Safety improvement requirements to prevent injury or death from elevators inside North Carolina vacation cottages and short-term rentals received final legislative approval on Wednesday.
The House voted unanimously to accept a version of legislation passed in the Senate last week by a similar margin, and sent the bill to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk.
The bill, called “Weston’s Law,” was prompted by last year’s death of a 7-year-old Ohio boy who became trapped between the elevator car and elevator shaft at a rental home on the northern Outer Banks.
The bill would require that the gap between landing and car doors for elevators at such rentals be no more than 4 inches (10.2 centimeters). That can be addressed by installing a space guard on the landing door.
The bill also sets minimum force requirements on elevator car doors and gates. The landlord must document the improvements with the state Insurance Department. Without the improvements, the elevator must be turned off. The bill also would direct the state building code to require such safety measures in new short-term rental construction.
The Alabama Legislature this year also approved a law that goes into effect July 1, which requires consideration of updated elevator safety standards.
Topics North Carolina
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