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Roanoke County, VA Building Safety: Elevator Maintenance (2026)

Some Restrictions
Compiled from the official code textEditor Martyn O'NeillLast verified September 2026

Key Facts

Governing code
Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code
Adopted by
County Code § 7-16
Elevator periodic inspection fee
$35.00
Third reinspection fee
$50.00
Enforced by
County building official
Applies in Town of Vinton
Yes, per § 7-16

Summary

In Roanoke County, Virginia (outside the independent cities of Roanoke and Salem), elevator construction and maintenance are governed by the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, adopted countywide and in the Town of Vinton under County Code § 7-16. The county's own add-on is financial: § 7-73 sets a flat $35.00 fee for every elevator periodic inspection performed by the building official's office.

These county ordinances apply to unincorporated areas of Roanoke County. Incorporated cities within the county may have their own rules that take precedence over county-level regulations.

There is hereby adopted by the board of supervisors, insofar as not inconsistent with the laws of the state, this Code and the ordinances of the county, for the purpose of establishing rules and regulations for the construction, alteration, removal, demolition, equipment, use, occupancy, location and maintenance of buildings and structures, including permits and penalties, that certain code known as the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, as the same may, from time to time, be amended. Such code is hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein and the provisions thereof shall be controlling in the construction of all buildings and other structures within the county and within the Town of Vinton. ... There is hereby established the following schedule ... of miscellaneous fees: ... Elevator periodic inspection: $35.00

Full Breakdown

Roanoke County does not write its own elevator maintenance standards. " Unlike several other Chapter 9 and Chapter 20 provisions that expressly carve the Town of Vinton out, § 7-16 pulls Vinton in, so elevator owners there answer to the same building official as the rest of the county. Roanoke County's building safety office layers a fee schedule on top of the state code under Article V of Chapter 7. 00 flat, with no square-footage or valuation formula the way building permits under § 7-71 are calculated.

00 reinspection charge that applies once an item, which would include a failed elevator item, reaches its third reinspection. Building permits for new elevator installation are billed as ordinary trade/contractor work; § 10-30's classified business license list for contractors names "Elevator installation" among the licensed contracting trades taxed under the county's BPOL scheme. Enforcement authority for the building code, including elevator provisions, sits with the building official under Article II of Chapter 7.

Violations & Fines

Chapter 7 does not carry an elevator-specific penalty; violations of the building code adopted at § 7-16 are enforced by the building official under the VUSBC's own permit and penalty framework rather than a county-specific fine schedule. Skipping the required periodic inspection or failing to pay the $35.00 fee under § 7-73 can hold up renewal of an existing building's certificate of occupancy, and a third failed reinspection on the same elevator item triggers the separate $50.00 reinspection fee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Roanoke County have its own elevator maintenance ordinance?
No. The county adopts the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code under § 7-16 to govern elevator construction, use, and maintenance, and only adds its own periodic inspection fee of $35.00 under § 7-73 rather than separate maintenance standards.
How much does a routine elevator inspection cost in Roanoke County?
The county's fee schedule at § 7-73 sets elevator periodic inspection at a flat $35.00, listed alongside certificate-of-occupancy and amusement-device inspection fees charged by the building official's office.
Does this rule apply in the Town of Vinton?
Yes. Section 7-16 makes the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, and the elevator standards within it, controlling "within the county and within the Town of Vinton," unlike some other Chapter 9 fire provisions that exclude Vinton.
What happens if an elevator fails inspection repeatedly?
Section 7-73 imposes a separate $50.00 reinspection fee once the same item reaches its third reinspection, in addition to the standard $35.00 periodic inspection charge.

Sources & Official References

Other rules in Roanoke County

All Roanoke County rules

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