Elevator "door close" buttons can fall into several categories.
1. They work as labeled, immediately closing the door.
2. They work, but only after door has been open longer than a threshold time, or only if the door open time has been extended using the "door open" button.
3. They work, but only when the elevator is in some special mode such as fire/emergency mode.
4. They are supposed to work, but broke. A broken "door close" button does not put the elevator out of service, and might not even be noticed at all (especially if it is a category #2 button) for a long time, and so a broken "door close" button can stay broken for a very long time.
5. They would work except they have been disabled by the owner, perhaps to comply with laws, or perhaps because there were too many assholes prematurely shutting doors.
1. They work as labeled, immediately closing the door.
2. They work, but only after door has been open longer than a threshold time, or only if the door open time has been extended using the "door open" button.
3. They work, but only when the elevator is in some special mode such as fire/emergency mode.
4. They are supposed to work, but broke. A broken "door close" button does not put the elevator out of service, and might not even be noticed at all (especially if it is a category #2 button) for a long time, and so a broken "door close" button can stay broken for a very long time.
5. They would work except they have been disabled by the owner, perhaps to comply with laws, or perhaps because there were too many assholes prematurely shutting doors.
6. They are placebos.