This is in response to Richard Gregory regarding the Elevator Safety and Regulation Act. [How much danger are we willing to tolerate? Viewpoints, June 18]


Our condo building is depending on the extension to Jan. 1, 2013. Since no one knew anything about this act until July or August 2007 or even later, we didn’t have enough time to digest the requirements, get an estimate of the cost and plan for how we would be able to pay for the work. We are a 27-unit owners-only condo building in Oak Park. So, the building owners are the 27 of us.

 

Our elevator has a monthly service contract, gets inspected twice a year and gets pressure tested. That should be sufficient to detect any safety issues. This mandated “retrofit” could end up costing us over $100,000! We shouldn’t have to drain our reserve fund and cause financial hardship for some owners by special-assessing the owners to come up with this much money on so short a notice to “fix” an elevator that isn’t broken.


Also, regarding the elevator you mentioned that fell in Cincinnati-what kind of building was that elevator in? Commercial? Residential? What was that elevator’s maintenance history? And are all of the other states also demanding that their existing elevators suddenly need to comply with these expensive mandates or does this affect only those of us here in Illinois?


Carol Umlauf

Oak Park

 

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