The vertical distance from the top landing floor level to the underside of the hoistway ceiling, ensuring safe refuge when the car is at the highest position.
Full Definition
Headroom (also called overhead or top clearance) is the space above the car when it is at its highest landing. It must provide a safe refuge for a maintenance person standing on the car roof during car-top inspection work. EN 81-20 §5.2 defines minimum refuge dimensions: a free vertical height of at least 1.0 m above the highest point of the equipment on the car roof, with refuge floor dimensions of 0.50 m × 0.60 m. Insufficient headroom is one of the most common reasons for elevator permit refusal in retrofit projects involving new drive systems or door operators.
