NYC elevators need better oversight in annual inspections: report

An audit by state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that outside contracted companies often cut corners when it comes it inspections

If you've ever wondered just how safe New York City elevators are, a new report released by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli may have some answers. According to a recent audit, DiNapoli's office found that "private elevator inspectors in New York City are missing hazardous violations and allowing unsafe conditions to go unrepaired."

The city's Department of Buildings (DOB) has about 48 staff inspectors but regularly relies on private companies to assist in performing annual inspections for the city's 71,000 elevators. The audit looked at work carried out by some of the companies contracted by the DOB and walked away with some alarming findings.

Auditing 12 elevators in nine buildings across the five boroughs, auditors accompanied by DOB inspectors found cases where elevator inspections were falsely certified before inspections were actually performed, some non-DOB inspectors failed to spot defective devices that are responsible for preventing doors from opening in between floors, and private inspectors did not inspect the top of elevator cars or the elevator pits at four of the nine sampled buildings (standards set by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers requires this to be done).

Additionally, two elevators in two different buildings had hoist cables that showed signs of wear: in one case, the problem was missed and in the other, the non-DOB inspector did not have the right tool to measure the cable thickness, which would've highlighted the severity of the problem.

"In a vertical city, with tens of thousands of elevators carrying millions of people, it is unacceptable that New Yorkers should have to worry about false inspections or hazardous conditions. Even in a limited group of inspections, we found nearly every one missed violations that could pose risks to safety," said DiNapoli in a statement.

In 2016, 11 percent (6,741) annual elevator inspections that the DOB required to be completed by contracted inspectors were not complete. Even in some of the inspections that were completed, violations that should have resulted in an elevator being taken out of service were overlooked.

In many cases, private inspectors are following procedures that are less strict than those followed by DOB inspectors, notes the audit.As a result, DiNapoli has made several recommended improvements to the DOB, including mandating that non-DOB inspectors comply with DOB procedures when performing elevators inspections and reinforcing the requires procedures for proper inspections with contracted companies.

Department of Building officials have agreed to implement eight of the nine audit recommendations.