“1.5 million elevator breakdowns and co-owners who continue to pay their charges!”

The socialist deputy Philippe Brun tabled a bill aimed at combating elevator breakdowns which drag on in condominiums and HLMs. The National Assembly will examine it on December 12.

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“A patient stuck on the tenth floor of a tower for a month and a half, due to lack of an elevator. His nurse testifies. This is unacceptable!”denounces the angry Ascenseurs collective on the social network X, on November 3. “This nurse bears witness to an unbearable reality. Everywhere in France, elevator breakdowns ruin lives. Help us make these voices heard”replies Noah Tefrit, who created Angry Elevators on September 24. This collaborator of MP Philippe Brun has just found support for her fight against repeated elevator breakdowns in co-ownerships or public housing, with the bill tabled on October 29 by the socialist parliamentarian at the office of the National Assembly.

Co-signed by around sixty other socialist deputies, this text aims to “fight against unsupported elevator breakdowns”. Breakdowns numbering “1.5 million in France, each year” and which, for some, last “up to 10 months, which constitutes a source of major difficulties, in particular for people with reduced mobility, young parents or the elderly”, denounces Philippe Brun. And, meanwhile, “hundreds of thousands of co-owners and tenants continue to pay charges for their elevators»deplores the MP. Indeed, of the 380,000 elevators installed in residential buildings in France, 80% are in co-ownership and 20% in HLM.

Two days maximum to intervene in the event of a breakdown

Philippe Brun judges these elevator breakdowns “all the more worrying given that, by 2035, three out of ten French people will be over 60 years old, and 77% of them want to prioritize staying at home” upon entering a retirement home. Without forgetting that “the elevator, which provides 100 million daily journeys, is the main means of transport for our fellow citizens».

In order to speed up the repair of elevator breakdowns, article 1 of the bill provides for the obligation, for co-ownership trustees or social landlords, to inform, within a maximum of two working days, elevator operators of any elevator breakdown. As of this notification, elevator operators will have two working days to interveneand eight working days to resolve the fault.

The National Assembly will study the bill on December 12

Failure to comply with these deadlines by the elevator operator will be punished witha penalty of 1,000 euros per day late. And, if the fault is not resolved within the first two days, the elevator operator must put in place supply and access to care measures for people with reduced mobility living in the building.

The bill also requires elevator manufacturers to have sufficient parts stocks to meet these new rapid repair obligations. Failure to constitute such a stock will be punishable by fine equal to or greater than 1% of the elevator manufacturer’s turnover. Article 2 of the bill provides for entry into force of repair deadline obligations on January 1, 2026 and parts stock obligations on July 1, 2026. The text will be studied by the National Assembly during the parliamentary niche of the socialist group, on December 12, indicates Philippe Brun to Capital.