The Broward County Commission voted on June 9 to create and enforce new regulations on association building elevators that are not in working order or awaiting parts.  As you know, elevators come under the jurisdiction of the county.

The new ordinance requires association boards (condo and coop) to develop and post a plan that tells its residents exactly how it will handle an outage.  “If they don’t post a plan on day one, they can be fined $250. On day two, the fine is $500. And it is $500 a day until the plan is posted,” said County Mayor Mark Bogen.

The new rules passed June 9 and went into effect June 23. 

Brogen said, “People who live in condos have reported to us they’ve been stuck on their floor, could be weeks, months because the condo doesn’t fix it,” Bogen said. “They say they have a service contractor and they’re waiting for a part. We say, call another company that has the part!”  

If it was only that simple.  This new law was passed without any input from association, nor any factual information about associations and elevators.  Some facts for our commissioners to consider.  

We have contracts for repairs and maintenance of elevators with specific vendors- so going outside that contract doubles the costs. When the vendor says the parts are on back order, or not immediately available, or in the case of elevators installed in the 1960s and 1970s, sometimes the part has to be manufactured (one of a kind), that means they have done a search for the part.  Other companies don’t have the parts, for if they did, our vendor could get the parts.  Someone said, “then just replace the elevator.”  Replacing an elevator takes a minimum 6 months, and, more likely 12-18 months.  It’s not like replacing your washer or dryer. A new vendor will promise you the world – and once you sign the contract, they suddenly become less interested or available. The typical elevator contract for our buildings runs between $30,000 – $60,000 per year – for maintenance and repairs.  Parts are in addition to that cost. 

The new law provides: “If an elevator is out of service for more than twenty-four (24) hours, and the current elevator service company cannot restore service within that timeframe, the building owner or condominium association must seek an alternate registered elevator company to perform the required repairs as quickly as possible, unless prohibited by an existing service maintenance contract.​”  In the notice to residents, the notice must include “contact information for the registered elevator company responsible for servicing the elevator or elevators.”  Do you really want residents giving directives to the elevator company?  I would guess if an elevator company receives hundreds of nasty calls – it might be easier to just void the contract and walk away – rather than take all the undeserved abuse.  The vendor didn’t break the elevator – and they can’t get the parts to repair it.