PAGE 6 | July 19, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
...ON THE JOB with Elevator Constructors #28
From Page 1
vator constructors leave the
site until the rest of the build-
ing frame is constructed. They
return weeks or months later to
place the vertical rails, con-
struct the cabs, set up the elec-
trical and mechanical systems,
and install the doors.
Elevator constructors tend
to specialize. Some focus on
new construction, others on re-
pair or modernization. Some
do mostly elevators, others do
escalators.
Hanley’s specialty is final
inspection and tune-up. He ar-
rives at projects near the end
and installs the buttons and
jewels (lights), the buzzers and
the dingers (Audible signals
are required by the Americans
with Disabilities Act). He also
does late-stage testing and
troubleshooting to make sure
newly installed elevators pass
final inspection with the state.
Unlike most other construc-
tion workers, who work for a
general contractor or subcon-
tractor, most elevator construc-
tors work for one of the big
three elevator companies - Otis
(headquartered in Connecti-
cut), Kone (based in Finland
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Elevator constructors
use many of the same
tools as other construc-
tion workers, but a few
are unique. Above,
these 40-pound static
balance weights bal-
ance the cab itself to
keep it centered within
the guide rails and min-
imize the stress on the
roller guides. At right is
an elevator key. Be-
cause elevator keys can
unlock the outer hoistway door whether or not there’s a car behind it,
elevator constructors keep a tight grip on them and don’t give them
out to other tradespeople, or even building owners. Below, a bin with
some of the miles of wires that will go into the Hyatt elevators.
and pronounced KO-NAY)
and Thyssenkrupp (a German
multinational, pronounced
TISS-en-krup). Each company
employs its own staff in-
stalling and maintaining its
proprietary technology.
Hanley has been at Otis
over 10 years.
For about a year of that
time, he did elevator mainte-
nance, greasing parts and
cleaning the “pits” — the floor
of the elevator shaft where
dust and things that fall
through the cracks settle.
Sometimes being an elevator
maintenance worker meant he
was on call as a first responder,
hurrying to buildings where el-
evators had malfunctioned and
trapped passengers.
Such mishaps aren’t com-
mon, but they do happen. Ele-
vators are driven by an array of
electrical contacts. Those can
build up carbon and dust and
corrode.
By code, all elevators are re-
quired to have a phone system
that allows passengers to call
out if the car stops working.
The phone connects either to a
24-hour guard station if the
building has one, or to a hot-
line run by a company like
Otis, which dispatches a serv-
ice person.
Arriving at a building with
a malfunctioning elevator,
Hanley would head straight to
where it’s stuck and communi-
cate with trapped passengers.
“You’re okay,” he’d tell
them. “The elevator’s not go-
ing to fall. Just hang on.”
Safety is at the core of ele-
vator construction, and has
been since the dawn of the
modern elevator. Contrary to
popular memory, it was the
Greek mathematician Archi-
Turn to Page 7
DON’T LOOK DOWN For the new 14-story 600-room Hyatt Regency hotel across from the Oregon Convention
Center, Otis constructed 11 elevators and four escalators in the main building, and three more elevators in an
adjacent parking garage. At the height of the job, 12 crews totaling 24 workers were on site for about six months.
The hotel is on track to open in early 2020. Below is one of the Otis “cassettes,” the machine at the top of the
shaft that pulls cars up and down.