Short answer: New York City does not use the elevator code you downloaded. It uses ASME A17.1-2013 as rewritten by Appendix K of the 2022 Building Code, and Appendix K adds markings that do not exist in the national standard at all. This page lists every marking the city requires on an elevator, the section that requires it, and the minimum letter height, quoted from the city's own text.
Everything below was read out of the New York City Building Code on 12 September 2026. Where a section is quoted, it is quoted verbatim. Where we do not hold the source, we say so rather than guess.
Which code actually applies
This is the step most people skip, and it decides which edition goes on the plate. Section 3001.2 of the 2022 Building Code:
"the design, construction, installation, alteration, repair and maintenance of elevators and conveying systems and their components shall conform to ASME A17.1/CSA B44 as modified by Appendix K, Chapter K1, ASME A17.2, ASME A17.3 as modified by Appendix K, Chapter K3 ..."
Chapter 35, the referenced standards table, names the edition: ASME/A17.1 2013 and CSA B44 2013, carrying an asterisk whose footnote reads "As modified in Appendix K", against the title "Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators".
So: the 2013 edition, as modified. A contractor reading a clean copy of ASME A17.1-2013 will not find several of the requirements below, because Appendix K introduces them with "Add new Section" or "Delete and revise". That is the whole reason this page exists. More detail in what elevator code edition NYC actually uses.
The complete list
Heights are minimums. Where the section sets a default and then overrides it, both are shown. On a phone, the table scrolls sideways.
| Marking | Where it goes | NYC section | Minimum height |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity plate | In the car | App. K 2.16.3.2.1 | Per 2.16.3.3 |
| Data plate, including balanced load | In the car | App. K 2.16.3.2.2(f) | Per 2.16.3.3 |
| Building identification number | Ten locations, see below | App. K 2.29.1.1 | 50 mm (2 in.), with two overrides |
| New York City identification number | Six locations, see below | App. K 2.29.1.2 | 6 mm (1/4 in.) |
| Category 1 test tag | Controller | App. K 8.11.1.6(a) | Per 2.16.3.3 |
| Category 5 test tag | Controller, governor(s), release carrier(s), oil buffer(s) | App. K 8.11.1.6(b) | Per 2.16.3.3 |
| Brake maintenance tag | Controller | App. K 8.11.1.6(c) | Per 2.16.3.3 |
| Maintenance company tag | Elevator controller | App. K 8.6.4.6.1.2 | Metal tag, no height given |
| Rope resocketing tag | Through a tapered rope socket | App. K 8.6.4.10.3 | Metal tag, no height given |
| Suspension means data, including type of suspension | With the suspension-means data | App. K 2.20.2.2.2(a) | Per 2.16.3.3 |
| "IN FIRE EMERGENCY, DO NOT USE ELEVATOR. USE THE EXIT STAIRS." | Every floor, at the elevator landing | BC 3002.3 | 13 mm (1/2 in.) red on white |
| Floor designations, tactile and braille, plus a star at the main entry level | Both jambs of every hoistway entrance | 2010 ADA 407.2.3.1 | 51 mm (2 in.) tactile |
| "ELEVATOR EQUIPMENT" | Access doors to machinery spaces, machine rooms, control spaces and control rooms | App. K 2.7.3.4.1(d) | 51 mm (2 in.) |
| "DANGER: ELEVATOR HOISTWAY" | Access openings in hoistway enclosures where full bodily entry is not needed | App. K 2.7.3.4.7(d) | 51 mm (2 in.) |
| "DANGER, ELEVATOR PIT" | Separate pit access door, where one is provided | App. K 2.2.4.5(f) | 51 mm (2 in.) |
| "SHAFTWAY" | Exterior hoistway windows | App. K, hoistway enclosures, existing buildings | 152 mm (6 in.) red on white |
| "HOISTWAY." | Lowermost shaftway door of an elevator removed from service | App. K, Chapter K3, out-of-service elevators | 25 mm (1 in.) block letters |
Three things that catch people out
1. A Category 5 test is four tags, not one
Appendix K adds Section 8.11.1.6, which does not exist in the national code:
"8.11.1.6 Test and maintenance data tags. A tag conforming to the requirements of Section 2.16.3.3 for data plates with the test date, the category number of the test, and the name of the agency performing the test shall be installed at the following locations:
(a) Category 1 on the controller for elevators, escalators and moving walks and also on the lower starting station of escalators and moving walks.
