2018 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 40 - Public Health and Safety
RS 40:1597.2 - Purpose; administration and enforcement; initial study

§1597.2. Purpose; administration and enforcement; initial study

A.(1) The purpose of this Subpart is to provide for the safety of the persons utilizing and working with conveyance devices, as well as to promote public safety awareness by requiring conveyance device inspections by licensed elevator inspectors.

(2) The use of unsafe and defective conveyance devices increases the probability of injury to the persons exposed to these unsafe devices. The prevention of these injuries is in the best interest of the people of this state.

(3) Adequate protection for safety should be afforded in every conveyance device to which this Subpart applies. The study shall include a determination of whether such protection standards shall comply with the latest editions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, ASME A17.1; ASME Performance-Based Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, A17.7; the ASME Safety Code for Existing Elevators and Escalators, A17.3; the ASME Safety Standards for Platform Lifts and Stairway Chairlifts, A18.1; ASME Standard for the Qualification of Elevator Inspectors, QEI-1; and Automated People Mover Standards, ASCE 21.

B.(1) The Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of state fire marshal, shall study the cost of implementation of and promulgation of rules and regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act necessary to adopt the standards set forth in this Subpart, and shall include in its study the following:

(a) An inventory of the estimated number of elevators and conveyance devices in Louisiana which would fall under the requirements of this Subpart.

(b) Whether and which standards of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American National Standards Institute, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators and American Society of Mechanical Engineers Safety Standards for Platform Lifts and Stairway Chairlifts, American Society of Civil Engineers, Automated People Mover Standards, should be applicable to conveyance devices or elevators, and that each conveyance device inspected shall meet.

(c) Identification of fees necessary for the office of state fire marshal to develop a registration and enforcement program to ensure compliance with these national codes and requirements.

(d) The cost of such an enforcement program and identifying the means of financing such costs. The study should include but not be limited to: the identification of property locations which would be subject to regulation; the mechanism for issuing notifications to violating property owners; the procedure and cost of random onsite inspections and tests on existing installations, periodic inspections and testing to ensure satisfactory installation; and the cost of developing a public awareness program.

(e) A comparison of fee structures used in other states to enforce compliance with the safety requirements of this Subpart.

(f) Recommendations on whether to "grandfather in" parishes, municipalities or other entities which have adopted and enforce a nationally recognized standard or code for conveyance devices, when those codes or standards contain requirements that are substantially equal to the fire marshal's code with respect to conveyance devices.

(g) Requirements for licensure of elevator inspectors.

(2) The office of state fire marshal shall include in its study input from various groups and industry personnel, including but not limited to representatives of major elevator manufacturing companies, representatives of elevator servicing companies, representatives of the architectural design profession, members of the general public who are physically disabled, representatives of parishes and municipalities, representatives of building owners or managers, and representatives of labor involved in the installation, maintenance, and repair of elevators.

(3) On or before February 1, 2015, the office of state fire marshal shall report the findings and recommendations of this study to the Senate Finance Committee, the House Appropriations Committee, the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and International Affairs Committee, and the House Commerce Committee.

Acts 2014, No. 784, §1.