North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 95. Department of Labor and Labor Regulations § 95-110.3. Definitions

(a) The term “Commissioner” shall mean the North Carolina Commissioner of Labor or his authorized representative.

(b) The term “Director” shall mean the Director of the Elevator and Amusement Device Division of the North Carolina Department of Labor.

(c) The term “dumbwaiter” shall mean a hoisting and lowering mechanism equipped with a car or platform which moves in guides in a substantially vertical direction, the floor area of which does not exceed nine square feet, the total inside height of which, whether or not provided with fixed or removable shelves, does not exceed four feet, the capacity of which does not exceed 500 pounds, and which is used exclusively for carrying materials.

(d) The term “elevator” shall mean a hoisting and lowering mechanism equipped with a car or platform which moves in guides, and which serves two or more floors of a building or structure.

(e) The term “escalator” shall mean a power driven, inclined continuous stairway used for raising and lowering passengers.

(f) The term “inclined stairway chair lift” shall mean a hoisting and lowering mechanism with one or more chairs or a platform for one or more wheelchairs installed on a stairway for the purpose of transporting a physically disabled person.

(g) The term “inclined or vertical wheelchair lift” shall mean a powered platform-elevating device used to transport a physically disabled person in a wheelchair.

(h) The term “manlift” shall mean platforms or brackets and accompanying handholds, mounted on, or attached to, an endless belt operating vertically in one direction only and being supported by, and driven through, pulleys at the top and bottom and intended primarily for the conveyance of persons.

(i) The term “moving walk” shall mean a type of passenger carrying device on which passengers stand or walk and in which the passenger carrying surface remains parallel to its direction of motion and is uninterrupted.

(j) The term “operator” shall mean any person having direct control over the operation of any covered device or equipment.

(k) The term “owner” shall mean any person or authorized agent of such person who owns a device or equipment subject to regulation under this Article, or in the event the device or equipment is leased, the lessee. The term “owner” also shall include the State of North Carolina or any political subdivision thereof or any unit of local government.

(l) The term “person” shall mean any individual, association, partnership, firm, corporation, private organization, or the State of North Carolina or any political subdivision thereof or any unit of local government.

(m) The term “personnel hoist” shall mean an elevator installed inside or outside of buildings during construction, alteration or demolition and used primarily to raise and lower workers and other persons connected with or related to the building project.

(n) The term “special equipment” shall mean any permanently or semi-permanently located device, manually or power-operated, used for moving or lifting person or persons and materials but not considered as an elevator, escalator, dumbwaiter, moving walk, personnel hoist, inclined stairway chair lift, inclined or vertical wheelchair lift, or manlift. Special equipment shall include, but not be limited to, manhoists, lift bridges, elevators which are used only for handling building materials and workmen during construction, and stage and orchestra lifts.