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Section 3006 Decision Tree.
Walk the 2021 & 2024 IBC §§ 3006.2 / 3006.3 path — threshold, rated-corridor rule, triggers, exceptions — then compare the five ways to comply before one of them eats your pro forma.
Quick reference
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Download the letter-size PDF — same logic and compliance options as the interactive tree, built for markups, meetings, and AHJ packets.
IBC Chapter 30 · Section 3006
Do you need elevator smoke protection?
Two prongs, a handful of triggers, three exceptions. Answer the questions below and the code answers back — then compare the five ways to comply before one of them quietly eats your pro forma.
Code edition
1 · The threshold · § 3006.2
Does the elevator hoistway connect more than three stories, in a shaft required to be enclosed per § 712.1.1?
2 · THE RATED-CORRIDOR RULE · § 3006.2 CONDITION 6 & § 3006.2.1
Do any elevator hoistway doors sit in the wall of a fire-resistance-rated corridor?
This is the trigger everyone misses — it applies regardless of your answer above, and it's floor-specific. A rated corridor on one floor requires protection on that floor, even in a three-story building. In 2024 it also appears as condition 6 in the § 3006.2 list (per § 1020.1).
3 · The triggers · check any that apply
Does any one of these conditions describe the building?
4 · The exceptions · floor-specific relief
Does an exception apply anywhere?
Exceptions relieve individual floors — not the whole building.
The verdict
Answer the questions above.
Start with the three-story threshold, then the rated-corridor rule. The verdict updates as you go.
§ 3006.3 · Pick your protection
Five ways to comply.
All of them satisfy the code. The only real question is what each one does downstream — to floor area, to operations, and to the pro forma. Click each option to see what nobody puts on the drawing.
Works for
A curtain that isn’t there until it needs to be — concealed in a slim ceiling pocket, deployed only on alarm. Zero floor area, zero wayfinding impact, and it works with stack effect instead of fighting it.
Works against you
It’s a listed system, not a commodity: UL 1784 assembly, UL 864 control unit, ASME A17.1 coordination, and NFPA 105 inspection on a schedule. In 2024 it’s a named, first-class code path — no AHJ gymnastics required.
What it really costs
Even a four-elevator lobby ≈ $28K per floor — still a fraction of what an enclosed lobby costs in rentable area.
What changed · 2021 → 2024
Curtains get their own path.
2024 adds § 3006.3(5) naming smoke-protective curtain assemblies outright. Under 2021, curtains comply via § 3006.3(3) “additional doors” as approved devices.
Rated corridors join the list.
2024 folds the rated-corridor trigger into § 3006.2 as condition 6. Under 2021 it lives in § 3006.2.1 — same effect, easier to miss.
A third exception appears.
2024 exempts levels where hoistway doors open directly to the exterior. 2021 phrased this as hoistway openings to the exterior.
Educational summary of IBC §§ 3006.2–3006.3 — not code text and not a substitute for the adopted code in your jurisdiction or your AHJ’s interpretation. Costs are planning-level approximations.
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