SPC again raises elevator safety law

Fifteen members of the Shanghai People's Congress (SPC) have proposed establishing a law to govern elevator management, rather than just a new rule, local media reported Wednesday.

The purpose of the more stringent statute would be to better ensure the safety of elevators in the city, according to a report in the Xinmin Evening News.

The members suggested the law after the government informed the SPC that a new elevator safety rule would soon take effect, said Qian Yuliang, one of the 15 members behind the proposal. "I think a law is what ought to be established because elevators are a public safety concern," Qian told the Global Times.

SPC members first raised the proposal earlier this year.

The members would like the government to address more specific problems with elevators, such as maintenance fees.

"It is important to ensure that enough fees are collected to make sure that an elevator is kept in good condition and can be repaired immediately after a problem occurs. So we suggested allowing property management companies to tap the money from their elevator maintenance funds without the approval of two-thirds of the residents," Qian said.

The government will need to watch over the funds, which property management companies collect through special assessments, to make sure they spend the money to hire qualified elevator maintenance services.

However, the proposal would be difficult to put into practice, said Qin Jiong, director of the general office of the Shanghai Elevator Trade Association. Property management companies already have trouble collecting money from residents of the buildings they oversee. Because of this problem, many resort to hiring unlicensed or under-qualified maintenance services.

In their proposal, the SPC members pointed out the same problem, which they said has undermined the quality of elevator maintenance. They suggested that the law should make property management companies legally liable for the elevators they maintain.

"Although a building's residents own the elevators, it isn't feasible for them to be responsible for the machines," Qian said. "The property manager, which is paid to oversee the residential compound, should shoulder that responsibility."