Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Elevator Inspections topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Newark engineering director outlines elevator‑inspection backlog and City Hall modernization to 2027
Summary
Acting Engineering Director James D. Adams told council Newark has roughly 3,000 elevator/escalator devices, a backlog that will require expanded inspector staffing and a third‑party contract; City Hall elevator modernization is scheduled to start June 2026 and finish in spring 2027.
James D. Adams, acting director of engineering, told the Newark Municipal Council on March 24 that the city's elevator inspection program is under significant strain and that responsibilities for maintenance and repair rest with building owners.
Adams said the city has approximately 3,000 vertical‑transportation devices citywide, including about 50 escalators, and that inspection resources have lagged demand. "We estimate that we can do approximately 300 inspections per inspector per year," he said, adding that catching up with the backlog would require roughly 10 inspectors working a year. To bridge the gap the city procured an emergency contract with a nationally recognized third‑party firm, VDA, which currently provides three full‑time inspectors.
Adams explained the city's invoicing practice: owners are invoiced annually and inspections are prioritized based on which owners pay. He confirmed unpaid invoices do not prevent the city from issuing violations for failure to file required paperwork, but nonpayment can delay scheduling.
Council members raised several concerns about follow‑up and verification. Councilman Council asked whether the city goes back to re‑inspect after an owner or contractor reports repairs; Adams said the city does re‑inspect and noted the use of third‑party verification. Assistant Director Raymond Concepcion said the department has been using third‑party inspectors to confirm repairs and that specific long‑running cases (for example, properties referenced by council members) are under follow‑up.
Members pressed the administration on several resident impacts: long‑outage elevators that force seniors and disabled residents to climb stairs, property owners who perform short‑term "patch" repairs that fail shortly after inspectors leave, and buildings waiting for certificates of occupancy because inspections could not be scheduled. Council members suggested ordinance changes to set limits on repetitive reinspection cycles and to strengthen enforcement against owners who delay repairs.
Adams also provided a schedule for City Hall elevator modernization under the city's capital program. He said work on elevators two and four is expected to start in June 2026 and take approximately 20 weeks; work on the remaining elevators will follow for another estimated 20 weeks, putting full completion in spring 2027. Council members asked about interim accessibility arrangements and were told the Department of Public Works and the elevator contractor maintain an on‑call response and the employee‑entrance ramp has been replaced to improve access.
Adams said the city plans to release a formal RFP in late spring for a permanent third‑party elevator inspection contract to replace the emergency procurement and to consider using the existing elevator fee structure to fund long‑term staffing.
The council requested written follow‑up on invoice collection, fines and the enforcement process for unpaid owners and asked the administration to return with metrics on inspections and reinspection timelines.
