Memphis, TN Building Safety: Elevator Maintenance (2026)

Section 14-16-47 places the maintenance duty squarely on the owner or lessee: every elevator, escalator, dumbwaiter and amusement device must be kept in safe operating condition under the chapter and the rules adopted by the city council, and that responsibility continues for as long as the operating permit, including any limited operating permit, remains in effect. The owner is also on the hook for every initial and periodic test the chapter requires. Section 14-16-28 spells out that testing calendar: passenger elevators and escalators must be inspected and tested every sixth calendar month, and freight elevators every twelfth month, counted from the month of the initial post-installation test required by Section 14-16-27.

Car safeties, counterweight safeties and overspeed governors only need testing every twelfth month unless an inspection shows they should be checked more often, and any test that's due can still be performed within the first 15 days of the following month without being late. Section 14-16-30 layers on longer-cycle tests for critical safety components, car and counterweight safeties, governors and oil buffers on electric elevators must be load-tested every five years (or two and a half years for drum-type machines), and hydraulic elevator pressure tanks and piston rods must be cleaned, inspected and tested every three years.

All required inspections must be made by, or witnessed by, an elevator inspector licensed by the city under Section 14-16-31, and a report of every inspection must be filed with the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Planning and Development within 20 days under Section 14-16-33.