§ 103-19 Elevator and Escalator Violations Constituting a Condition Dangerous to Human Life and Safety.
RCNY § 103-19
Any of the following elevator and escalator violations constitute a condition dangerous to human life and safety for which the department may take daily enforcement action against the building owner after issuance of an immediately hazardous violation: (a) All elevators are out of service in a building or building section. An owner of a building with elevator service outages that extend beyond 14 days is required to provide alternative accommodations for tenants. An alternative accommodation includes, but is not limited to, any or all of the following: (1) installation of a temporary vertical transportation device in the building; (2) relocation of tenants to portions of the building where an elevator is not required by section 3002.4 of the New York City Building Code, except that individuals with disabilities must be relocated to an accessible space on the ground floor; (3) relocation of tenants to a building with elevator service; or (4) reimbursement of tenant expenses related to hotel or other lodging costs. An owner must post a notice of tenants’ rights to alternative accommodations, in a form and manner acceptable to the department, adjacent to the elevator hall call buttons in a conspicuous area on each floor where the elevators are out of service. For elevator outages beyond 14 days, the owner must provide proof of a practical difficulty and an elevator restoration schedule to the department. Proof of a practical difficulty acceptable to the department includes, but is not limited to, letters from part manufacturers or authorized part distributors.
(b)Firefighters’ Emergency Operation not functioning in premises.
(c)Badly worn, defective, or damaged hoist cables and/or governors cables.
(d)Defective hoistway doors.
(e)Defective hoistway door interlocks.
(f)Defective car door / gate.
(g)Defective car door / gate switch.
(h)Defective / missing vision panels.
(i)Defective car safety devices.
(j)Defective brake assembly.
(k)Defective hoist machine.
(l)Defective selector / assembly.
(m)Missing top emergency covers.
(n)Defective escalator fire shutters.
(o)Defective escalator comb plates.
(p)Defective escalator stop switch.
(q)Excessive escalator skirt panel clearances.
(r)Defective or non-functional safety switches.
(s)Badly worn, defective, or damaged relays or controllers and/or selector.
(t)Defective, badly worn, or damaged car safety device parts.
(u)Defective car and/or counterweight buffers.
(v)Any damaged, badly worn or defective equipment, which could result in elevator breakdown. (Added City Record 5/12/2026, eff. 6/11/2026)
