The A17.1 Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators is written by a committee comprised of technically qualified persons who demonstrate a concern and competence in the subject within the A17 Committee's scope and a willingness to participate in the work of the committee.The A17 Standards Committee is restricted to a maximum of 35 members of which no more than one third can be from the same interest category. In addition, there are over 250 members serving on the Regulatory Advisory Council, National Interest Review Group, Technical Committees, Administrative Committees, and Ad Hoc Committees. ASME recognizes that the Code must be written in a form that is suitable for enforcement by state, municipal, and other jurisdictional authorities; and as such, the text is concise, without examples or explanations. It is also recognized that this Code cannot cover every situation nor can it cover new technology before it is developed and field experience is gained. For these reasons, ASME determined that a handbook would be useful to augment the Code by providing a commentary on the Code requirements. This Handbook contains the rationale for Code requirements; explanations, examples, and illustrations of the implementations of the requirements; plus excerpts from other nationally recognized standards which are referenced by the Code. This information is intended to provide the users of the ASME A17.1 Code with a better understanding of, and appreciation for, the requirements contained in the Code. The net result should be increased safety for the manufacturers, installers, maintainers, consultants and users of the equipment covered by the ASME A17.1 Code.