Home Elevator Cost in Alabama

Across the country, an installed elevator for a two-story home typically costs $30,000 to $50,000. The kind of lift you pick drives most of the price.

We base these numbers on the middle of published price ranges, which our about page describes. A written quote for your own house will be closer to reality.

Every floor past the second adds roughly $9,000 to $15,000. If your house needs a shaft built in, meaning the enclosed column the elevator moves through, that runs an extra $5,000 to $25,000.

A carpenter handles framing the shaft or cutting the floor opening, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median Alabama carpenter wage at $23.18 an hour.

One phone call puts you in touch with a local dealer who will measure your house and hand you a written price.

Elevators, platform lifts, and stairway chairlifts inside private homes in Alabama fall under the Alabama Department of Labor. A permit to install an elevator or inclined lift in a private residence costs $250. That money covers two acceptance inspections along with the operating permit, per the state fee rules.

A permit for a wheelchair lift is $250 as well. Once you use up the two included inspections, each added visit runs $260. The general fee schedule lists $100 for a one-year operating certificate, but for a home elevator the first operating permit is part of the $250. State law waives the certificate fee for stairway chairlifts in private homes.

Alabama's Elevator Safety Act says every home elevator must go in through a licensed contractor. Elevator mechanics and contractors both get licensed by the state. There is also a limited license for workers whom the equipment manufacturer has certified.

Your licensed contractor is the one who submits the installation permit and first-time registration to the state. Then a licensed third-party inspector handles the acceptance inspection. Once that is done, the home receives its operating certificate from the state.

On new residential elevators, inspectors have to measure the gap limit at the hoistway opening, which people call the 3x5 rule. Alabama starts following the newest ASME elevator and lift standards (A17.1 and A18.1) six months after each one takes effect.

Private homes do not have to be re-inspected every year. That choice is yours.

State law beats local ordinances, so no city or county can write its own elevator rules. You only work with the state, not a city or county elevator office.

Two Alabama programs might help with the bill:

• The Ability Loan Program, which Accessing Potential Through Assistive Technology runs within Alabama's Department of Rehabilitation Services.
• The SAIL Waiver from Alabama Medicaid, covering approved home updates such as ramps, grab bars, and wider doors.

Under the SAIL waiver rule, you need prior approval. It leaves out additions to square footage and structural changes, and a new shaft may count as one. The rule does not state a dollar cap, but amounts above the program's maximum need state approval, so do not count on it to pay for a new shaft.

Call us now for a free written price from a dealer who measures your home, so you know your cost before you commit.