H. B. 2177
(By Delegates Pulliam, Beane,
Walters, Evans and Martin)
[Introduced February 20, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization.]
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one and five, article three-c, chapter
twenty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 3C. ELEVATOR SAFETY.
§21-3C-1. Definitions.
(1) "Certificate of operation" means a certificate issued by
the division of labor certifying that an elevator has been
inspected and deemed safe for operation, thus authorizing its
operation. The "certificate of operation" shall be conspicuously
posted on the elevator at all times.
(2) "Division" means the division of labor.
(3) "Elevator" means all the machinery, construction, apparatus and equipment used in raising and lowering a car, cage
or platform vertically between permanent rails or guides and
includes all elevators, power dumbwaiters, escalators, gravity
elevators and other lifting or lowering apparatus permanently
installed between rails or guides, but does not include hand
operated dumbwaiters, manlifts of the platform type with a
platform area not exceeding nine hundred square inches, any
lifting or lowering device which is not designed or used to
transport a human passenger or operator, or construction hoists
or other similar temporary lifting or lowering apparatus.
(4) "Freight elevator" means an elevator used for carrying
freight and on which only the operator, by the permission of the
employer, is allowed to ride.
(5) "Inspector" means a person hired by the division, a
county or municipality who has successfully completed the
required West Virginia state elevator inspector examination and
is thereby qualified to conduct safety inspections on elevators.
(6) "Passenger elevator" means an elevator that is designed
to carry persons to its contract capacity.
§21-3C-5. Powers and duties of counties and municipalities;
annual inspections required.
A county or municipality may hire its own elevator inspector
or contract with any person who possesses a West Virginia elevator inspector's certificate of competency issued by the
division. The county or municipality shall ensure that every
passenger elevator which has been in use for five years or more
is inspected annually and that every freight elevator which has
been in use for five years or more is inspected at least every
third year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to delete power
dumbwaiters from the coverage of the elevator safety law which
requires yearly inspections.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.