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Washington Legislature· ESSB 5156C 145 L 26

Concerning elevator standards in smaller apartment buildings., the official text

Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official page posted by the Washington Legislature, fetched 2026-08-29. This is the chaptered version. The official bill page.
CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5156
Chapter 145, Laws of 2026
69TH LEGISLATURE
2026 REGULAR SESSION
BUILDING CODE—ELEVATORS IN SMALLER APARTMENT BUILDINGS
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 11, 2026
Passed by the Senate March 9, 2026
Yeas 41  Nays 6
DENNY HECK

President of the Senate
Passed by the House March 4, 2026
Yeas 93  Nays 1
LAURIE JINKINS

Speaker of the House of Representatives
CERTIFICATE
I, Sarah Bannister, Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5156 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth.
SARAH BANNISTER

Secretary
Secretary
Approved March 23, 2026 10:48 AM
FILED
March 23, 2026

BOB FERGUSON

Governor of the State of Washington
Secretary of State
State of Washington

ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5156

AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
Passed Legislature - 2026 Regular Session
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session

By Senate Housing (originally sponsored by Senators Salomon, Bateman, Liias, Nobles, Riccelli, Shewmake, and Stanford)
READ FIRST TIME 01/28/25.
AN ACT Relating to elevator standards in smaller apartment buildings; and adding new sections to chapter 19.27 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION.    Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 19.27 RCW to read as follows:
The state building code council shall adopt, by rule, for the 2027 technical codes, standards for cities and counties to allow, for apartment buildings with at most six stories and at most 24 units in total, passenger elevators minimally sized to meet federal accessibility requirements.
NEW SECTION.    Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 19.27 RCW to read as follows:
(1) The state building code council shall convene a technical advisory group to examine requirements for elevator hoistway opening protection and for two-way visual emergency communications devices, and evaluate whether current requirements properly balance cost and safety for small apartment buildings.
(2) The technical advisory group convened under this subsection, in addition to the requirements under RCW 19.27.033, must include:
(a) At least one position for a representative of the Washington state fire chiefs association;
(b) One building code official;
(c) One position for a state elevator inspector;
(d) One representative from a major elevator manufacturing company;
(e) One representative of labor involved in the installation, maintenance, and repair, or any combination thereof, of elevators;
(f) One representative of a nonprofit with expertise in elevators that is based in the state of Washington;
(g) One representative from a disability rights group;
(h) One representative from a senior citizen advocacy group;
(i) One developer of small multifamily buildings; and
(j) One architect of small multifamily buildings.
Passed by the Senate March 9, 2026.
Passed by the House March 4, 2026.
Approved by the Governor March 23, 2026.
Filed in Office of Secretary of State March 23, 2026.
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