Department of Buildings
Elevator inspections and tests
Every elevator needs a periodic inspection and a safety test each year, and a full-load test every five years.
The clock
When it comes due
- Periodic inspection and CAT1 test: every year, January 1 to December 31
- File within 14 days (periodic) and 21 days (CAT1)
- CAT5 test: every five years
- Who it applies to
- Buildings with elevators. Each device has its own inspections and tests
- When
- Every year, January 1 to December 31: a periodic inspection and a Category 1 (CAT1) no-load safety test
- Every five years: a Category 5 (CAT5) test
- File the periodic inspection within 14 days and the CAT1 within 21 days; DOB stops accepting them after January 14 and January 21 of the next year
- File the CAT5 within 21 days of the test
- Who does it
- Filed with DOB for each device
- What happens next
- Defects are corrected within 90 days of the inspection, and the affirmation of correction filed within 14 days of the repair
- Not corrected and filed within 104 days brings a failure-to-correct violation
- For a residential CAT1, late filing is $50 a month per device, up to $600 a year; not filing by the deadline is $1,000; failing to correct is $1,000
- Non-residential penalties are higher
What Stoop does
- Each device’s inspection and test on the calendar
- The 14- and 21-day filing clocks after each visit
- Defects tracked to the 90-day correction and the affirmation
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