MPs approve text to combat elevator breakdowns

The text was adopted in the first reading with 93 votes in favour from the left and 17 against from the National Rally (RN) and the MoDem. The groups Ensemble pour la République (EPR) and Horizons abstained.

In his introductory remarks, Mr Brun stressed that there were 1,7 million elevator breakdowns per year in France, and "increasingly long" repair times.

The text provides for requiring companies managing this equipment to intervene within two working days and to build up sufficient stocks of spare parts to repair as quickly as possible and thus avoid breakdowns becoming prolonged and turning into "ordeals" for residents of high-rise buildings. It also provides that the owner of a building where the elevator is broken must provide support to occupants with reduced mobility to guarantee them supplies and access to care.

Housing Minister Valérie Létard welcomed a "commendable attempt" to answer this question, while having a number of amendments adopted, one of which provides for a modulation of penalties based on the time taken to carry out repairs (100 euros per day of delay, then 300 euros per day after a week of delay, and 700 euros per day after two weeks of delay).

On behalf of the Republican Right, MP Thibault Bazin warned against the establishment of a "normative hell", a "race to sanctions, without concretely resolving the problems", recalling that "more than 25%" of elevators are "at least 40 years old", which makes the creation of a stock problematic.

An amendment by MP Annaïg Le Meur (Renaissance) was also approved, aiming to "raise awareness among co-owners of the risk that the potential shutdown of 2G and 3G represents for the operation of their elevator".

"Around a third of elevators in France are equipped with remote alarms that still operate on 2G, while some telecom operators have announced their intention to switch off this technology in the coming years", sometimes as early as 2026, the amendment underlines.