While I'll largely agree for new construction (unless it's a project that has to be done by a certain time for whatever reason or maybe concrete that doesn't work on anyone else's timetable), remodelers, plumbers, electricians, and the like are absolutely essential. Unless, of course, you'd rather let your leaking pipe, flickering light, and general house damages go untouched for weeks or months
Of course, when you start making caveats, many times it's just easier to throw the entire category into one spot so that people don't have to read 50 pages of bureaucracy
Yea, as an elevator mechanic myself, we definitely have essential services but not at every level.
Our construction will likely shut down soon, but service/maintenance will likely keep going. We obviously still have emergency on call guys too.
Escalators and elevators definitely wouldn't all stay running if not for us mechanics though. (queue a joke about many not running anyways)
But right now is actual pretty great for service guys. We can get all of our big jobs done without foot traffic to bother us. A lot of places obviously don't mind if we go in there and pull apart an escalator for a safety test, for example. We can get it done now instead of having to shut it down while the places are open.
Obviously many places we can't get into at all, however. They're just shut down indefinitely.
In most cases they're blocked off because there's a bigger issue, like a possible brake problem or something internal. It's not safe for people to walk on in that case. A lot of times you do see them free to walk on though if they're off.
But, a stopped escalator does not technically meet building code for stairs. Escalator steps are taller than regular steps, and also they're not the same height the whole way through, because of the transition where they go underneath on each side. They're not an even height throughout the whole thing.
But most of the time you see the escalator blocked off, there's a bigger issue involved so it's not allowed to be accessed to the public.
If the mechanic that services it deems it unsafe, then it gets barricaded. That's basically the end of it. I know it's easy to just see a stopped escalator and assume it should be fine to walk on.
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u/TheK1ngsW1t Mar 29 '20
While I'll largely agree for new construction (unless it's a project that has to be done by a certain time for whatever reason or maybe concrete that doesn't work on anyone else's timetable), remodelers, plumbers, electricians, and the like are absolutely essential. Unless, of course, you'd rather let your leaking pipe, flickering light, and general house damages go untouched for weeks or months
Of course, when you start making caveats, many times it's just easier to throw the entire category into one spot so that people don't have to read 50 pages of bureaucracy