ISO P020 Do not use lift in the event of fire Sign

Why Elevators Are Off-Limits During a Fire

P020 prohibits using a lift when fire breaks out in the building. The pictogram combines flames with an elevator car and passengers under the red prohibition band, and it addresses a failure chain that occupants rarely think through. Fire routinely cuts building power, and a car stalled between floors becomes a sealed box with its occupants trapped in a burning structure.

The shaft itself compounds the danger. An elevator hoistway runs the full height of the building and behaves like a chimney, drawing smoke and hot gases upward, so an arriving car can open its doors into the worst air in the building. Heat and water can also corrupt call electronics, sending a car to the fire floor uncommanded. Stairs, by contrast, are built as protected escape routes.

The Most Universally Posted Prohibition Sign

Few ISO 7010 signs are installed as consistently as P020. Standard practice worldwide is to display it in every elevator lobby on every floor, usually beside the call button where the decision to press it is made. In multi-story offices, hotels, hospitals, and apartment buildings it is often the only prohibition sign an occupant sees daily, which is exactly the repetition that makes the rule automatic during an actual alarm.

In the United States the same message is delivered through building-code convention rather than the ISO pictogram alone: the International Building Code and elevator safety codes require signage at call stations telling occupants that in case of fire elevators should not be used and exit stairs should be taken. Many US buildings post the prescribed text sign and the ISO symbol together; internationally, P020 with a directional arrow to the stair is the common pattern.

Pair It With the Way Out

A prohibition that removes the obvious route must point to the alternative, so P020 belongs in a composite layout with the green E-series escape signs — typically E001 or E002 with an arrow toward the nearest protected stairwell. Evacuation floor plans mounted in lobbies reinforce the pairing by showing the stair locations relative to the reader. Without that second half, the sign tells people what not to do at the worst possible moment to leave them guessing.

Two exceptions deserve accurate signage rather than silence. Modern codes provide for firefighters' lifts, which fire crews operate under dedicated controls, and some buildings designate evacuation lifts for people who cannot use stairs, run under managed procedures during an incident. Where such a lift exists, its lobby needs supplementary wording explaining who may use it and when, because a bare P020 would contradict the building's own evacuation plan for disabled occupants.

Why can't you use an elevator during a fire?

Three reasons stack up. Power failure can strand the car mid-shaft with no escape. The hoistway acts as a flue, filling with smoke that pours into the car when doors open. And fire-damaged controls can deliver the car to the burning floor. Enclosed exit stairs are designed and fire-rated specifically to stay usable, which is why every evacuation plan routes people there.

Where should the P020 sign be installed?

At every elevator landing on every floor, ideally adjacent to the call button so it is read at the moment of choice, and often inside the car as well. Best practice adds a green escape-route sign or an arrow to the nearest stair in the same location, so the prohibition and the alternative are absorbed together.

Is do-not-use-lift-in-fire signage legally required?

In most jurisdictions, effectively yes. US building and elevator codes require signage at elevator call stations directing occupants to use exit stairs in a fire, and fire safety regimes in the EU, UK, and elsewhere require escape-route information that in practice includes this prohibition at lifts. The exact wording or symbol accepted varies, so check the code applying to your building.

What about firefighters' lifts and evacuation lifts?

They are deliberate exceptions. A firefighters' lift has protected power and controls for fire crews, and an evacuation lift lets staff move people with impaired mobility out under a managed procedure. P020 still applies to ordinary occupants; buildings with these lifts add supplementary signage stating who may use them so the general prohibition and the accessibility plan do not conflict.