment must be built and kept. This is the safety code (in full, A17.1-2016 / CSA B44-16). Part 6 is the design-and-construction part — what the truss, the steps, the handrails, the balustrades, and all the clearances must physically be (those rules are marked 🔵). Part 8 is the upkeep part — maintenance, inspection, alteration, and testing over the unit's service life (marked 🟣). Part 6 covers escalators and moving walks. (ASME A17.1 and CSA B44 were harmonized in 2000 and, since the 2007 edition, have been published as one combined book — that's why you'll see it written "ASME A17.1 / CSA B44".)
• A17.2 — how an inspector checks it. This is the Guide for Inspection of Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Walks (A17.2-2017). It does not set new rules. It walks an inspector through how to verify each rule in A17.1/B44 — what to measure, where to stand, what to operate. In this guide, every note drawn from it is marked 🟢.
• A17.3 — the minimum an older escalator must still meet. This is the Safety Code for Existing Elevators and Escalators (A17.3-2008). Older units were built to whatever code was current the year they went in, so A17.3 sets a retroactive floor — the baseline safety level every existing unit must reach regardless of its age. Where its numbers differ from the current construction rules, we flag it as an Older units note.

The guide also points out to external standards (NFPA 70, CSA C22.1, ANSI Z97.1, and others) that the code refers to but doesn't reproduce — those are marked 🟠.

2. How they fit together

A useful way to hold it in your head:

• A17.1 / B44 says what the escalator must be (and stay).
• A17.2 says how someone proves it still is.
• A17.3 says what an old one must never fall below.

When a new unit is designed and installed, it is measured against A17.1/B44. When any unit — new or old — is inspected, the inspector follows A17.2. When the unit is decades old and the question is "does this grandfathered escalator still pass," the answer lives in A17.3.

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3. How the source code is laid out

The construction rules in Part 6 of A17.1 / B44 are split into two big halves — one for each kind of equipment — and they mirror each other almost perfectly.

Section 6.1 — Escalators

Section	Title
6.1.1	Protection of Floor Openings
6.1.2	Protection of Trusses and Machine Spaces Against Fire
6.1.3	Construction Requirements (this is the big one — geometry, balustrades, handrails, steps, combplates, trusses, machinery)
6.1.4	Rated Speed
6.1.5	Driving Machine, Motor, and Brake
6.1.6	Operating and Safety Devices
6.1.7	Lighting, Access, and Electrical Work
6.1.8	Outdoor Escalators

Section 6.2 — Moving Walks

• 6.2.1 through 6.2.8 — the same eight buckets, applied to moving walks.

If you can find a rule for an escalator in 6.1.x, the equivalent rule for a moving walk lives at the same number under 6.2.x. That's the shortcut.

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4. Where each topic lives — quick map

Use this table to jump to the chapter you need.

If you need rules about…	Source section	Chapter in this guide
How the unit is built (geometry, balustrades, handrails, steps, combplates, trusses, brake, electrical, outdoor)	A17.1 / B44 Part 6	Chapters 2 – 6
Inspection and testing (acceptance, periodic, after-alteration)	🟣 Part 8, Sections 8.10 and 8.11	Chapter 7
Maintenance, repair, and replacement	🟣 Part 8, Section 8.6	Chapter 8
Alterations to an existing escalator or moving walk	🟣 Part 8, Section 8.7	Chapter 9
Seismic requirements	🟣 Part 8, Section 8.5	Chapter 7
Inspection procedures (how to verify each rule in the field)	🟢 A17.2 Parts 7 – 10	Woven into Chapters 2 – 8 as 🟢 callouts
Equipment in a fire / building-code context	Part 9 (A17.1 / B44 bibliography)	Out of scope — refers to the local building code

Heads up — color coding for cross-references: Throughout this guide we color-code citations to make it easy to see at a glance what kind of pointer is being followed:

• 🔵 Blue = a reference inside Part 6 of A17.1 / CSA B44 (e.g., "see 6.1.3.5")
• 🟣 Purple = a reference to Part 8 of A17.1 / CSA B44 (e.g., "see Part 8.6.8") — that's where the maintenance, inspection, alteration, and type-test rules live.
• 🟠 Orange = a reference to an external standard outside the A17.1 / B44 code series (e.g., CSA C22.1, ASME B20.1, NFPA 70)
• 🟢 Green = a reference to ASME A17.2, the Guide for Inspection of Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Walks. A17.1 / B44 tells you what the rule is; A17.2 tells you how an inspector verifies it.