(b) Category 5 on the elevator controller, governor(s), release carrier(s) and oil buffer(s).
(c) Brake maintenance tag on the controller for elevators, escalators and moving walks and also on the lower starting station of escalators and moving walks."
Read (b) again. Controller, governor, release carrier, oil buffer. A single car with one governor, one release carrier and one oil buffer needs four Category 5 tags, and the plural in "governor(s)" and "buffer(s)" means a machine room with more needs more. Count placements, not cars. Every tag has to carry three things: the test date, the category number, and the name of the agency that performed the test.
Full breakdown in where CAT 1 and CAT 5 tags go in a NYC elevator.
2. There are two identification numbers, in three different heights
Section 2.29.1 is deleted and rewritten by the city. The building identification number goes in ten places at a minimum of 2 inches, except the car operating panel, which drops to half an inch, and the entrance at the designated level, which rises to 3 inches. A shop that prints one height for the whole job gets two of the ten wrong.
The New York City identification number is a separate, numerical-only number at a minimum of a quarter inch, in six places. Five items carry both: the driving machine, the MG or transformer set, the controller, the main line disconnect switch, and the crosshead or car frame.
Both lists in full in the two ID numbers every NYC elevator has to carry.
3. Five legends have their wording fixed by the code
For most signs the code tells you what the sign has to communicate. For these five it prints the words. Change them and the sign is not the sign the section asks for.
"(d) labeled "ELEVATOR EQUIPMENT" with letters not less than 51 mm (2 in.) high."
"(d) labeled "DANGER: ELEVATOR HOISTWAY" with letters not less than 51 mm (2 in.) high and have an electrical safety switch that will remove power from the hoist machine and brake if the door is opened."
"(f) Pit doors shall be labeled "DANGER, ELEVATOR PIT" with letters not less than 51 mm (2 in.) high."
"Exterior hoistway-windows shall be marked with the word "SHAFTWAY" in red letters at least 6 inches (152 mm) high on a white background."
"A conspicuous sign of 25 mm (1 in.) block letters with contrasting background shall be permanently affixed to the door and shall read "HOISTWAY.""
We do not currently stock these five. We are saying so here rather than sell you a door sign that reads something close. The room and door signs we do sell, such as MACHINE ACCESS DOOR, are identification signs, useful in their own right, and we do not claim a code section for them. If you need the mandated legends, ask and we will quote them as a made-to-order run.
What this page does not cover
Two honest limits.
The underlying ASME A17.1-2013 standard is copyrighted and we do not hold a licence to reproduce it. So this page quotes New York City's modifications, which are published free by the city, and never the national text those modifications sit on top of. Where a spec says "per 2.16.3.3", that is an ASME section, and you need the standard itself for the lettering and material detail.
The violation class attached to a missing sign is set by rules the commissioner promulgates, not by the Building Code, and we do not hold those rules. Anyone quoting you a penalty figure off a code section alone is guessing.
The rest of the library
- What elevator code edition does NYC actually use
- Where CAT 1 and CAT 5 tags go in a NYC elevator
- The two ID numbers every NYC elevator has to carry
- What NYC adds to an elevator capacity and data plate
- Every sign NYC names around an elevator machine room
- Why NYC elevator jamb signs are sold in pairs
- How a NYC DOB violation gets cured, and what it costs
- Every notice a NYC building owner has to post
Ordering against this list
Every plate and tag above that we stock is priced on the site with its volume breaks, no quote form. The Code Finder takes a violation or a situation and returns the one product that answers it. The full catalog lists every SKU with the price at each quantity.
If you are working from an inspection report and want the count checked before you order, send the report to WhatsApp or info@megapolissigns.com and we will come back with placements and a price.