A. Duty to conduct regular maintenance: building operators shall establish a program of regular elevator maintenance to ensure that elevators in their buildings remain usable and accessible at all times and that any repairs and servicing needed are completed within the shortest practicable time, in no event to exceed twenty-four hours, except as provided in Section 19.50.040C. Building operators shall require any elevator service company to give the building operator immediate notice of any repairs which will render the elevator inoperable for more than four hours.

B. Duty to repair malfunctions expeditiously: Where an elevator malfunctions, the elevator shall be repaired at the earliest practicable time, not to exceed twenty-four hours of notice to the building operator of such malfunction, except as provided in Section 19.50.040C.

C. Delay beyond building operator’s control--Duty to provide alternative housing pending elevator repair: If the building operator is unable to complete a repair of an elevator malfunction within twenty-four hours of notice of its malfunction, due to circumstances beyond their control, such building operator shall locate and provide alternative housing for any person residing in the building who needs to use the elevator to gain access to or egress from their unit because of such person’s impaired ability to climb stairs as a result of such person’s physical disability, medical condition, infirmity, illness or other similar circumstance. Such alternative housing shall be decent, safe, sanitary and provided at the building operator’s expense, however, the cost to the building operator for providing such alternative housing shall not exceed one hundred eighty dollars per day or a total cost of one thousand eight hundred dollars. Access to or egress from such alternative housing shall not necessitate the tenant’s use of stairs. The building operator’s inability to timely repair shall be considered beyond the building operator’s control only if the building operator had previously made reasonable arrangements, judged by relevant industry standards, to provide for expeditious repair of the elevator in the event of a malfunction, had regularly maintained the elevator and had taken all other reasonable steps to repair the elevator at the earliest practicable time. The duty to provide alternative housing shall not arise if the building operator is prevented from repairing the elevator within twenty-four hours or any time thereafter due to a natural disaster or an act of God, provided that the building operator shall be relieved of this duty only during the period that the inability to repair is caused by the natural disaster or act of God.

D. Effective January 1 of each year, beginning in 2018, the rates set forth above shall increase in an amount based on the Consumer Price Index-All Urban Consumers in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose Region averaged for the twelve-month period ending June 30 of each year, as determined and published by the United States Department of Labor. Any increase shall be published by the City on or before October 31st of each year.

E. Declaration of public nuisance: The City Council hereby finds and declares that the failure to repair an elevator or to provide alternate housing in conformity with this chapter results in irreparable injury and constitutes a public nuisance with respect to any resident in the building who is, as a result of such elevator malfunction, substantially restricted in access to or egress from their unit as a result of such person’s impaired ability to climb stairs as a result of such person’s physical disability, medical condition, infirmity, illness or other similar circumstance. (Ord. 7517-NS § 1, 2016: Ord. 6245-NS § 4, 1994)