elevator regulation at a glance
- Regulator
- Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), Division of Hotels and Restaurants, Bureau of Elevator Safety
- Statute
- Chapter 399, Florida Statutes; Rule Chapter 61C-5, Florida Administrative Code
- Who inspects
- Certified private third-party inspectors; a current, satisfactory inspection is required for the initial certificate and each annual renewal
- Frequency
- Annual: every non-exempt conveyance must pass an inspection with no violations each year
- Certificate
- Certificate of operation per conveyance, $75 per year; all certificates expire July 31; $50 late fee from August 1; ownership change filed within 30 days
- Local programs
- Contracted jurisdictions (including Miami-Dade and Broward counties) run their own permitting and inspection programs
How elevator compliance works in Florida
Florida regulates elevators, escalators and related equipment through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Bureau of Elevator Safety under Chapter 399 of the Florida Statutes and Rule Chapter 61C-5. Every conveyance carries a state certificate of operation, and the bureau’s rule is blunt: unless exempt, each unit must pass an inspection with no violations every year.
Owners don’t wait for a state inspector. Florida relies on certified private inspectors, and a current, satisfactory third-party inspection is required both for the initial certificate and for each annual renewal. All certificates expire on July 31 regardless of when they were issued; a renewal paid on or after August 1 picks up a late fee on top of the $75 annual fee. Change of ownership triggers a separate application within 30 days. Two-stop elevators under a full-service maintenance contract with a registered elevator company can be exempted from the annual inspection, but only if the owner files the contract verification with the division; a bill statement doesn’t qualify.
Several Florida jurisdictions, including Miami-Dade, Broward and others on the state’s contracted-jurisdiction list, run their own elevator permitting and inspection programs. Owners with buildings on both sides of a county line can face two sets of paperwork for the same portfolio.
What we do for Florida owners
Elevator Compliance Group is an independent, QEI-licensed inspection and consulting firm. We do not sell maintenance, repairs or modernization, so our work in Florida is only for the owner: inspections and inspection witnessing, review of inspection reports and violations, deficiency tracking to verified correction, maintenance contract review, modernization planning and owner representation when the contractor and the inspector disagree.
- Perform or witness the annual third-party inspection with QEI-licensed inspectors, timed to clear violations well before the July 31 renewal
- Track every certificate of operation in the portfolio and file renewals and ownership changes on time
- Log inspection violations, assign them under the maintenance contract and verify correction before the re-inspection
- Confirm whether a two-stop exemption is properly documented or quietly lapsed
- Sort out which units fall under DBPR and which under a county or city program
Where we work in Florida
Our Florida work concentrates on Miami and South Florida, Orlando, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville: condominium towers, hotels and resorts, hospital systems, office and mixed-use, and the airport and convention escalators that move the state’s visitors. The rules are statewide; the local programs and the building stock are not.
Regulatory summary based on the agency sources below; requirements change, so confirm current rules with the agency or with us before relying on them.