No one knows for sure how many elevators in San Francisco are out at any one time. What we do know is that many have not been inspected for several years, and there are not enough technicians<\/a> to quickly bring them into compliance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Part of the problem is also legal, not just mechanical. City law requires landlords of buildings higher than 50 feet \u2014 generally four to five stories \u2014 to maintain at least one working elevator, but sets no deadline for fixing one when it breaks.\u00a0<\/p>\n A landlord can leave a building\u2019s sole elevator down for weeks, or months, without violating the letter of the law. That could change.\u00a0Supervisor Danny Sauter announced drafting legislation in late July that would mandate elevator repairs within 24 hours, and require landlords to pay for the relocation of seniors, disabled tenants, and families with young children when repairs take longer.<\/p>\n Inspections and the backlog<\/p>\n While there is\u00a0 no record of how many elevators are out, there is good data on the length of time since an elevator\u2019s last recorded inspection.<\/p>\n California law generally requires<\/a> elevators to be inspected every year, except those covered by a full maintenance contract with a licensed elevator service company. Those can qualify for a two-year permit.<\/p>\n Among San Francisco\u2019s nearly 2,800 single-elevator buildings, records show more than a third haven\u2019t had a recorded inspection in more than three years, and nearly 20 percent haven\u2019t been inspected in more than five years.<\/p>\n Levy\u2019s building is one of them: The elevator he depends on has a permit that expired on April 10, 2026 \u2014 the same month the elevator went out. Since then, it has worked intermittently.\u00a0<\/p>\n California\u2019s Department of Industrial Relations, the state division responsible for licensing and inspecting elevators, says it cannot confirm with certainty what shape the elevators are actually in \u201cdue to how the information is managed.\u201d In other words, the agency tasked with overseeing the safety of the city\u2019s elevators cannot say, from its own records, which ones are safe to ride in.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the department said it first inspects the elevators that have been out of compliance the longest, but that doesn\u2019t happen quickly. Records show nearly 1,200 San Francisco passenger elevators, including in buildings with more than one elevator,\u00a0haven\u2019t been inspected in more than five years, some for more than a decade.<\/p>\n \u201cI think everyone you\u2019ll talk to, there\u2019s no one who\u2019s going to say that there\u2019s not a shortage of inspectors,\u201d said Greg Hardmann, 44, the business secretary of IUEC Local 8, San Francisco\u2019s elevator technician union. \u201cSan Francisco seems to be the hardest place for the state of California to keep or bring on inspectors just because of the cost of living.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n An aging building stock<\/p>\n After New York, San Francisco has the biggest elevator industry in the country, in part because of the age of its buildings<\/a>, Hardmann says.<\/p>\n State records back him up. Of the roughly 8,200 San Francisco passenger elevators with a valid installation date, the median age is about 27 years old, and about one in four are more than half-a-century old.<\/p>\n Some are pushing a century. The oldest elevators still in service date to 1927, including elevators in the Russ Building on Montgomery Street and the Alta Apartments on Mason Street.<\/p>\n
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Elevator update notice for residents of 545 O\u2019Farrell St. Taken on June 27, 2026. Photo by Hamza Fahmy. <\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/MMG_1804-930x620.jpg\")
Olga, 81, hasn\u2019t had a working elevator in her building for over three years. Taken on June 27, 2026. Photo by Hamza Fahmy. <\/p>\n