Audit ups and downs

State is flush with uncertified elevators

Government work is known for its heightened job security. But that mustn’t be carte blanche for poor performance. An audit released last week to state lawmakers found that, as of last June, 4,360 Nevada elevators were operating without the required inspection certificates. That’s about 35 percent of all the elevators in the state.

The Mechanical Compliance Section of the Nevada Division of Industrial Relations is charged with ensuring elevators and boilers are “maintained and operating within” the necessary “codes and standards.” But apparently nobody was actually doing the necessary work. “No mechanism existed at the division,” auditors wrote, “to identify those with expired or soon-to-be expired certificates.”

The review also concluded that the state was out $1.4 million in fees because the division failed to conduct the required inspections.

Obviously, not every uncertified elevator is a danger to the public — some of the elevators in question had been inspected, but the certificate of compliance had been delayed for reasons other than safety. Yet the division’s failure certainly increases the risk of an accident. “The last thing we want is to be top-of-the-fold someplace,” said Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, D-las Vegas, “saying we had an elevator fail in a prominent place in Southern Nevada.”

Ray Fierro, the deputy administrator who has been with the division for little more than a year, said one problem was a 2015 legislative mandate to outsource inspections as a way of dealing with a backlog. “Implementing it wasn’t done very smoothly,” said Mr. Fierro, noting that contractors did not follow up with elevator owners and failed to provide required reports to the state.

But who at the division allowed that to happen? Wasn’t anybody in charge of ensuring the contractors followed proper procedures and provided the division with inspection records and results? Where was the oversight?

Division Administrator J.D. Decker, who took over in early 2017, told the Nevada Appeal that the state is becoming more proactive in its relationship with elevator owners. “He said they’re also starting to track whether those inspections are done,” the Appeal reported, “and establishing sanctions if they aren’t inspected as required.”

But again: What were they doing before?

Mr. Fierro said the division is “taking responsibility” for the audit’s findings and “is not making excuses.” Poor performers — including administrators — have been replaced. “Some people left, some people were reassigned or left on their own,” he said. Good. That’s how it should be — even in the public sector.

“In six months,” Mr. Fierro said, “you’ll see a major change.” Let’s hope so. Government agencies are rarely known for their efficiency, but at least they should be required to do more than simply go through the motions.

The views expressed above are those of the Las Vegas Review-journal. All other opinions expressed on the Opinion and Commentary pages are those of the individual artist or author indicated.