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🔧 For Mechanics

What this means on the job:

Part 6 is what an inspector is checking against when they inspect a unit. If you hear "the angle is over 30 degrees," they're looking at 6.1.3.1. If you hear "the loaded gap is wrong," they're looking at 6.1.3.3.5.

Get used to the 6.1.x.y.z numbering — the deeper you go, the more specific the rule. Example: 6.1.3.5.6 is just about step demarcation lines (the yellow stripes on the step nose). That's how granular this thing gets.

When you're stumped on a moving walk question, look up the same number under 6.2 first. Nine times out of ten the requirement is identical or nearly so.

Don't try to memorize Part 6. Learn the layout so you can find any rule in under a minute.

Critical reminder: A lot of what you'll actually do day-to-day — replacing parts, periodic tests, maintenance intervals — lives in 🟣 Part 8, not Part 6. Part 6 tells you what the unit must BE. Part 8 tells you what you must DO to keep it that way.

Quick-find cheat sheet

Topic	Code section
Geometry / angle / handrail clearance	🔵 6.1.3.1 – 6.1.3.2
Balustrades, skirts, deck barricades	🔵 6.1.3.3
Handrails	🔵 6.1.3.4
Steps / pallets / running surfaces	🔵 6.1.3.5
Combplates, entry/exit, flat steps	🔵 6.1.3.6
Trusses & step (wheel) tracks	🔵 6.1.3.7 – 6.1.3.8
Brake / driving machine	🔵 6.1.3.9, 6.1.5
Stop switches, missing-step, broken-step-chain devices	🔵 6.1.6

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🏢 For Building Managers

What this means for your building:

Part 6 is the safety standard your escalators and moving walks were designed and installed to meet. Canadian provinces and territories adopt B44 through their elevator safety regulations, and most U.S. states either adopt A17.1 directly or reference it through their building code. Check with your regulatory authority (Appendix A) for which edition applies in your jurisdiction — that determines your legal baseline.

When a contractor's inspection report cites a section like "6.1.6.3.5" or "6.1.3.3.5," that's a specific clause in Part 6. This field guide translates those numbers into plain English so you can have a real conversation about what's being flagged.

Part 6 covers the equipment itself. The day-to-day stuff a building manager actually deals with — required maintenance, periodic testing schedules, what triggers an "alteration" classification — is in 🟣 Part 8, which we cover in Chapters 7, 8, and 9 of this guide.

You don't need to read the code. You need to know enough to:

• Read an inspection report and understand what's serious vs. cosmetic
• Ask your contractor the right questions
• Spot when something the public is reporting (a wobbly handrail, a step that sticks) is a code issue
• Sign off on alteration work knowing what it triggers

Three things worth knowing before we go further

1. "It's grandfathered" is not always true. Some Part 6 rules apply retroactively through 🟣 Part 8.7 (Alterations). Covered in Chapter 9 of this guide.
2. Both documents are updated on a cycle, and the cycles aren't synced. This guide is built on A17.1-2016 / B44-16 (the safety code) and A17.2-2017 (the inspection guide). Newer editions of each exist; your jurisdiction may not have adopted them yet. When in doubt, ask your regulatory authority (see Appendix A) which edition applies to you.
3. Outdoor units have extra rules (6.1.8 and 6.2.8). If your unit is exposed to weather, this matters.

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Sources:

• ASME A17.1-2016 / CSA B44-16, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, Part 6 (pp. 222–245 of the code). All A17.1/B44 section numbers in this guide refer to the 2016 edition.
• ASME A17.2-2017, Guide for Inspection of Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Walks — Parts 7 and 8 (escalator external and internal inspection), Parts 9 and 10 (moving walk external and internal inspection). All 🟢 A17.2 inspection-procedure callouts are paraphrased from this source in original wording.