By Gayaneh Sargsyan

There are 207 registered elevators in Armenia’s Lori Province. Many haven’t been inspected for years.

None of the 27 elevators in the town of Alaverdi have undergone a safety inspection for several years.

Of the 162 elevators registered in the town of Vanadzor, 56 passed inspection in 2014. 61 haven’t been inspected for several years and the other 46 are out of commission. In June and July of this year, another 19 have passed inspection.

The cost to inspect one elevator is 2,930 AMD and it is up to building management to have their elevators inspected by the Lori Technical Safety Division (TSD). Management boards in Vanadzor, until recently, haven’t been all that proactive when it comes to getting their elevators inspected.

Karen Boyadjyan, who heads the Lori TSD, says he doesn’t understand why some boards only get one or two elevators inspected when they have 11 or 12 in their buildings. He points out that the cost involved is quite low.

After a tragic accident occurred last month in a Yerevan elevator, it seems that local management boards have woken up to the possible risks awaiting residents if their elevators aren’t inspected.

Karen Boyadjyan

A public meeting recently took place in the Vanadzor Municipal Building on the matter. Boyadjyan and Grisha Paravyan, who heads the municipality’s office dealing with management boards and apartments, called on board presidents to get all their elevators inspected without delay.

The government office responsible for fining boards that don’t get their elevators inspected on time is the Lori Fire and Technical Safety Inspectorate, a subdivision of Armenia’s Ministry of Territorial Government and Emergency Situations.

But it appears that the Inspectorate is lax when it comes to doing its job. In the last three years, the Inspectorate hasn’t fined any management board operating elevators that have yet to be inspected.

Zaven Ghevondyan

When asked to explain why, Inspectorate Head Zaven Ghevondyan told Hetq that the boards in question have been given a grace period to get the elevators inspected.

“They have until the end of the year, and I’m sure they will understand what they need to do and that they will comply,” Ghevondyan said.

Ghevondyan believes, however, that compliance will not result from levying fines and penalties alone. The official says the ultimate solution is for elevator operators to comprehend the dangers and get the elevators inspected voluntarily.

Surprisingly, Ghevondyan doesn’t believe it’s necessary to inform the offending boards by writing. Instead, Ghevondyan says he has personally warned one or two board presidents to get their elevators inspected.

Grisha Paravyan

There appears to be large gaps in how the inspection process is executed. The government agencies involved don’t seem willing or able to collaborate to get potentially unsafe elevators inspected.

The Lori TSD argues that a management board must first sign a contract before it crews can go out and inspect an elevator. No contract, no inspection. Then you have the Lori Fire and Technical Safety Inspectorate, the body tasked with going after the violators and ensuring that they comply. But this agency appears to have adopted a ‘kid glove’ approach regarding negligent management boards.

Residents of buildings with uninspected elevators are the ones caught in the middle of this faulty system.

On average, elevators have an operational life of 25 years. Grisha Paravyan told Hetq that the buildings in Vanadzor with elevators were all built prior to 1988; the oldest in 1969.

Thus, the newest elevator in Vanadzor is 27 years old and the oldest 46.