Glossary
Elevator Technician Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential elevator technician terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key elevator technician vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in elevator technician training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- ASME A17.1
- The safety code for elevators and escalators.
- Buffer
- A device in the pit that stops a car or counterweight at the end of travel.
- Controller
- The system that directs the elevator’s movement.
- Counterweight
- A weight that balances the car in traction systems.
- Door operator
- The mechanism that opens and closes elevator doors.
- Entrapment
- When passengers are stuck in a stalled elevator.
- Governor
- A device that triggers the safety brake if the car overspeeds.
- Hoistway
- The shaft an elevator travels in.
- Hydraulic elevator
- An elevator raised by a hydraulic cylinder.
- Leveling
- Stopping the car flush with the floor.
- Machine-room-less (MRL)
- A traction elevator with the machine inside the hoistway.
- Modernization
- Upgrading older elevator components and controls.
- Pit
- The area below the lowest landing.
- Safeties
- Brakes on the car that grip the rails in an emergency.
- Traction elevator
- An elevator moved by hoist ropes and a machine at the top.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Elevator Technician practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Elevator Technician training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.