By Eric A. Shore, an injury and disability lawyer for over 30 years
Last updated: August 5, 2026
If an elevator injured you in Philadelphia, the building owner, property manager, elevator maintenance company, or another company may be responsible. The answer depends on what went wrong, who was supposed to prevent it, and what the records show.
Many people have contacted our office after tripping while entering or leaving an elevator because it stopped above or below the hallway floor. That may sound like a small defect, but a misleveled elevator can cause broken ankles, broken wrists, torn knees, and head injuries, especially when the passenger has no warning that the surfaces are uneven.
Our office has also helped people who were inside an elevator when it dropped or fell multiple floors. Those cases are different, and I talk about them separately below, because the injuries and the investigation both look different.
Elevator injuries also happen in other ways. Doors can close on a passenger, an elevator can jerk or lurch without warning, and people can be trapped inside for long periods. Whatever happened to you, the same basic questions apply: what failed, who was responsible for preventing that failure, and what did they know before you got hurt.
Key Takeaways
- The building owner and the elevator maintenance company are usually the first parties examined, but the property manager, repair contractor, inspector, installer, or manufacturer may also be responsible.
- Most elevator cases turn on notice, meaning whether someone knew about the problem or should have found it through reasonable inspection and maintenance.
- Records often decide these cases. Maintenance logs, callback records, violation histories, and earlier incident reports often contradict a building’s claim that “no one ever complained.”
- Pennsylvania generally gives you two years to file a personal injury lawsuit, but a claim involving a government entity may require written notice within six months.
Who May Be Responsible for an Elevator Injury?
Most elevator cases begin with the building owner and the elevator maintenance company. Depending on what happened, the property manager, repair contractor, installer, inspection company, or manufacturer may also be responsible.
The building owner may be responsible for allowing an unsafe elevator to remain in service. The maintenance company may be responsible if it missed a problem, performed a poor repair, or failed to respond properly to earlier complaints.
These cases often come down to notice. Notice simply means that the responsible party knew about the problem or should have discovered it through reasonable inspection and maintenance. You can learn more about unsafe property claims in our Philadelphia Premises and Landlord Liability Guide.
What If the Elevator Dropped or Fell While I Was Inside?
Our office has helped people who were hurt when an elevator fell multiple floors. A sudden drop, even a short one, can cause serious injuries to the legs, knees, ankles, back, and spine, because the body is not built to absorb that kind of stop, and many people are left with a lasting fear of stepping into an elevator at all.
One important lesson from these cases: what a passenger feels and what the investigation later proves are two different things. You may describe the elevator as dropping or falling, while the records may point to a brake problem, a control or leveling failure, a cable issue, or a hard stop between floors. Report exactly what you felt, and do not try to diagnose the mechanical problem yourself. The maintenance records and a proper technical investigation will establish what actually failed.
If you were in an elevator that dropped, get medical attention even if you think you walked away okay. Spine and joint injuries from sudden deceleration often get worse over the days that follow, and an early medical record connects the injury to the event.
How Elevator Records Can Change a Case
When elevator repair and inspection records are held by a government agency or public institution, we use freedom of information requests to obtain them whenever they are available. Those records can completely change a case.
In one of our elevator injury cases, the defendant claimed it had no notice of any problem. Without evidence of earlier complaints, that could have created a serious problem for our client. The records we obtained told a different story. They showed the defendant had been put on notice multiple times, and that multiple people had been injured before our client was. What started as a small case with a weak notice argument became a potentially big case, built on proof that the problem was old, known, and never properly fixed.
The lesson applies to Philadelphia elevator cases too. Do not simply accept the building’s statement that no one complained before. Inspection reports, repair records, maintenance logs, violation histories, callback records, emails, and earlier incident reports may tell a very different story. In Philadelphia, anyone can search a property’s permits, licenses, violations, and inspection history through the City’s Atlas tool, and records held by Pennsylvania government agencies may be requested under the Right-to-Know Law.
What Should You Do After an Elevator Accident in Philadelphia?
- Get medical care first. Your health comes before everything else, and early treatment records also document what the elevator did to you.
