This year's government work report clearly proposes to support the installation of elevators. Not long ago, the General Office of the State Council issued the Guiding Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Renovation of Old Urban Residential Areas, and the installation of elevators is also an important part of it.

Xinhua News Agency reporters found through investigation that many places have recently implemented measures to promote the installation of elevators in existing residential buildings, achieving certain results. However, there are still "bottlenecks" such as ineffective policy effects, lax market regulations, and difficulties in coordinating interests.

Multiple regions have implemented measures to accelerate the installation of elevators

I feel that the speed of installing elevators has increased recently, "Aunt Shen, the head of Building 251 in Guanshengyuan Community, Caohejing Street, Shanghai, told reporters.

The reporter learned that many places are currently implementing measures to promote the installation of elevators to "speed up".

In order to improve the situation of "one person blocking the entire building" when applying for elevator installation, many places such as Shanghai, Chengdu, and Hefei have relaxed the "threshold" for the willingness of owners to install elevators to "owners whose exclusive parts account for more than two-thirds of the total building area and more than two-thirds of the total households". Shanghai, Jinan and other places support the reduction or exemption of installation sharing fees for users on lower floors such as the first floor, encourage residents to bear the costs in a tiered manner, and guide residents to reach consensus faster.

In Shanghai, Zhoujiadu Street uses a digital platform to collect public opinions, allowing relevant residents to use their mobile phones to scan and check elevator policies, progress, neighborhood opinions, etc.

In Chengdu, the competent authorities will actively coordinate with relevant property rights management units to provide policy support and priority for the relocation of water, electricity, gas, communication and other pipelines involved in the elevator installation process; Actively coordinate and resolve various conflicts and issues that arise during the construction period.

Jinan City is about to introduce a new method for adding elevators to existing residential buildings, which clarifies that construction units only need to submit a "declaration form, declaration material authenticity commitment letter, and planning and design scheme" to apply for planning review procedures, saving installation approval time.

The reporter learned that 624 units were approved in Shanghai in 2019, exceeding the total number of approved projects in previous years; In the past three years, the construction of elevators in existing residential buildings in Jinan has started, with a total of 720 units under construction, of which 562 elevators have been put into use; In 2020, the Chengdu Municipal Government plans to add 150 elevators in the central urban area, and as of May, 112 elevators have been put into operation throughout the city.

There are still "bottlenecks" in the installation of elevators to increase speed

——Some measures have ineffective effects. Chengdu, Hefei and other places require that in addition to meeting the "double two-thirds" standard to initiate the installation process, "other residents have no objections" must also be met. Community officials in Shanghai and other places have reported to reporters that in actual work, if they cannot obtain the consent of all residents, the installation cannot begin. Isn't this still a 'one vote veto'? "Said a resident whose intention to install an elevator was hindered helplessly.

In addition, the reporter found that some places have attempted to adopt the "construction and rental" operation model of first fully or partially investing by enterprises to install elevators, and then charging owners according to certain standards after the elevators are put into use, but the effect is not satisfactory. Many communities cannot even collect property fees, making it even more difficult for us to collect fees from homeowners, "a company manager told reporters. Many companies have a low willingness to participate in this operation method.

——The industry market is not standardized enough. According to industry insiders, due to the strong subsidies provided by local governments for the installation of elevators, but the supervision of market entities' qualifications has not fully kept up, some enterprises have mixed their eyes and entered the market for profit.

Yang Lei, a resident of Jinan, told reporters that his residential community encountered a "grass platform team" without construction qualifications when installing elevators: the elevators were purchased from elsewhere, the construction personnel were scattered workers, the operation skills were not professional, and the efficiency was low. This construction team completed the basic construction and ran away with the money. The project was idle for more than half a year, and tools and garbage were piled up at the entrance of the residential unit for several months, "Yang Lei said. After changing to a regular construction company, the project was successfully completed.

