Am I Regulated?

The Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) regulates elevating devices in accordance with the:

• Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000 (the Act) 

• Ontario Regulation 209/01: Elevating Devices 

• Elevating Device Code Adoption Document Amendment (ED-CAD) ED-295/22

• The various codes adopted within the CAD and all other applicable regulations and codes. 

TSSA does not regulate elevating devices covered under the Ontario Mining Act.

As the regulator, TSSA reviews and registers elevating device Design Submissions, provides engineering services, issues licenses, licenses contractors and mechanics, conducts inspections, and performs incident investigations. 

Regulated Elevating Devices

These devices are regulated under Ontario Regulation 209/01: Elevating Devices s1. (5).

The following classes of elevating devices are designed for the purposes of this Regulation and the code adoption document: 

1. Elevators, being:

    i.  Freight elevators

    ii.Freight elevators - P

    iii.Hand-powered freight elevators

    iv.Observation elevators

    v.Passenger elevators

    vi.Sidewalk elevators

    vii.Temporary elevators

    viii. Limited use/limited application elevators 

2. Dumbwaiters

      i. Hand-powered dumbwaiters

      ii. Dumbwaiters other than hand-powered dumbwaiters 

3. Escalators 

4. Moving walks

      i. Shopping cart conveyors. 

5. Freight platform lifts and material lifts, being:

      i. Freight platform lifts - Type A

      ii. Freight platform lifts - Type B

      iii. Material lifts - Type A

      iv. Material lifts - Type B 

6. Platform lifts and stair lifts for barrier-free access, being:  

      i. Stair chair lifts

      ii. Enclosed stair platform lifts,

      iii.Unenclosed stair platform lifts

      iv. Enclosed vertical platform lifts

      v. Unenclosed vertical platform lifts.  

7. Manlifts, being:

      i. Counter-balanced type manlifts

      ii. Endless belt type manlifts

      iii. Power type manlifts 

8. Passenger ropeways, being:

      i. Above-surface ropeways, whether circulating passenger ropeways such as chair lifts or gondola lifts or reversible passenger ropeways such as aerial        t

        tramways,

      ii. surface ropeways such as bar lifts, or ropeways made of fibre or wire

      iii. Ropeways for secondary carriers such as tube tows

      iv. Conveyors.  

9. Construction hoists, being: 

      i. Material construction hoists

      ii. Workers' rail-guided construction hoists

      iii. Workers' rope-guided construction hoists

      iv. Mast climbing transport platforms 

10. Incline lifts

        i. Incline elevators

        ii. Incline dumbwaiters

        iii. Incline manlifts including construction hoists

        iv. Incline freight platform lifts

        v. Funicular railways

11. Stage lifts 

12. Special elevating devices 

         i. Wind Tower Turbine elevators 

13. Parking garage lifts

Elevating Devices Exempt from Regulation

The following devices are exempt from regulation by TSSA as per Ontario Regulation 209/01: Elevating Devices s.2 (3); and Ontario Regulation 252/08, s.2 (2). 

They may, however, be regulated by other entities.

(3) (a) Elevating devices in or in connection with:

(i) Private dwelling houses used exclusively by the occupants and their guests, unless the owner requests in writing that they apply to them.

• Questionnaire to Determine if the Premises Where an Elevating Device has been Installed is a Private Dwelling Housd (pdf)

(ii) Embassies or diplomatic delegations of foreign sovereign countries, unless the owner requests in writing that they apply to them.

(iii) Ships and vessels unless permanently moored and used by the public, or unless the owner requests in writing that they apply to them.

(iv) Launching and retrieving ships, boats or watercraft that are adjacent to the coast lines of Ontario waterways, unless the owner requests in writing that they apply to those activities.

(v) Mines and mining plants regulated under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

(vi) Elevating device test facilities in the manufacturer’s facilities used for the purpose of product research, development and training on elevating devices, or unless the owner requests in writing that they apply to them.

(vii) Training facilities used only for the training of mechanics, unless the owner requests in writing that they apply to them.

(b) Feeding machines or belt, bucket, scoop, roller or similar type of freight conveyor or material handling device.

(c) Appliances that feed materials into or positions materials at a machine tool, printing press, furnace or processing equipment.

(d) A lifting device that is an intermediate part of a fully automatic conveyor or material handling system.

(e) Freight ramps having a means of adjusting the slope of the ramp.

(f) Freight platforms on which persons are prohibited from riding that have a rise of two metres or less, or unless the owner requests in writing that they apply to them.

(g) Lubrication hoists or other similar mechanisms.

(h) Pilling or stacking machines used within one storey.

(i) Elevating devices that are installed in or adjacent to a barn and are used by the proprietor of the barn or a tenant thereof exclusively for their agricultural purposes.

(j) Lifting devices that are,

• (i) at each entrance mechanically loaded or unloaded by a conveyor or other fixed mechanism,

• (ii) so fenced in or guarded as to prevent persons from accidentally entering the hoistway,

• (iii) in a location inaccessible to the general public, and

• (iv) controlled by designated trained personnel only.

(k) Powered platforms that are designed to provide access to the exterior or interior of a building or structure and that consist of a suspended working platform, a roof car, or other suspension means and track or guidance systems.

(l) Automated window cleaning mechanisms.

(m) Dumbwaiters, having a car-floor area of less than 0.2 square metres, maximum capacity less than 10 kilograms and the sill of every hoistway opening 0.8 metres or more above floor level, or unless the owner requests that they apply to them.

(n) Cranes and hoists for lifting and lowering goods or materials that are provided with unguided hooks or slings to which the goods are attached.

(o) Lift bridges.

(p) Rotating platforms.

(q) Elevating devices for persons with physical disabilities, that have a rise of 600 mm or less and that are not accessible to the general public.

(r) Lifting platforms used by camera or spotlight operators.

(s) Temporary elevating device exhibits, controlled and supervised by a trained operator but does not include elevating devices enabling access to other exhibits.

(t) A freight platform lift-Type B that has a rise of two metres or less and that operates between a loading dock and the bed of a vehicle used to transport goods; and

(u) Worker-positioning platforms that put workers and their equipment in position to work on the interior or exterior of buildings or other structures.

If you are unsure whether a device is regulated or not, please contact TSSA Elevating Devices Engineering at eddesignsubmittal@tssa.org.