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Elevator Inspections Certificates
By Robert Miller, TXBOMA Legal Counsel
May 2004

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Please make sure you are properly displaying elevator certificates in public buildings. Last year, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation adopted a new rule on elevator compliance, which went into effect December 1, 2003. Department representatives have said they are going to start doing spot inspections and imposing sanctions against companies not in compliance.

Beth Cunningham of Eklund's and John McGraw of Equity Office are representing Texas BOMA on the Elevator Advisory Board, and both agree that enforcement on this issue is underway. So, they caution, make sure you know the rules and are following them. A building will not be able to pass its next scheduled QEI inspection if the posting requirement has not been met, McGraw says.

According to the TDLR, the building owner must display the current Certificate of Compliance:

If the certificate relates to an elevator, it must be posted either a) inside the elevator car; b) outside the elevator car in the main elevator lobby within 10 feet of the elevator call button; or c) in a common area lobby or hallway location that is accessible to the public without assistance or permission during all hours in which any elevator is in operation and identified by a plaque mounted in the elevator car or within 10 feet of the elevator call button in the main elevator lobby. The font size for letters on the plaque shall be at least 18 and the plaque must state that the elevator is regulated by the TDLR and include the department's telephone number (1-800-803-9202) and the building management's telephone number.
In the escalator box, if the certificate relates to an escalator.
On the box containing the control circuitry, if the certificate relates to a chairlift, platform lift, automated people mover operated by cables, moving sidewalk or related equipment.

The building owner must display an inspection report at the location defined above, selected by the owner, until a current certificate of compliance is issued by TDLR's executive director.

In addition, Beth Cunningham says many property managers are unaware that any work done on an elevator must be done by a licensed contractor. Although states have adopted new elevator legislation in very different formats, the State of Texas did include the new requirement of licensing for all companies that do work on elevators. The state considers elevator renovations in this category, Cunningham says. These licensed contractors in turn are required by the state to report every unit (report is sent to the state) they do work on or in, which will produce a comprehensive list of all the elevators in the state so that safety requirements can be monitored for all vertical transportation within Texas.

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