STATEMENT FROM CHICAGO HOUSING AUTHORITY
BETTER GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION/WBEZ ELEVATOR INQUIRY
The Chicago Housing Authority is committed to providing high-quality, affordable housing to all of its
residents. The well-being and comfort of senior residents in particular has always been an agency priority.
Over the past five years, CHA has spent more than $480 million on capital improvements designed to
improve the quality of life for residents and ensure the long-term sustainability of its properties.
In 2018, CHA anticipates completing construction projects at five senior developments that will include
rehabilitation work, upgrades to life safety; mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, and new
windows for 1,362 units. Total investment: $152 million.
CHA’s Elevator Portfolio
The majority of elevators in CHA’s portfolio are located in CHA’s senior properties, which were constructed
beginning in 1956. Most of the elevators date back to the original construction of the buildings. They are
used 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by thousands of residents and their guests. Prior to 2017, CHA
last undertook an elevator improvement program in 2000, which included general repairs and cosmetic
improvements. It did not include a complete overhaul of the elevator system.
In recent years, CHA has engaged in a three-pronged approach to managing its elevator portfolio:
1.
Life Safety Work: As part of required life safety improvements, CHA tied the elevators to
the fire alarm system—a key safety improvement that ensures that elevators will not run if the
fire alarm is triggered.
2.
Day-to-Day Maintenance: CHA’s property managers are responsible for the day-to-day
maintenance and operation of CHA properties. Property managers are not only authorized - but
required - to arrange for elevator repairs and maintenance as needed, at CHA’s expense, and to
undertake any repairs necessary to ensure that elevators are put back in service as quickly as
possible. CHA’s Property Office staff are in constant communication with the property managers
regarding conditions at CHA properties, including the elevators. Due to the age of CHA’s elevators
and the fluctuating nature of maintenance and repair needs, CHA has determined that month-tomonth elevator maintenance contracts are more practical and cost-effective.
3.
Long-Term Maintenance: In 2017, CHA embarked on its Elevator Modernization Program
(EMP), an initiative that will address more than two decades of deferred long-term maintenance,
and will include upgrades to 150 elevators and related mechanical and safety systems at 86 CHA
properties. Phase one of the EMP, which began in January, included an assessment of 10
properties to determine which buildings will have work performed first. This first group of 10
properties was selected based on the age of the elevators and/or the diminishing condition
determined by the volume of ongoing maintenance. The Phase one assessment work will be
completed in Fall of 2018, with full modernization work to begin at the end of the year. CHA is
working closely with the Department of Buildings on this program as the permitting phase
approaches. Following the completion of the EMP, CHA expects that the current level of day-to-

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 day maintenance and repair work will be significantly reduced. (Please see the attached press
release on the Elevator Modernization Program for additional details on this program.)
CHA elevators are safe. While it is true that elevators are aging and require frequent maintenance and
repair, at no time has a resident been injured by a CHA elevator. Nor have hundreds of residents been
stuck inside elevators. CHA is fully aware that access to working elevators is an important quality-of-life
issue for residents in CHA’s senior properties. This is the reason that elevator repairs are a priority. When
elevators are not working, property management staff communicates with residents and works
proactively to ensure resident safety, including conducting well-being checks on residents who may need
special attention.
Inspections Required by City
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Due to a departmental reorganization in 2016 and delays associated with procuring a vendor, annual
elevator inspections for 2016 were delayed and completed in 2017. This delay was not acceptable to
CHA and, since that time, CHA has worked to ensure that all required inspections are completed that
issues are addressed in a timely manner. Compliance with the City of Chicago ordinance is always the
goal.
CHA currently uses Phoenix Elevators to conduct required elevator inspections. To procure this
service, CHA used the list of pre-qualified elevator inspectors provided by the Department of
Buildings. Phoenix was the lowest responsible bidder, so CHA was required to award the contract to
Phoenix.
Throughout 2017, CHA worked with Phoenix and the Department of Buildings (DOB) to address both
the 2016 inspections and the 2017 inspections, and we are currently up-to-date with required
inspections. CHA will continue to work closely with Phoenix and DOB to address any issues with CHA
elevators. It should be noted that data entry errors, while not acceptable, DO NOT mean that
elevators are not safe for residents.
At this time, we have no information indicating that Phoenix is no longer pre-qualified to perform
such inspections, or that any issues have arisen with inspections performed by Phoenix, but we will
continue to monitor their work.
Elevators can fail inspections for a variety of reasons unrelated to the underlying safety. Your assertion
that an elevator that fails an inspection is not a safe elevator and therefore, must be taken out of
service, is incorrect. When an elevator fails an inspection, CHA works to address the violation and to
ensure compliance. Further, the maintenance records that we have provided to you demonstrate
that CHA elevators undergo maintenance and repairs by qualified vendors on a regular basis.

Assertions that CHA has failed to provide you with broad categories of records are without merit. Over
the past eight months, CHA has provided you with thousands of records related to elevators covering a
variety of topics:
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CHA has provided you with 654 inspection reports and more than 5,000 maintenance records.
The above-referenced maintenance records clearly indicate that “underlying mechanics” were fixed.
In fact, all of the more than 5,000 maintenance records that we provided to you are related to
mechanical repairs, not aesthetic improvements.
CHA provided you with all 2015 elevator certificates, including 96 for elevators at CHA properties.

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CHA cannot verify any of the “statistics” you have provided regarding the frequency of 911 calls for
CHA elevators vs. 911 calls for other elevators. In fact, data that CHA has received indicates that there
were 599 unique elevator-related calls to 911 for 70 buildings over four years, which is 8.55 unique
911 calls per CHA building over four years or 2.13 unique calls per CHA building per year.

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CHA welcomes input from residents in a variety of formal and informal forums, including Senior
Housing Advisory Council and Central Advisory Council meetings; CHA Board Meetings; HCV Resident
Advisory Council meetings; and via emails, letters and phone calls. Further, CHA senior staff, including
CEO Eugene E. Jones, Jr. frequently make unannounced site visits to talk to residents and property
management staff in-person.
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