Day: February 11, 2008

Letter To Elevator Safety Board Sent

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safetytest.jpgSpecial thanks to Dick Gregory who has been serving on the Elevator Safety Board and giving updates on meetings that have been held.  During the February CEA meeting Dick informed us that the next Elevator Safety Board meeting is scheduled for February 14th in Springfield.  Anyone who would like to share their comments and concerns with the board is welcomed to attend the meeting.

A motion was passed in which a letter be sent on behalf our state licensed contractor member’s of the Chicago Elevator Association to Mr. Robert Capuani before the meeting. This letter has been sent certified mail and a copy attached below.  In a nutshell the position that is outlined in the letter is to allow state-licensed QEI employees of state-licensed elevator companies to temporarily witness periodic hydraulic pressure testing until December 31st, 2008.  This would give the Elevator Safety Board more time in coming up with a solution to the lack of Elevator Inspectors available.

Thanks to Tom Jackson, Gary Schreiber, Craig Zomchek and Tom Przybyla for working on the letter and sending it out!

Click The Link To View The Letter That Was Sent: ceasafetytest.pdf

Palatine Turns Inspections Over To State!

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Tom Jackson e-mailed an interesting article regarding the Village of Palatine’s position with elevator inspections in their village.  Basically they are stating that they have turned over elevator inspections to the state Fire Marshal which currently is under staffed in the elevator inspection department. A point that was made by Tom is whether or not more villages and townships will go this route.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming year as our state struggles with the new elevator code that has been adopted by the entire state of Illinois, except the city of Chicago. Thanks Tom for sharing this article.

Link To Scanned Article palatine.pdf

Palatine, IL – The Village Council has agreed to hand over elevator-inspection duties to the Illinois state fire marshal’s office.

New Illinois regulations call for more stringent inspections but give communities the choice of enforcing the rules or turning over inspections and enforcement to the state.

Under the regulations, about 65 of Palatine’s 162 elevators would need costly upgrades, Village Manager Reid Ottesen said at a council meeting Monday (December 15th, 2007).  He said the work could cost $100,000 an elevator.

“We don’t want to get involved in the court costs and shutting down elevators that enforcing this would involve.”  He said.

Palatine now hires a contractor to do inspections and collects a fee from building owners that covers the village’s costs. – Jeff Borgardt – Chicago Tribune Columnist – December 2007 Article