- Report the accident in writing to building management and ask for an incident report number.
- Photograph everything you safely can: the elevator number, the floor, the doors, the posted inspection certificate, and anything showing how the elevator stopped.
- Get witness information. If an employee says the elevator has been causing problems, write down that person’s name and exact words.
- Ask in writing that evidence be preserved, especially video. A camera may have recorded the elevator stopping uneven with the floor, the doors closing, the fall, or what happened immediately afterward, and footage can be erased or recorded over quickly. The request should identify the elevator, building, floor, date, and approximate time.
- Be careful with insurance statements. Get the adjuster’s name, company, and claim number, and talk to a lawyer before giving a recorded statement or signing any medical authorization or release.
Elevator service records deserve special attention. They may show earlier leveling problems, repeated service calls, unfinished repairs, failed inspections, or complaints from other passengers, and they should be requested before they disappear.
Does an Elevator Inspection Certificate Prove the Elevator Was Safe?
No. A current certificate does not necessarily prove that the elevator was working safely when you were injured. An inspection is a snapshot in time, and problems can develop or return between inspections.
An expired certificate also does not automatically prove negligence. It is important evidence, but the case still needs to connect the elevator problem to your accident and injuries.
What If I Was Hurt in an Elevator at Work?
You may have a workers’ compensation claim if you were using the elevator as part of your job. You could also have a separate personal injury claim against the building owner, maintenance company, or another company that is not your employer.
The two claims cover different losses. Workers’ compensation may pay medical expenses and part of your lost wages, while a separate injury claim may include pain, suffering, and other damages.
When one accident creates personal injury, workers’ compensation, and disability claims at the same time, I call it a DISINJURY™ case: overlapping claims from a single injury that must be managed together, because what you say and sign in one claim can be used against you in the others.
How Long Do I Have to File an Elevator Injury Claim?
Pennsylvania generally gives an injured person two years to file a personal injury lawsuit. That does not mean every elevator case has the same deadline. A claim involving a Commonwealth or local government entity may require written notice within six months of the injury, although exceptions can apply, so the deadline should be checked immediately rather than assumed.
Waiting is dangerous even when the two-year deadline applies. Video can be erased, elevators can be repaired, and records can become harder to find.
When Should I Speak With a Lawyer?
An elevator case should be reviewed promptly if you needed medical treatment, missed work, suffered a fracture, needed surgery, or continue to have pain, weakness, numbness, dizziness, or
difficulty walking. It should also be reviewed quickly if the building refuses to provide information or claims there were no earlier problems.
If you were hurt in an elevator in Philadelphia, call the Law Offices of Eric A. Shore at 1-800-CANT-WORK. The first job is not to guess who is responsible. It is to preserve the evidence and find out what the building and elevator companies knew before you were injured.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I have a case if I simply tripped while entering the elevator?
Yes. An elevator that stops above or below the hallway floor can create a serious tripping hazard, especially when passengers have no warning that the surfaces are uneven.
You still need to prove that the elevator condition caused your fall and that a responsible party failed to prevent or correct it. Medical records, photographs, video, and maintenance records may help prove what happened.
Can the elevator maintenance company be responsible?
Yes. A maintenance company may be responsible if reasonable inspections or repairs would have discovered and corrected the problem.
The maintenance agreement is important because it shows what work the company agreed to perform. Its service logs may show whether the same problem had been reported before.
What if the building says no one complained before?
That is the building’s position. It is not necessarily the final answer.
Complaint records, repair requests, emails, maintenance callbacks, inspection reports, and earlier incident reports may show that the problem had already been reported. Those records should be requested before they disappear.
About Eric A. Shore
Eric A. Shore is a personal injury and disability lawyer and the founder of the Law Offices of Eric
A. Shore. He has helped tens of thousands of injured and disabled people since 1994,
particularly when an injury interferes with their ability to work. His clients have received or are expected to receive over $250 million in judgments, settlements, and estimated lifetime benefits.
Eric is the DISINJURY™ lawyer. He helps people when a serious injury becomes a disability and threatens their health, paycheck, and future. Learn more at 1800CANTWORK.com.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney client relationship.
