Georgia Insurance Office Uses Appointment Fees to Help Fund New Elevator Inspectors

Elevator inspections in Georgia have been an issue for years, exacerbated by the death of an 18-year-old athlete who was trapped and crushed between floors in a faulty elevator in 2021. Now, the Georgia insurance commissioner says his office has found a way to add six more inspector positions, starting in July.

The office was able to obtain new funding for the inspectors, due in part to higher appointment fees for insurance agents. When agents register their appointments with insurance carriers, they must pay a fee. That fee climbed this year, from $16 to $20, explained Bryce Rawson, director of legislative affairs for Commissioner John King.

Inspections in parts of the state have lagged behind because not enough inspectors were available. The commissioner’s office has said that in 2024, more than a third of the 32,000 elevators in the state were out of date on inspections, according to news reports.

One state lawmaker in 2022 proposed quadrupling fines for building owners that fail to regularly inspect elevators. King said a better solution was to provide more funding for more inspectors and to update the office’s computer system.

The trouble with faulty elevators was spotlighted in August 2021, when JauMarcus McFarland, a young football player from Missouri, was stuck inside an apartment complex elevator that stopped between floors. When he attempted to climb out, the elevator car plunged, killing the youth.

McFarland’s mother charged in a lawsuit that the building managers had failed to inspect the balky elevator system, despite years of complaints from residents.

The new elevator inspectors, to be hired after July 1, will be based in the Atlanta area.

Topics
Georgia