I have an talanted engineering group here at work. We design and
build equipment for in house use and a couple of devices that we sell.

To address a safety issue of carying parts and materials up to a
mezanine, we designed a dumbwaiter. There were a lot of constraints
such as missing electrical conduits, air ducts, roof girders, etc and
the guys came up with a good design. It had to fit, and met the needs
of the crew that would actually use it. Doors were located in the
right place (with interlocks) and the heights were right, and so on.

We started to build the unit and all was well until the city was
informed. Then red flags flew and we were told that we were
unqualified, not licensed, etc etc.

I have since contacted several manufacturers of dumwaiters and they
are not interested in either blessing our design, or providing a unit
that will meet the requirements.

In the meantime our safety guy is nervous everytime an operator climbs
the stairs with hardware and (hazardous) materials in hand.

Are there any PE's that have experience in lifts that would like to
consult? We are in central Illinois

Thanks,

Bob