Delegates ponder draft of elevator safety law

The Shanghai legislative affairs authorities held a public hearing for a new elevator safety law Tuesday.

A total of 16 delegates, including residents, experts, elevator manufacturers and industry association officials, offered their views on three controversial parts of the law's draft.

Authorities have been under pressure to pass a new elevator safety law since several high-profile elevator accidents took place in 2012. Shanghai's first elevator safety regulation went into effect in 2004.

The three parts most debated by delegates were establishing a long-distance monitoring system that covered each elevator in the city, making weekly maintenance mandatory for every elevator more than 10 years old and shutting down unsafe residential elevators when residents refuse to pay for repairs.

The majority of the delegates agreed on the need for a long-distance monitoring system.

"The monitoring system will make it easier to rescue people who get stuck in a problematic elevator and will assist maintenance companies in identifying defective components," said Li Wei, a delegate and vice director of the Shanghai Institute of Special Equipment Inspection and Technical Research under the city's quality control authority.

However, some manufacturers were concerned that it was impractical to have the system cover older elevators.

"Although installing a long-distance monitoring system in new elevators has become commonplace, it is difficult to install the system in older ones," said Guo Haiyang, a delegate representing Shanghai Mitsubishi Elevator Co.

Zhu Min, a delegate representing another elevator manufacturer, was also concerned about the feasibility of requiring each manufacturer to put the system in every product.

He also worried that running the system will add to the cost of maintaining the elevators.

Most of the delegates did not support the part of the law making weekly maintenance mandatory for all elevators older than a decade.

It is unreasonable to judge an elevator's condition based solely on its age, said Shen Longbiao, a delegate from a major property maintenance company.

Zhu Changmao, an expert from the elevator inspection center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said that the current rule that requires elevators to receive maintenance once every two weeks was also unreasonable.

Zhu said that the frequency of maintenance should depend on each elevator's condition.

Most delegates agreed that the government's quality control watchdog should shut down residential elevators if the residents refuse to pay for the repairs.

However, Zhu Guoju, a resident delegate said that authorities should not shut down an elevator if it is the sole elevator in a high-rise building.

The Shanghai Legislative Affairs Office said that it would respond to the delegates after it discusses their opinions with the city's quality control and housing management authorities.