Trenton, NJ Building Safety: Elevator Maintenance (2026)

Trenton Code § 132-69, part of the Housing Code's Article VIII on owner maintenance responsibilities, places an affirmative duty on the owner of every multi-dwelling facility to maintain in operating order all elevators that provide access to occupied units on the third level or higher. The section is short but has two operative commands: the elevator must be kept functional, and if it goes out of service, the owner cannot simply leave it that way. The owner must notify the Building Inspector that the elevator is down and must pursue a diligent repair effort, meaning the City expects an active, documented push toward getting the unit back in service rather than an open-ended outage.

This sits alongside other Article VIII owner duties in the same chapter: § 132-66 requires the owner to keep all required equipment and facilities in reasonably good working condition, and § 132-67 bars an owner from shutting off a required service or utility except for the time actually needed to make repairs. Read together, the elevator provision functions as a specific application of the general maintenance obligation, singled out because an inoperable elevator in a building with occupied units above the second floor directly affects tenants' ability to reach or leave their homes. The Building Inspector, who administers Chapter 132 through the Division of Housing Inspections, is the point of contact both for the notification the section requires and for any subsequent enforcement action.