What's really behind inspection fees?
If anyone wonders why the state of Illinois has such a poor reputation with the business community, refer them to Jake Griffin's On Guard report today on elevator inspection fees.
If anyone wonders why there is so little confidence in state government's aptitude on spending money wisely and efficiently, let them see the evidence in Griffin's report of the state's lack of common sense.
If anyone wonders why there is so much cynicism that state decision-making is turned over to the interests of unions and lobbyists, encourage them to explore the On Guard expose too.
As Griffin explains, for the past few years, elevator mechanics have been required to have a certified elevator inspector standing over their shoulders while they perform a hydraulic test to see if the elevator car will hold in place for 15 minutes at the highest point of the shaft.
For this 15 minutes of inspection time, the owner of the building is charged anywhere from $200 to $500 beyond the normal elevator maintenance fees.
Even someone who supports the requirement, like Dick Gregory, code consultant for the state's Elevator Safety Review Board, concedes, “It became a revenue-generating scheme.”
Defenders of the system, much like defenders of the money-grubbing red-light camera outrage, cry “Safety!” in arguing that these arbitrary fees are necessary.
“You're guaranteeing the test is performed,” says Frank Cervone, president of Burr Ridge-based Elevator Inspection Services. “I worked at elevator companies in the past and saw many that didn't do the tests.”
Perhaps, and if the public safety truly is endangered, who would quibble with a few hundred dollars in expense?
But there's little to suggest that there were shortfalls in the old system where elevator mechanics were expected to do the tests as part of annual maintenance and leave a tag on the equipment to inform inspectors of the results.
In that system, there was a paper trail of performance, and there was serious liability if the work turned out to be shoddy.
And if safety was the real concern, why does the law apply to building owners throughout the state, but not to those in the city of Chicago which has the most elevators?
Where, finally, is the history of mishaps to suggest a problem existed? State Sen. Susan Garrett of Lake Forest asked in 2009 if there had been an immediate safety need that prompted the 2002 law that required the added inspection charges, but she received no documentation.
No, the law wasn't precipitated by a rash of elevator accidents.
What then, a reasonable person might ask, did precipitate it.?