An industry insider in Jinan revealed that more than 10 "grass platform teams" like this have "fled" in just over half a year in Shandong

——The installation process is not smooth and there is a shortage of manpower. According to Zhu Jin, Secretary of the Party Branch of Panjiazhai Residential Area in Xujiahui Street, Shanghai, "It takes about 1 and a half to 2 years to install an elevator in a building." Mao Weixin, Director of Guanshengyuan Road Neighborhood Committee in Caohejing Street, Shanghai, said that the installation of elevators involves the relocation of green belts, electricity, gas, water and other pipeline networks, with a complex process and a long cycle. However, the neighborhood committee only has 4 staff members and is struggling with manpower.

Previously, we were rejected multiple times when we went to the city archives to retrieve the necessary drawings for the project. Later, we requested the district diplomatic relations committee to issue an introduction letter before we were able to complete it. Zhu Jin hopes that all departments can work together to reduce the number of trips for the staff. If departments provide support, it can be done quickly; if some departments are unsure, the progress will be slow, and coordination through acquaintances and other means is needed

——Coordinating the interests of property owners is not easy. Some lower level residents are concerned that installing elevators will lead to courtyard occupation, increased noise, and damaged lighting, and are unwilling to agree to the installation. Some residents are concerned that installing elevators may cause the depreciation of lower level properties and result in economic losses. When I first bought a house, it was the best floor with three golden floors and four silver floors. As an elderly family member, the first floor also had an advantage. However, after installing an elevator, the prices of the fifth, sixth, and seventh floors increased to become the golden floors, and the prices of the first and second floors may plummet

Mao Weixin told reporters that in the successful cases of installing elevators, many buildings have merchants on the first floor, which greatly reduces the difficulty of communication, but "the real hard bone has not been gnawed on".

Promoting people's livelihoods through public support and resolving conflicts require comprehensive measures

Several experts suggest that efforts can be made in several aspects to overcome the bottleneck of installing elevators to increase speed.

Strengthen communication and comprehensive governance awareness. Many grassroots workers in various places have expressed that "canceling one vote veto cannot eliminate opposing opinions; if residents cannot achieve maximum consensus, the pressure on community governance will only increase in the future

A person in charge of community related work suggested that promoting the installation of elevators to "speed up" should be combined with comprehensive management of the community. For example, improving the green belts in residential areas, intensively utilizing space to increase parking spaces, and providing more convenience for residents on lower floors when parking. Adopting more flexible and flexible processing methods, we strive to provide a sense of achievement for all homeowners

Strengthen market supervision and ensure the safety of residents. Tang Xiugui, the general manager of Shandong Zhengxun Elevator Co., Ltd., told reporters that adding elevators to old buildings involves multiple aspects such as civil foundation construction, special equipment installation, elevator professional maintenance, etc., with numerous links, complex processes, difficult risk control, and long return cycles. The 'grass platform team' not only disrupts market order, but also easily leads to serious security risks.

Wang Zhen, Director of the Shanghai Housing Management Bureau, suggested that since the installation of elevators is carried out according to the building construction, it is best to coordinate the use of relatively unified elevator brands, construction parties, and maintenance parties in the same community. If "20 buildings use 20 brands", not only will the maintenance cost be high in the later stage, but the risk will also be high.

Innovate market operation models and strengthen technical standard guidance. Several business leaders have suggested that the government should use policy tools to strengthen innovation in the operation mode of installing elevators, such as clarifying the rights and interests boundaries of social capital as "franchisees" or "vertical transportation service providers", refining engineering technical specifications, contract texts, resident cost sharing ratios, usage fee standards, and other specific content.

Pei Zhaozhen, director of the Building Renovation and Decoration Institute of Shandong Academy of Building Sciences, suggested that various regions should standardize the technical standards and behaviors of elevator installation, so that not only can enterprises engaged in elevator installation have a basis to follow, but also regulatory departments have rules to follow in the standardized management of elevator installation.