Bad elevators forced to drop out of service

Some 200 out-of-date elevators in residential communities have been grounded under a new program that targets old and dilapidated equipment, according to an official with the Beijing Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision.

The elevators must now be repaired or replaced after the bureau set up a warning and evaluation system for old elevators, said Li Lianghua, director of the department of special equipment inspection and testing within the bureau.

The system stipulates that elevators that have been in service for 12 years or more and that fail an annual inspection cannot be used again until they are either repaired or replaced, said Beijing Times.