Irving, TX Building Safety: Elevator Maintenance (2026)

Chapter 34, Article II regulates sidewalk lifts, ventilating shafts, and elevators built into the space beneath a public sidewalk, most common on older commercial buildings downtown that use the sub-area space for freight access. 00 for the space occupied by each sidewalk elevator or lift, due each year in advance on January 1 under Section 34-11; failing to pay within ten days of notice from the city council forfeits the rights granted under the article. Section 34-10 places the ongoing maintenance duty squarely on the owner, occupant, or tenant of the abutting property: they must keep the elevator or lift in a state of good repair and keep the surface doors in good condition and flush with the level of the surrounding sidewalk so pedestrians are not endangered.

If the elevator falls into disrepair and a member of the public is injured or suffers property damage as a result, the owner, tenant, or occupant is primarily liable for those damages and must hold the city harmless, rather than the city bearing responsibility for a hazard on public right-of-way. The article gives an owner an exit from these obligations: completely removing the elevator or lift, filling the sub-area space to city engineering standards, and reconstructing the sidewalk ends the annual fee and the maintenance duty going forward.

This chapter does not reach interior passenger elevators inside buildings; those fall under the adopted building and elevator safety codes administered through the city's permitting and inspections process rather than Chapter 34.