Committee presses project team on repeated elevator failures and warranty work

Committee members told the School Building Committee on Jan. 15 that elevator failures and door-hardware problems have been frequent since the building opened, and they asked the project team what steps would be taken to identify and fix root causes.

Ricky Underwood said he and John Leahy were stuck in one elevator ‘‘a few weeks ago,’’ and that staff have called the fire department multiple times to free trapped occupants. Underwood said the frequency of failures is ‘‘not normal’’ for a new high school and urged the committee to consider independent review if necessary.

Justin Lyons of Suffolk said there have been substantial service visits and that modern elevator systems can be sensitive; he recommended a comprehensive review by the elevator consultant, the manufacturer, and the installers. Kevin Kane said staff have received maintenance reports from Delta and a specialized electrical/controls contractor and will compile that information for the elevator consultant at Perkins Eastman to analyze.

Separately, Kevin Kane said ASSA ABLOY door-hardware representatives will be onsite later this month to inspect every piece of door hardware across Phases 1–3 and to identify warranty items that require repair or replacement. Kane said the team has closed 80–90% of reported hardware items and will develop a corrective list from the ASSA ABLOY inspection to sort warranty versus city maintenance responsibilities.

Ending: Project staff said they will report findings from the elevator consultant and from ASSA ABLOY’s inspections at a future meeting and that they will coordinate with the manufacturer, contractor and the city maintenance team to address persistent failures.