ENROLLED
H. B. 4582
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegate Kuhn)
[Passed March 13, 2004; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §21-3C-1, §21-3C-2, §21-3C-3, §21-3C-4,
§21-3C-5 and §21-3C-6 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, all relating to elevator safety; adding and modifying
definitions; adding grounds for revocation or suspension of
certificate of competency; limiting division inspectors to
inspections of state owned elevators; and making technical and
stylistic changes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §21-3C-1, §21-3C-2, §21-3C-3, §21-3C-4, §21-3C-5 and §21-
3C-6 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3C. ELEVATOR SAFETY.
§21-3C-1. Definitions.
(1) "Certificate of acceptance" means a certificate issued by
the division of labor certifying that a newly installed elevator
has been inspected and was found to be installed in compliance with the safety standards set forth in the American
Society of
Mechanical Engineers Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators
(ASME) A17.1-3, "Safety Code for Elevators" and ASME A18.1, "Safety
Code for Platform Lifts and Stairway Chairlifts".
(2) "Certificate of competency" means a certificate issued by
the division of labor certifying that an individual is qualified to
inspect elevators.
(3) "Certificate of operation" means a certificate issued by
the division of labor certifying that an elevator has been
inspected and is safe for operation.
(4) "Division" means the division of labor.
(5) "Division inspector" means an employee or contractor of
the division who has been examined and issued a certificate of
competency and who only inspects elevators in state owned
buildings.
(6) "Elevator" means all the machinery, construction,
apparatus and equipment used in raising and lowering a car, cage or
platform vertically between permanent rails or guides and includes
all elevators, power dumbwaiters, escalators, gravity elevators and
other lifting or lowering apparatus permanently installed between
rails or guides, but does not include hand operated dumbwaiters,
manlifts of the platform type with a platform area not exceeding
nine hundred square inches, construction hoists or other similar
temporary lifting or lowering apparatus.
(7) "Freight elevator" means an elevator used for carrying freight and on which only the operator, by the permission of the
employer, is allowed to ride.
(8) "Inspector" means both a division inspector and a private
inspector.
(9) "Passenger elevator" means an elevator that is designed to
carry persons to its contract capacity.
(10) "Private inspector" means a person who has been examined
and issued a certificate of competency to inspect elevators within
this state.
§21-3C-2. Inspectors; application; examination; certificates of
competency; reexamination.
(a) No person may serve as an inspector unless he or she
successfully completes the examination required by this section and
holds a certificate of competency for elevator inspections issued
by the division.
(b) The application for examination for elevator inspector
shall be in writing, accompanied by a fee of ten dollars, upon a
form furnished by the division. The applicant shall state his or
her social security number, level of education, previous employers,
the period of employment, the position held with each employer,
and other information required by the division. The applicant
shall also submit a letter from one of his or her previous
employers concerning his or her character and experience.
(c) Applications which contain any willfully submitted false
or untrue information shall be rejected.
(d) The division shall administer an examination to a
qualified applicant testing the applicant's knowledge of the
construction, installation, operation, maintenance and repair of
elevators and accessories.
(e) The division shall issue a certificate of competency for
elevator inspections to an applicant who successfully completes the
examination and who complies with the requirements of this article
and legislative rules promulgated by the division.
(f) An applicant who fails to successfully complete an initial
examination may submit an application for a second examination
ninety days or more after the initial examination. The second
application must be accompanied by the ten dollar examination fee.
Should an applicant fail to successfully complete the prescribed
examination on the second trial, he or she is not permitted to
submit an application for another examination for a period of one
year after the second failure.
(g) Any person hired as a private inspector by a county or
municipality shall possess a certificate of competency issued by
the division.
(h) The division may hire division inspectors or enter into a
contract for the services of a division inspector so long as the
inspector has been certified competent by the division. The
division may hire an inspector supervisor who shall supervise the
inspection activities under this article.
§21-3C-3. Suspension or revocation of certificates.
A certificate of competency for elevator inspectors may be
suspended or revoked by the division if the inspector is found to
be incompetent or untrustworthy or for the falsification of any
matter or statement contained on the application or in a report of
any inspection. Any willfully submitted false statement contained
in an inspection report shall constitute grounds for suspension of
the certificate of competency.
§21-3C-4. Registration of elevators; notification to counties and
municipalities.
The owner or operator of an elevator shall register each
elevator with the division, giving the type, capacity and
description, name of manufacturer, and purpose for which each is
used. The registration shall be made on a form designed and
furnished by the division. The division shall forward a list of
registered elevators to the county or municipality wherein the
elevators are located.
§21-3C-5. Powers and duties of counties and municipalities; annual
inspections required; acceptance inspection.
(a) A county or municipality may hire a private inspector or
contract with any person who possesses a West Virginia elevator
inspector's certificate of competency issued by the division.
(b) The county or municipality shall ensure that every
elevator which has been in use for five years or more is inspected
annually. A private inspector shall inspect all elevators except
elevators in state owned buildings. A division inspector shall inspect elevators in state owned buildings.
(c)(1) The county or municipality shall ensure that each newly
installed elevator within its jurisdiction is inspected and issued
a certificate of acceptance by the division prior to being placed
in service.
(2) A certificate of acceptance shall only be issued if the
elevator was installed in compliance with the safety standards set
forth in the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers Safety Code
for Elevators and Escalators (ASME) A17.1-3, "Safety Code for
Elevators" and ASME A18.1, "Safety Code for Platform Lifts and
Stairway Chairlifts".
(3) The acceptance inspection shall be subject to the same
procedures and requirements as any other elevator inspection.
§21-3C-6. Report of inspection; hearing on construction plans and
specifications; findings and orders of division.
(a) The division shall propose rules for legislative approval
in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code, prescribing inspection procedures and reporting requirements.
(b) Each inspector shall submit a complete report of each
inspection made of an elevator to the division and to the county or
municipality in which the elevator is located.
(c)(1) The inspection report shall list all changes or repairs
required to be made for the safe operation of the elevator. A copy
of the report as approved by the division shall be submitted to the
owner or operator of the elevator. Unless the findings in the report are appealed, the owner or operator of the elevator shall
make the required changes or repairs before a certificate of
operation is issued.
(2) The owner or operator, within twenty days from receipt of
the copy of an inspection report, may make written application to
the division, upon forms to be furnished by the division, for a
hearing on the inspection report including the issue of whether the
elevator in question is reasonably safe. The division shall
promptly consider the submitted application.
(3) If it appears from the evidence that the elevator will be
reasonably safe to operate without the recommended changes or
repairs set forth in the report or by making only a part of the
recommended changes or repairs, the division shall make its finding
and order accordingly. If the finding and order require changes or
repairs to be made to the elevator, the division may not issue a
certificate of operation until the elevator owner has complied with
the order or the division issues its approval of the change or
repair plans or specifications. If the finding and order of the
division has been affirmed or modified by appeal, on the grounds of
reasonable safety considered by the division, the division shall,
upon the owner or operator's compliance with the order, issue the
certificate of operation, but if the finding and order of the
division has been vacated, the certificate of operation shall be
issued immediately.
(4) An elevator owner adversely affected by a finding and order of the division, is entitled to judicial review of the
finding and order in accordance with the provisions of section
four, article five, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
(d) No elevator may be operated after being inspected without
having the certificate of operation conspicuously posted except
during the period a hearing on the issuance of the certificate of
operation is pending.
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