Attention Property Managers/Building Owners - Application for Certificate of Operation – Elevator – Open Territory

We have “open territory” elevators in Illinois which always causes confusion for building owners and property managers because most of their elevators are in areas where the AHJ/City/Town do all the inspections and administration for certificate.  If your village/city/town has a local program, you don’t need to worry about this.  For those village/city/towns that do not have a local program please see how to complete the process.  The biggest challenge we have with "open territory" inspections is finding inspectors available to do the inspections. We have great inspection firms but there is a shortage of elevator inspectors currently.

Local program – A local program is a village/city/town that has signed up with an elevator inspection firm i.e. Thompson Elevator, Elevator Inspection Services, Citywide, Just Elevator, Cook County, Northern Illinois Inspections, Bureau Vistas etc.  The elevator inspector comes once or twice a year, inspects the conveyance and provides a certificate. Building owners/managers do not need to do very much.  Below is a link to a list of towns that have local programs. 

https://sfm.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/sfm/sfmdocuments/documents/reports/elevator-safety/municipalityagreement-list.pdf

[Aurora is an example of a municipality that administers their own program]

Open territories – These are village/city/town’s that do not have a local program and will require you to hire an inspector and do paperwork.  The open territory certificate is administered by the State of Illinois. Typically the elevator contractor is involved in this.  Examples of open territories are Hinsdale, Western Springs, Geneva, St. Charles, Winnetka, Spring Grove, Harvey, Calumet Park, Crestwood, etc.  If you are unsure of who inspects your elevator, you can look inside for the certificate and if issued by the State of Illinois, you are in an open territory.

[This is a State of Illinois certificate - pay attention to expiration dates - the building owner is responsible for renewing the certificate]

Steps to get your certificate:

1.    Schedule an inspection with an elevator inspector[should be done well in advance of your anniversary date on your existing certificate].

a.    Make sure your CAT 1 testing is completed, the phone works, emergency lights function, etc

                                          i.    Typically your elevator company will schedule all of the inspections for you and since you should have an ongoing maintenance relationship with the company, your elevator should be in good condition.

2.    Get a report from the elevator inspector and if it passes, fill out the form linked below:

https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/sfm/SFMDocuments/Documents/ApplicationforCertificateofOperationAnnual.pdf

[State of Illinois forms - should be fairly easy to fill out for the building owner/rep]

3.    Get an invoice from the State of Illinois and pay it

4.    The State will send you a certificate to put in the elevator

Questions when you have open territory elevators – Call the elevator company you have a maintenance agreement with or call Colley Elevator!

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