Differential Assessment of Elevator Safety Risks in Urban Buildings Based on Regulatory Inspection Data

Abstract

Elevators are essential infrastructure for ensuring the operational continuity of buildings and the safety of occupants. However, existing uniform elevator regulatory practices may not adequately capture the differences in safety risks among various building-use scenarios. This study develops a differential assessment based on regulatory inspection data from 1240 in-service elevators. Descriptive statistics, Wilson confidence intervals, Pearson’s chi-square (χ2) tests, and Fisher’s exact tests were used to examine differences by building type, service age, and major defect categories. The overall non-conformity rate, defined as the proportion of inspected elevators classified as non-conforming, was 22.77%, while the serious safety hazard rate, defined as the proportion of inspected elevators recorded as having serious safety hazards, was 1.10%. Among the 1156 elevators with identified building types, building type was significantly associated with inspection outcomes (χ2 = 39.165, p-value < 0.001). Office buildings and hospitals showed the highest non-conformity rates (55.56% and 41.51%), whereas schools showed the lowest rate (10.29%). A descriptive comparison across service-age groups showed higher non-conformity rates after 10 years of service, with the highest observed value (29.57%) in the 16–24-year-old group. Among the non-conforming elevators included in the defect analysis, door-system defects accounted for 70.00%. Regulatory priorities differed depending on the inspection indicator considered: office buildings and hospitals showed relatively high non-conformity proportions, whereas residential buildings had the largest observed number of non-conforming elevators within the inspected sample. These findings provide a multidimensional basis for differentiated elevator maintenance and regulatory prioritization.