What’s the latest “411” with A17.3 Enforcement & Door Lock Monitoring?

Written By Sean McMannis

In January 2024, we posted a blog about Door Lock Monitoring and A17.3, but information is constantly changing. For example, recently a building owner received a proposal from their service company to survey if his elevator required a code upgrade for Door Lock Monitoring (DLM). Researching DLM they found our blog and reached out to us. Following our conversation they sent us an email saying “Thanks to your blog post we decided to contact L&I about DLM and yesterday, they confirmed that our 30-year-old elevator will need an inspection. But surprisingly, from their response, it sounds like we may not even need to pay at all. In fact, L&I might be doing it for free.”

The Inspector with the State of Washington Labor & Industries informed the building owner:

“If your conveyance (elevator) does fall under the guidelines of the 2015 ASME A17.3 requirements, it is good to note that the door lock monitoring is only a small part of the requirements outlined in this code. There are approximately 240 different items that are required to comply with in total; however, door lock monitoring and emergency fire operation are the two biggest compliance items.

Washington State Labor & Industries (LNI) is trying to put together a comprehensive way to have conveyance owner’s notified on how to comply with all of these requirements, with the least amount of financial impact on conveyance owners.

Conveyance owners will be notified by LNI as to when and which of these requirements you will have to comply with as part of the inspection process.”

While it still isn’t clear when or exactly how enforcement will take place due to on-going discussions at the State level, we speculate two potential scenarios:

1. Building owner’s code compliance will be included in some form on the annual State of Washington elevator inspection code report written up as a correction required.

2. The State of Washington has adopted A17.3 and may elect to retroactively enforce the code.

We will continue to update you as we learn more! Some elevator service providers are sending blanket letters and/or proposals to their customers, recommending that they add Door Lock Monitoring.  Before you sign a proposal, we want you to make an informed decision for you and your building. If you have general questions on the State of Washington or City of Seattle inspection code report processes, check out our helpful blog. As always, feel free to reach out to our Chief Problem Solver, Sean.

Sean McMannis

There is nothing that Sean enjoys more than helping a customer solve an elevator issue. Since 2008, he has witnessed a deterioration in the services provided throughout the industry. Sean prides himself on being responsive and honest. He takes the time to educate elevator owners and help them understand their options. After spending time at various elevator companies, Sean joined Washington Elevator because he believes building owners and managers crave a company focused on people, not profits.

With more than 15 years of elevator experience, Sean’s goal is to proactively address all elevator issues so that you can focus on your business.

When Sean isn’t helping customers, you can find him playing on the soccer field, cheering on the Sounders and enjoying activities with his wife and their two young kids.

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