Elevator upgrade inside NC cottages close to final approval

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A safety mandate to reduce or eliminate space between elevator doors and landing doors inside North Carolina vacation cottages or similar short-term rentals needs one more affirmative vote to receive final General Assembly approval.

The requirement is contained in the measure called “Weston’s Law,” named in memory of a 7-year-old Ohio boy who died last summer when he became trapped between the elevator car and elevator shaft at a rental home on the northern Outer Banks.

The Senate voted unanimously on Tuesday for the bill, which would require that the gap between landing and car doors be no more than 4 inches (10.2 centimeters). That can be addressed by installing a space guard on the landing door.

The bill also sets minimum force requirements on elevator car doors and gates. The cottage landlord must send paperwork to the state Insurance Department documenting the safety improvements. The elevator must be turned off without them. The bill also would direct the state building code to require such safety measures in new short-term rental construction.

The House, which approved an earlier version of the bill last year, must decide whether to accept the Senate changes. A final bill ultimately would go to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk.