Experience from COSCO Liangwan City: "Elevator replacement" can be "formulated"! Shanghai's first soft law guideline for elevator replacement is released
This afternoon, the "Soft Law Guidelines for Replacing Elevators in Existing Residential Buildings in Putuo District" was released at Banma Suhe Station 1690 Party and Mass Service Center. The press conference was held here because the relevant experience was born out of the COSCO Liangwancheng Community here.
COSCO Liangwan City is the largest residential community in the inner ring of Shanghai, with 96 buildings and 11,599 households with nearly 50,000 residents. The earliest building was built 22 years ago, and the "old" elevators often "break down", with safety hazards such as elevator doors not closing, sudden drops, and serious shaking of the elevator body during operation.
"After the successful replacement of the first elevator in the community in 2021, related practices were quickly replicated and promoted. At present, 186 of the 206 elevators in COSCO Liangwan City are gradually being replaced, of which 129 have been put into use." Yun Mei, secretary of the Party branch of the third residential area of COSCO Liangwan City, said that the Pudong District Committee's Rule of Law Office and the District Justice Bureau, based on the successful experience of COSCO Liangwan City's large-scale elevator replacement, clarified the details and standardized responsibilities of the "elevator replacement" work methods in commercial housing communities in the form of soft law guidance, which is an embodiment of the rule of law to safeguard residents' autonomy and protect the people's safe and happy life.
"In early summer of 2019, I was taking the elevator alone. Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and the elevator stopped, hanging between the fifth and sixth floors. There was no mobile phone signal in the elevator, and the emergency call device only made noise. I desperately knocked on the door and shouted, and finally a neighbor passing by heard the noise and helped contact the property management to deal with it. Later, many people in the building encountered similar situations. The elevator has been used for nearly 20 years and has great hidden dangers. Everyone has the idea of replacing it." Zhang Yinghua, a resident of No. 147, COSCO Liangwan City, talked about his personal experience five years ago, which was also the beginning of "replacing the elevator."
Replacing an elevator is not that easy. How are the conditions for replacing an elevator defined? What procedures are required? How should maintenance funds be used? Is there a legal basis and institutional guarantee for replacing an elevator in a single building? A series of questions are facing residents.
In August 2020, the building representatives contacted the Zhongyuan No. 3 Residential Committee. The Party Secretary Yun Mei told everyone that first of all, a "elevator replacement team" recognized by all owners in the building should be established in the building, with at least 5 people. Then, led by Yun Mei, the owner representatives, the property management company, and the property management committee held a trinity discussion meeting on the replacement of the elevator in No. 147. In this way, with the support of the neighborhood committee and the property management company, the owners took the first step to replace the elevator.
A new problem arose: the maintenance funds might not be enough to replace the elevator. The owners proposed that all owners in the building raise funds themselves. Yun Mei immediately objected. Building 147 was the first building in the community to have its elevator replaced, and all owners in the building were eager to have it replaced. Self-funding was not suitable for other buildings, and they could not be independent. Zhang Yinghua said: "We are crossing the river by feeling the stones. We should take a smooth path and not take an unusual path on impulse. So we sought help from the neighborhood party organization, which built a platform and held a communication meeting with Mitsubishi Elevator Company."
After the meeting, the two sides reached an agreement on the unprecedented practice of installment payment for special equipment. The elevator company had originally stated that special equipment could not be paid in installments, but considering that COSCO Liangwan City is a super-large community and the residents' party building platform is guaranteed, it agreed to allow the owner to pay in three installments, thus solving the temporary shortage of funds at the time.
Another key to success in the elevator replacement process is that the owners have established a building affairs and discussion platform. The construction of this platform provides a regular communication and discussion platform for building residents, property management, and the owner's committee. Zhang Yinghua said: "We three parties hold communication meetings almost every week. After many rounds of communication, discussion, and opinion solicitation, we finally signed the contract to replace the elevator. The construction officially started in June 2021. The first passenger elevator was successfully replaced in September, and the freight elevator was also replaced in November. So far, we have used two brand new elevators."
The COSCO Third Residential Area is also one of the first grassroots rule of law observation points in Putuo District. In promoting the practice and thinking of "elevator replacement", Yun Mei, as a rule of law observer, put forward the "Legal Observation Suggestions on Improving the Governance System of "Elevator Replacement" and Enhancing the Governance Capabilities of "Elevator Replacement"" in response to problems such as the difficulty in defining the conditions for elevator replacement and the unclear management subjects.
