West New York, NJ Building Safety: Elevator Maintenance (2026)

Elevator equipment rules in the Town of West New York sit in three places. The first is Chapter 142, Burglary Prevention. Section 142-12 makes its residential provisions mandatory for all residential dwellings other than owner-occupied two-family structures, and its subsection B covers garden, townhouse and multiple-unit structures of six or more units. There, passenger elevators, where needed, must have mirrors placed so the whole elevator interior is visible to prospective passengers outside, and elevator emergency stop buttons must be installed and connected to activate the elevator alarm. Section 142-12C adds that a superintendent, agent or other representative of the landlord must be available on the premises at all times. The Division of Code Enforcement, the Police Department and the Fire Department enforce the chapter under § 142-2.

The second is the Fire Prevention chapter. Article V applies under § 198-35 to buildings more than six stories above grade or more than 75 feet above the lowest level accessible to North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue apparatus. Section 198-40D requires a sign posted and maintained on every floor at the elevator landing telling occupants to use the stairs in case of fire unless otherwise instructed, and each bank of elevators must be identified by an alphabetical letter with a sign at each landing.

The third is the fee schedule adopted in § 161-2, administered by the Code Enforcement Department, which collects fees before a permit is issued. Plan review is charged per device: R-3, R-4, R-5 groups pay $79 and all other groups pay $411. The one-year periodic inspection and witnessing of tests, which includes the 6-month routine inspection, is $400 for 1 through 10 floors and $450 over 10 floors, $350 for hydraulic elevators, $375 for roped hydraulic elevators and $685 for escalators and moving walks. Oil buffers add $68 and counterweight governor safeties add $170, and the schedule separately lists an elevator recall system at $125.