Mobile, AL Building Safety: Elevator Maintenance (2026)

Section 606 of the Property Maintenance Code, Chapter 6 Mechanical and Electrical Requirements, governs elevators, escalators and dumbwaiters citywide. Section 606.1 requires all three to be maintained in compliance with ASME A17.1, the national elevator and escalator safety code, and requires the most current inspection certificate to be displayed inside the elevator, attached to the escalator or dumbwaiter, kept available in the building operator's office, or posted somewhere the code official approves as publicly conspicuous. Testing has to happen at least as often as ASME A17.1, Appendix N specifies, unless the authority having jurisdiction sets a different interval.

Section 606.2 adds an operating requirement specific to passenger elevators: in any building equipped with one, at least one elevator has to stay in operation any time the building is occupied. The only exception is a building with just a single elevator, which is allowed to go out of service temporarily for testing or servicing.

Separately, under Chapter 11's Article IV on Boilers and Elevators, Section 11-72 requires anyone who operates an elevator in the city, other than in a private home, to carry public liability insurance with minimum limits of $500,000 for bodily injury per person and per occurrence and $100,000 for property damage per occurrence, plus workers' compensation coverage at the state-set amount. Proof of that coverage has to stay on file with the city's director of inspection services.

Enforcement runs through the same Property Maintenance Code machinery as every other chapter: the Department of Municipal Enforcement's code official can inspect (Section 105.3), issue notices and citations (Section 105.5), and a building owner disputing a finding can appeal to the Construction Board of Appeals under Section 108.1.