Vertical transportation devices have been around for centuries. Early “elevator” designs can be traced back to the third century BC and ancient Greek engineers such as Archimedes. They were operated by animal and human power or by water -driven mechanisms. 

The “modern” elevator has its roots in the late 18th and early 19th century. The first mechanized elevators were powered by steam or hydraulic plungers that would lift a platform sitting directly on top of the plunger. Traction elevators subsequently were developed in the UK at the beginning of the 19th century. These lifts relied on leather belts or ropes and pulley systems to move platforms through floor cavities and were designed to move materials in factories and warehouses. Such lifts today would be considered a serious safety hazard, as they were typically constructed without any enclosures or protection barriers of any kind.

The power elevator made its debut in the mid-19th century in the US. In 1853, Elisha Otis was at a New York exposition demonstrating an elevator with a "safety" to break the car's fall in the event of a rope failure. This was the defining moment in developing the elevator that transformed the design of buildings and growth of cites. Following the invention of the safety brake, which permitted elevators to be used to safely transport people, car design, motor technology and control methods evolved rapidly.

Over the years, as elevators gained popularity and technology led to faster and higher elevators, safety became an increasingly important factor.

Due to these safety concerns, the Elevator Manufacturing Association, now known as the National Elevator Industry, Inc. (NEII®), published “Uniform Regulation for the Construction and Installation of Elevators” in 1917, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) began working with the elevator industry, insurance industry and government authorities to develop uniform safety requirements for elevators. In 1921, the first edition of the Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators (ASME A17.1) was published in a small pamphlet.

As technological advancements were made, the prescriptive requirements in ASME A17.1/CSA B44 (the Canadian equivalent of ASME 17.1) were expanded, edited and rewritten. Since its initial publication, the code has evolved in scope and complexity and grew from its initial 25-pages to more than 400 pages. And the code continues to evolve today.

In the late 1990s, NEII recognized that the adoption of technological advancements in North America was lagging behind the rest of world. In 2002, NEII, working with its member companies, National Association of Elevator Safety Authorities International (NAESAi), the National Association of Elevator Contractors (NAEC), the National Elevator Escalator Association (NEEA) and the Canadian Provincial Elevator Inspectors Association, made a presentation to a joint meeting of the ASME 17 and CSA B44 Committees on the need for a PBC for elevator safety in North America. The code committees overwhelmingly supported the proposal and established the ASME A17 New Technology Committee to develop a performance based code.

ASME A17.7/CSA B44.7 – the PBC for elevators and escalators – was unanimously approved by the ASME A17 Standards Committee and the CSA B44 Technical Committee in May 2006. The PBC is a recognized equivalent to the 2007 and 2010 editions of ASME A17.1/CSA B44 and is the next step in the evolution of elevator safety codes in the United States and Canada.