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Home My WebLink AboutIR 7893 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7893 'TFO February 28, 1995 > To the Mayor and Members of the City Council Subject: CITY ELEVATOR REGULATIONS BACKGROUND The City of Fort Worth regulates the inspection of approximately 1400 elevators within the city limits via a system of required annual certifications. The City requires annual inspections by private elevator inspectors registered with the City. The City registers inspectors and issues Certificates of Inspection, The building official interprets the current standards imposed by the City. The Construction and Fire Prevention Board of Appeals hears appeals. City personnel inspect possible code violations and conduct enforcement actions as necessary, but the actual elevator provisions are left to the private elevator inspector. The State of Texas adopted elevator safety standards effective March 1, 1994. These standards are more restrictive than those adopted by the City. The state Department of Licensing and Regulation administers the registration and certification of elevators for locales that do not maintain a local regulatory system. Currently, only three cities in the state maintain local programs - Fort Worth, Houston, and Pasadena. The state regulates elevators in all other jurisdictions. At this time, the City has the option of continuing the local administration of these state-mandated standards. A second option is to notify the state that the City will no longer administer an elevator regulation program, resulting in the state administering the regulation of local elevators. The Texas Department of Licensing and Registration has notified the City of Fort Worth that the City's current elevator code does not meet the state code. The City must adopt the state-mandated standards or the state will assume the responsibility of elevator'regulation in the City. The state standards are a more current (and more stringent) edition of the standards adopted by the City. The City's current standards in the 1991 Uniform Building Code reference ANSUASME 17.1, published in 1984, with supplements published in 1985, 1986, and 1987. The state code adopts ANSUASME 17.1 and 17.3, the latest editions. DISCUSSION The following discussion of issues provides information on continuing the City's local administration: Code Issues Codes and standards adopted by the state will be in effect, no matter what jurisdiction administers the regulation program. The state requires that local code enforcement and interpretation be as stringent as that of the state. In order to act on requests for waivers and/or delays in upgrading existing elevators, it will be necessary to determine the standard in effect at the time the elevator ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER — FORT WORTH.TEXAS INF=ORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7893 T M February 28, 1995 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council Page 2 of 3 X Subject: CITY ELEVATOR REGULATIONS 18 was installed. The Department of Development staff does not have the required experience in elevator standards, installation, or inspection, nor does the Department maintain the required library of past codes published since 1927 to research questions regarding the code under which a particular elevator was installed. The state currently operates an office in Austin and plans to staff a regional office in Arlington with personnel familiar with elevator-related codes and standards. It is likely, therefore, that most issues raised in regard to meeting state standards will be referred to the state for interpretation and direction. It is expected that there will be many requests for waivers, delays, and interpretation as building owners upgrade existing elevators to meet the state standards. Because of the lack of staff expertise and resources, it will be difficult for City staff to respond to these requests, requiring referrals to the state. A representative of the state office candidly informed us that he is unable to commit to a high priority for referrals and/or requests for information from the City of Fort Worth, The amount of waivers requested could result in a significant increase in workload for our current staff and Board of Appeal agenda items. The state will require that annual updates to the standards be adopted as they are published. Currently, the City adopts elevator regulations when new building codes are adopted, approximately every three to five years. Administrative Issues The administrative system in place in the City duplicates the system administered by the state. City staff resources are currently used for the licensing process for inspectors and companies, and the issuance of certificates for elevator units. This requires tracking of certificate expiration dates and renewal dates for inspectors' registration. Expired certificates trigger an inspection by City staff to issue a notice that the certificate requires renewal. If the City maintains a local regulation system, additional staff time will be required to coordinate with the state, particularly regarding code interpretation and variance requests. As mentioned above, additional resources would be needed to provide a code library and trained staff. Budget Issues The Department of Development admit isters the registration and certification of elevators. Annual fees are collected for registration of inspectors ($25.00/year) and for elevator companies ($100.00/year). In addition, $20.00 is collected for each elevator certificate issued. In FY 1993-94 the City collected $28,398 for all elevator-related fees. Expenses related to the elevator program were about $17,200 for the same period, 'including office and inspection staff time and expenses. The program resulted in a net revenue gain of about $11,000. iq.qm=n RVTWS= r'1TV RAANAf.'9z0- -rm%f A C, ............. INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7893 T rw To the Mayor and Members of the City Council February 28, 1995 Page 3 of 3 4K �e Subject: CITY ELEVATOR REGULATIONS These administrative costs, however, do not include time required to coordinate code interpretations with the state. The costs also do not include staff time required to process and adopt annual updates as future ANSUASME standards are published. Industry Information On February 8, 1995, a meeting was held to solicit opinions from elevator inspectors registered with the City, elevator companies, and from members of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA). Written opinions have also been received from interested parties. Staff discussed the options available to the City with persons attending the meeting. Generally, no preference was expressed as to which jurisdiction, the state or the City, should administer an elevator inspection program. A BOMA representative, however, expressed a preference to work with local staff, if possible. Most of the opinions received have acknowledged that duplicate programs on the state and local level may not be an efficient use of local resources. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City of Fort Worth delete references to elevator regulation from the local building code during the next adoption cycle. The small amount of revenue realized does not justify the City maintaining a duplicate regulatory system when the state is prepared to take over jurisdiction of this program. City Council should authorize staff to notify the state and all interested parties that the City will cease enforcement of its elevator regulations. Staff will work with the state Department of Licensing and Registration to ensure that the transition to state jurisdiction will proceed smoothly for all affected building owners, elevator inspectors, and elevator companies. (� Ba Terrell �1 City Manager ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER- — FORT WORTH, TEXAS