State regulations that apply to a stairway chairlift (Background Report)

INSTALLING A STAIRWAY CHAIRLIFT in a non-residential venue like Mishkon’s sanctuary building turns out to be much more complicated than in a private residence—even though the equipment would be exactly the same. The difference? It’s a matter of state law.

In order to make sense of a recent, cryptic email message from the City’s chief elevator inspector, today I read over the relevant provisions in the California Labor Code (namely, Division 5. Safety in employment. Part 3. Safety on buildings. Chapter 2. Elevators, Escalators, Platform and Stairway Chair Lifts,…and Other Conveyances [7300 - 7324.2]). 

I learned that the City’s elevator inspection folks are simply doing their best to follow state law. (Previously I had the impression that the LADBS was idiosyncratic in its regulation of stairway chairlifts — that it treated them as strictly as elevators whereas most other municipalities did not. However, that’s not correct.) It is the California Labor Code that covers the installation and inspection of stairway chairlifts. I.e., the L.A. Dept. of Building & Safety merely acts as the agent of the state’s Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as Cal/OSHA (ref.: Labor Code section 7310).

The following state regulations apply in our case.

Labor Code section 7301.1 

The applicant for a [stairway chairlift] permit under this section shall … hold a current elevator contractor’s license issued pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 7000) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code; [and] be a certified qualified conveyance company; [and] submit proof of [certain] types of insurance coverage.… 

Labor Code section 7301 

No [stairway chairlift] shall be operated in this state unless a permit for its operation is issued … in behalf of the division, and unless the permit remains in effect and is kept posted conspicuously on the conveyance. Operation of a conveyance without a permit or failure to post the permit conspicuously shall constitute cause for the division to prohibit use of the conveyance….

Labor Code section 7302 

The operation of a conveyance without a permit by any person owning or having the custody, management, or control of the operation of the conveyance, is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 10 days, or by both that fine and imprisonment. Each day of operation for each conveyance without a permit is a separate offense. Any person who has requested the issuance or renewal of a permit if the request has not been acted upon by the division may not be prosecuted for a violation of this section.

I’m looking forward to discussing the state regulations with our chosen vendor, Look Stairchairs, when its owner returns to town on May 27. Because stairway chairlifts are a borderline case, the state’s qualifications for an installer are not clear to me. It will apparently come down to how the Cal/OSHA Elevator Unit interprets the code, as it would apply in our case.