Yun Mei introduced that in practice, the three committees of COSCO created the "building affairs and building discussions - small owners' meetings" brand in accordance with the "COSCO Liangwancheng Community Owners' Meeting Rules" and "COSCO Liangwancheng Community Special Maintenance Fund Management Regulations" and the operation mode of the owners' meeting, adhering to the principle of grassroots consultative democracy, fully listening to the owners' demands, and seeking broad consensus. After the owners reached a consensus, they guaranteed the source of funds for "elevator replacement" by withdrawing maintenance funds and involving social forces.
Starting from Building 147, up to now, 56 of the 58 elevators in the COSCO Third Residential Area are being gradually replaced; 186 of the 206 elevators in COSCO Liangwan City are being gradually replaced. The practice from point to surface provides a vivid case for in-depth research, issuing standardized guidelines, and establishing a sound "elevator replacement" mechanism at the street, town, district, and city levels.
"The three committees of COSCO actively promoted the work of 'elevator replacement' in the community level, and continued to expand the scope of application of the 'small owners' meeting' deliberation mechanism for building affairs and discussions, and achieved good results." Yun Mei said: "Based on these experiences, we proposed in our suggestions that a special joint working meeting system for 'elevator replacement' governance can be established at the municipal level. Relevant departments should conduct centralized research and unified deployment on 'elevator replacement' governance, form a special plan for implementation throughout the city, and clarify relevant standards, conditions, processes and other issues that need to be resolved urgently. At the district level, a special joint meeting system will be established under the guidance of the municipal level to coordinate relevant units and form district-level plans based on the municipal overall plan."
In addition, the deliberation mechanism of the "small owners' meeting" for building affairs and discussions takes the building group as the basic unit, with standardized processes and a high degree of universality. Its application has brought positive trends to the public opinion consultation effect, fact promotion efficiency, and residents' sense of gain and satisfaction of the building group.
Yun Mei introduced that in addition to promoting the implementation of the "elevator replacement" project in building groups, they also promoted the resolution of consultation problems in regional public affairs such as express delivery to homes and micro-renewal of the lobby, and also derived a consultation and negotiation process for projects such as crowdfunding micro-renewal of community children's playgrounds, signal coverage of non-motor vehicle garages, cleaning of ground zombie motor vehicles, and renovation of non-motor vehicle ramps.
"More than 60 shops in our jurisdiction have formed a shop grid, with the block leader serving as the grid leader and the property specialist serving as the network member, to strengthen the management of businesses in the community. We also bring together forces such as the court to create a 'third-party mediation cluster' and explore the establishment of special sites such as the protection of women's and children's rights and interests and the protection of consumer rights and interests." Yun Mei said that a complete legal system for community governance is composed of autonomous rules, building group conventions, deliberation mechanisms, and other laws and regulations. Only by using the rule of law thinking can we resolve contradictions and problems involving the vital interests of the people.
The bound Soft Law Guidelines, which consists of 38 pages, is like a "reference book" focusing on elevator replacement work. It provides both operational and flexible path guidance for neighborhood committees, property management committees, property management companies, residents and other parties. It clarifies 11 nodes for promoting elevator replacement work, including: extensively listening to opinions, forming preliminary intentions, establishing an elevator replacement team, forming an elevator replacement plan, holding a good owners' meeting, strict voting, plan voting announcement, establishing a coordination team, civilized construction, project construction evaluation and elevator replacement material filing. Finally, relevant laws and regulations are listed.
During the process of formulating the "Soft Law Guidelines", the Pudong District Committee's Rule of Law Office and the District Justice Bureau held consultation meetings and seminars with the COSCO Liangwancheng Third Residents Committee, Yichuan Road Justice Office and community property management on many occasions, and widely listened to the opinions and suggestions of various grassroots rule of law observation points and observers, achieving "in-depth research and open formulation."
"As a grassroots rule of law observer at the Taopu Town Judicial Office, I received the 'Changing Ladder' Soft Law Guidelines Version 1.0 for the first time in March 2024. After receiving it, I immediately organized a research team in the office. I first read the literature in an all-round way, analyzed the regulations and guidelines one by one, and then held a series of internal seminars to conduct in-depth discussions on the legal basis, practical operability and possible challenges. Through multiple rounds of multi-angle research and discussion, preliminary opinions and suggestions were formed to ensure that the guidelines are more complete and practical." said Yang Zouhua, director of Shanghai Shendao Law Firm.
"The release of this guideline is to promote excellent experience, so that more communities will no longer have to 'cross the river by feeling the stones' when replacing elevators." At the press conference, Zhang Shaochun, secretary of the Party Committee and director of the Pudong District Justice Bureau, said that as the city's first soft law guideline for replacing elevators in existing residential buildings, this is a microcosm of Pudong's grassroots governance according to law, and it is also a new starting point for promoting higher-level governance. Next, they will continue to do a solid job in grassroots governance according to law.
