All high-rise buildings above 8 storeys or 24m in habitable height are required to be provided with a fire lift. Super high-rise residential units should have at least two fire lifts. The requirement for super high-rise residential buildings to have 2 fire lifts were incorporated in the Fire Code in 2013.
A fire lift is housed in a protected fire rated enclosure and equipped with an emergency power supply. During a fire emergency, a fire lift is programmed to "home" to the ground floor when a fire alarm is activated. By "home" it means that the fire lift will automatically be grounded and remains stationary at the ground floor. However, unlike normal lifts, the fire lift can be manually operated by the SCDF fire fighters via the fireman switch. The SCDF fire fighters use the fire lift to support fire fighting operation and also to evacuate occupants, especially those with disabilities.