Custom Elevator of Plumsteadville, Pa., in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is recalling certain of the 15,200 residential elevators manufactured by Custom Elevator since 2003.
Young children can become trapped in the space between the exterior landing (hoistway) door and the interior elevator car door or gate if there is a hazardous gap between the doors, and suffer serious injuries or death when the elevator is called to another floor.
A 7-year-old child died in a vacation home in North Carolina in July 2021, after becoming trapped in a residential elevator manufactured by Custom Elevator and installed and serviced by a third-party installation company.
In fact, CPSC is aware of 41 deaths associated with elevators between 2018 and 2021. Between 2020 through 2021, there were more than 19,000 ER-treated injuries in the U.S.
"Residential elevators pose a deadly risk to children, said CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric. "It's long past time for all homeowners to address the hazard and ensure that children cannot get trapped between elevator doors."
To address the entrapment hazard, a total of 117,100 residential elevators have been recalled in the the U.S. in the past year
Custom Elevators sold the units to elevator contactors nationwide from 2003, through August 2022, for between $10,000 and $25,000, excluding installation costs charged by third party installation companies.
What to do
Consumers should keep young children away from the recalled residential elevators and contact Custom Elevator for free space guards to eliminate any hazardous gaps.
Custom Elevator will provide consumers with instructions on how to measure for space guards to correct any hazardous gap.
Space guards will be provided free of charge and assistance with space guard installation will be provided upon request.
Consumers may contact Custom Elevator toll-free at (888) 443-2800 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday, by email at spaceguards@customelevatorinc.com or online at www.homeelevator-recall.com/customelevator for more information and for those specific elevators subject to the recall.