Terms Used In Iowa Code > Chapter 89A - Elevators

• Alteration: means any change made to an existing conveyance, other than the repair or replacement of damaged, worn, or broken parts necessary for normal maintenance. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conveyance: means an elevator, dumbwaiter, escalator, moving walk, lift, or inclined or vertical wheelchair lift subject to regulation under this chapter, and includes hoistways, rails, guides, and all other related mechanical and electrical equipment. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• Director: means the director of the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• Dumbwaiter: means a hoisting and lowering mechanism equipped with a car which moves in guides in a substantially vertical direction, when the floor area does not exceed nine square feet, the total compartment height does not exceed four feet, the capacity does not exceed five hundred pounds, and which is used exclusively for carrying materials. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• Elevator: means a hoisting and lowering mechanism equipped with a car or platform which moves in guides in a substantially vertical direction, and which serves two or more floors of a building or structure. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• Escalator: means a power-driven, inclined, continuous stairway used for raising or lowering passengers. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Inclined or vertical wheelchair lift: means a lift used to transport a wheelchair as specified in the American society of mechanical engineers safety standard for platform lifts and stairway chairlifts, A18. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Inspector: means an inspector employed by the department for the purpose of administering this chapter. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lift: means a device consisting of a power-driven endless belt, provided with steps or platforms and handholds attached to it for the transportation of persons from floor to floor. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• Moving walk: means a type of passenger-carrying device on which passengers stand or walk, and in which the passenger-carrying surface remains parallel to its direction in motion and is uninterrupted. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• New installation: means a conveyance the construction or relocation of which is begun, or for which an application for a new installation permit is filed, on or after the effective date of rules relating to those permits adopted by the director under authority of this chapter. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• Owner: means the owner of a conveyance, unless the conveyance is a new installation or is undergoing major alterations, in which case the owner shall be considered the person responsible for the installation or alteration of the conveyance until the conveyance has passed final inspection by the department. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
• Safety board: means the elevator safety board created in section 89A. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• Special inspector: means an inspector commissioned by the director, and not employed by the department. See Iowa Code 89A.1
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
• year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1