A QR code on a Washington elevator operating certificate can point you toward inspection history, but the state lookup now has two date routes. For inspections before March 27, 2025, it presents the older search. For inspections after March 27, 2025, it links to a separate ALiS lookup. Neither state route covers elevators inspected by the cities of Seattle or Spokane. Read the certificate’s conveyance number and location first, then choose the route by the inspection date you need.
Match the inspection period to the public route
The older Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) screen accepts a building, city, street, or conveyance number and says it displays the last three years of inspection history. Search the conveyance number if the certificate provides one. If only a building name or street is available, use that as a lead and check that a returned device belongs to the same building and unit. A multi-elevator building can have more than one conveyance record.
The same official lookup page labels the older form “For inspections prior to March 27, 2025” and provides an Elevator Lookup Tool link for later inspections. Follow that link to the ALiS public search and use the identifiers it requests; the older form’s three-year limit and fields may differ there.
- A dated pre-cutover report: Use the older L&I search and save the inspection ID, report date, conveyance number and result shown.
- A report dated after the cutover: Follow the state page to ALiS and confirm the current search controls there; if the destination fails to load, contact L&I with the device and date.
- A Seattle or Spokane address: Skip the statewide history search as the final answer. Those cities conduct their own conveyance inspections.
L&I’s inspection page explains that the certificate QR leads toward compliance history and warns about the Seattle and Spokane exclusions. That general description should be read together with the more specific date split on today’s lookup screen. A QR landing page is a route to the reports, each covering its own period.
Seattle and Spokane need a city record
L&I’s elevator inspectors and staff page names the cities as separate inspection programs and provides city contacts. For Seattle, the City’s elevator FAQ says the certificate can be found under attachments on the site record in the Seattle Services Portal; the site record also gives the inspection due month. When contacting the City, include the conveyance number, full address and building name to identify the device. An empty state result for a Seattle device reflects the City’s separate custody.
For Spokane, use the city inspector contact listed on L&I’s staff page and ask for the city’s certificate or report by conveyance number, site address and desired date. The statewide exclusion concerns who holds the inspection record; the device’s exemption or compliance is a separate question. Our city-versus-county permit records guide explains why crossing an agency boundary changes the search.
What a report or certificate answers
Keep three objects distinct: an operating certificate records an authorization for the identified device and stated term, an inspection report records findings on a specific date, and a permit or alteration file concerns particular work. Whether later repairs were closed, and whether an operating certificate remains current, need later records. An empty result in one view may reflect the date split, the three-year limit, a different unit number, or city custody; it does not prove there was no inspection.
For an older report, a missing linked document, or a lookup that fails to load, give L&I’s central Elevator Program contact the certificate or conveyance number, building address, inspection date range, and the exact report or certificate requested. The page lists ElevatorSect@Lni.wa.gov and 360-902-6130 for inspection reports and general communication. If the building is in Seattle or Spokane, start with the applicable city program instead. For help reading final versus pending inspection evidence, see our final-inspection status guide.
The District of Columbia handles elevators differently, through third-party inspections and a 2025 change of agency. See DC elevator records and the license-to-certificate change.
Washington L&I elevator lookup and staff pages and the Seattle elevator FAQ checked September 29, 2026.