897: Elevator Inspection - Revision history

2.98.65.8: /* Explanation */ Punc.

2025-10-13T20:59:08Z

‎Explanation: Punc.

162.218.182.5: /* Explanation */ Capitalization

2025-10-13T20:18:35Z

‎Explanation: Capitalization

162.218.182.5: /* Explanation */ Fixed commas that made me mad

2025-10-13T20:17:54Z

‎Explanation: Fixed commas that made me mad

1234231587678 at 16:06, 21 March 2024

2024-03-21T16:06:20Z

172.69.79.133: /* Explanation */ Given the premise, it may not be there to find (out of mere curiosity or investigative necessity).

2023-03-05T22:05:32Z

‎Explanation: Given the premise, it may not be there to find (out of mere curiosity or investigative necessity).

172.70.111.23: /* Explanation */ use gender-neutral pronoun

2023-03-05T21:45:15Z

‎Explanation: use gender-neutral pronoun

Kynde: /* Explanation */

2022-06-05T14:16:08Z

‎Explanation

Davidy22: Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by 172.70.90.63

2022-05-21T02:51:05Z

Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by 172.70.90.63

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Explain xkcd server admin at 23:58, 20 May 2022

2022-05-20T23:58:25Z

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172.70.90.63: Undo revision 271693 by Explain xkcd server admin (talk)

2022-05-20T23:58:08Z

Undo revision 271693 by Explain xkcd server admin (talk)

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@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-This was the first of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]] that was not a [[:Category:Protip|pro tip]]; more specifically, it was an "industry tip."
+This was the first of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]] that was not a [[:Category:Protip|pro tip]]; more specifically, it was an "industry tip".
 In the United States, all elevators are subject to building codes and must be inspected on a somewhat-regular basis by city officials. After the inspector runs their rounds, the elevator's passing grade is noted in a certificate which is visibly placed in the elevator. Alternatively, it can be dumped in a filing cabinet in the building office where the owner can forget about it, and a placard is given to the elevator letting the passengers know where the certificate is (usually the aforementioned building office).

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-This was the first of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]] that was not a [[:Category:Protip|pro tip]]; more specifically, it was an Industry tip.
+This was the first of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]] that was not a [[:Category:Protip|pro tip]]; more specifically, it was an "industry tip."
 In the United States, all elevators are subject to building codes and must be inspected on a somewhat-regular basis by city officials. After the inspector runs their rounds, the elevator's passing grade is noted in a certificate which is visibly placed in the elevator. Alternatively, it can be dumped in a filing cabinet in the building office where the owner can forget about it, and a placard is given to the elevator letting the passengers know where the certificate is (usually the aforementioned building office).

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-This was the first of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], that was not a [[:Category:Protip|pro tip]] but more specifically an Industry tip.
+This was the first of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]] that was not a [[:Category:Protip|pro tip]]; more specifically, it was an Industry tip.
 In the United States, all elevators are subject to building codes and must be inspected on a somewhat-regular basis by city officials. After the inspector runs their rounds, the elevator's passing grade is noted in a certificate which is visibly placed in the elevator. Alternatively, it can be dumped in a filing cabinet in the building office where the owner can forget about it, and a placard is given to the elevator letting the passengers know where the certificate is (usually the aforementioned building office).

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-This was the first of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], that was not a [[:Category:Protip|pro tip]] but more specific an Industry tip.
+This was the first of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], that was not a [[:Category:Protip|pro tip]] but more specifically an Industry tip.
 In the United States, all elevators are subject to building codes and must be inspected on a somewhat-regular basis by city officials. After the inspector runs their rounds, the elevator's passing grade is noted in a certificate which is visibly placed in the elevator. Alternatively, it can be dumped in a filing cabinet in the building office where the owner can forget about it, and a placard is given to the elevator letting the passengers know where the certificate is (usually the aforementioned building office).

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 In the United States, all elevators are subject to building codes and must be inspected on a somewhat-regular basis by city officials. After the inspector runs their rounds, the elevator's passing grade is noted in a certificate which is visibly placed in the elevator. Alternatively, it can be dumped in a filing cabinet in the building office where the owner can forget about it, and a placard is given to the elevator letting the passengers know where the certificate is (usually the aforementioned building office).
-This comic is portraying a scenario which supposedly never happens. No-one is ever actually interested in seeing the elevator's certificate, and nobody gets this excited about going to a building office. So, as the caption humorously suggests: many elevators start using the placards for elevators that have not been inspected. No one cares enough to go to the building office and search the files for the certification. And as the title text says, even inspectors themselves get bored before they can get to the building office.
+This comic is portraying a scenario which supposedly never happens. No-one is ever actually interested in seeing the elevator's certificate, and nobody gets this excited about going to a building office. So, as the caption humorously suggests: many elevators start using the placards for elevators that have not been inspected. No one cares enough to go to the building office and search the files for the certification that may not even exist. And as the title text says, even inspectors themselves get bored before they can get to the building office.
-The moral of this comic is if you see an elevator with a notice that says that the "elevator inspection certificate is on file", you do not really know whether the notice is true, and so building owners use the certificates as substitutes for the bother and expense of actually getting their elevators inspected. The flaw in this logic is that, if an elevator were to fail catastrophically, the inspection certificate would almost certainly be retrieved and examined as part of the investigation. If the elevator had not been inspected as required, there would be very serious legal consequences.  Hence, failing to carry out regular inspections would carry substantial risks.
+The moral of this comic is if you see an elevator with a notice that says that the "elevator inspection certificate is on file", you do not really know whether the notice is true, and so building owners use the certificates as substitutes for the bother and expense of actually getting their elevators inspected. The flaw in this logic is that, if an elevator were to fail catastrophically, any actual inspection certificate would almost certainly be retrieved and examined as part of the investigation. If the elevator had not been inspected as required, there would be very serious legal consequences.  Hence, failing to carry out regular inspections would carry substantial risks.
 ==Transcript==

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:16, 5 June 2022
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	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
		+	This was the first of [[Randall\|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips\|Tips]], that was not a [[:Category:Protip\|pro tip]] but more specific an Industry tip.
		+
	In the United States, all elevators are subject to building codes and must be inspected on a somewhat-regular basis by city officials. After the inspector runs his rounds, the elevator's passing grade is noted in a certificate which is visibly placed in the elevator. Alternatively, it can be dumped in a filing cabinet in the building office where the owner can forget about it, and a placard is given to the elevator letting the passengers know where the certificate is (usually the aforementioned building office).		In the United States, all elevators are subject to building codes and must be inspected on a somewhat-regular basis by city officials. After the inspector runs his rounds, the elevator's passing grade is noted in a certificate which is visibly placed in the elevator. Alternatively, it can be dumped in a filing cabinet in the building office where the owner can forget about it, and a placard is given to the elevator letting the passengers know where the certificate is (usually the aforementioned building office).