The percentage of a building's total population that an elevator group can transport in a 5-minute peak period, used as the primary measure of an elevator system's adequacy for a building.
Full Definition
Handling Capacity (HC%) is defined as: HC% = (Number of passengers transported in 5 minutes / Total building population) × 100. It is derived directly from the Round Trip Time and car capacity: passengers per 5 minutes = (5 × 60 × car capacity × average loading) / RTT. Typical design targets vary by building type: office buildings 12–17%, residential buildings 5–7%, hotels 10–15%, hospitals 8–12%. HC% below the target indicates insufficient elevator provision — either too few cars, too slow, or too small. HC% assessment is performed at the design stage using traffic analysis software and re-evaluated at modernisation. ISO 8100-32 standardises the calculation method. Handling capacity must be evaluated for all significant traffic peaks, not just the morning up-peak.
