How to Choose an Elevator Maintenance Company

Here are a few insights and recommendations from years of experience in the elevator business and managing elevator repair companies.

Use the Elevator Manufacturer or Installer for Maintenance.

If the lift is less than five to ten years old, the manufacturer or installer will have the greatest access to replacement components and technical assistance. Following this period, knowledge and availability of components are often more prevalent. Access to parts and technical support does not guarantee that a local service provider will use them or that you will get quality service.

Typically, the degree of service and assistance you get depends on the service philosophy of the persons controlling the local elevator service facilities and the equipment and skills of the local elevator technicians. Manufacturers are often more concerned with selling new equipment than with teaching their personnel to continue maintaining existing equipment. With older or non-proprietary lift systems, most of the industry has access to the same components. In these circumstances, you should seek the business with the greatest technicians, the best service management, the best local and truck parts stocking program, and the best service philosophy and methods.

Because of these factors, a reputable local elevator service firm may often offer superior maintenance and service than the elevator's manufacturer or installer at any stage of the elevator's life cycle. Often, the businesses undertaking lift installations are not the most qualified to offer maintenance services.

Find the Finest Local Elevator Maintenance Service.

Ask other local building owners and managers who they hire for lift maintenance and their experiences. While speaking with the lift firm, get references from other buildings they maintain in the area. Make careful to obtain and contact references for buildings with comparable or identical equipment to yours. This will enable you to determine if the business has the knowledge and resources to maintain your lift.

Inquire whether the local mechanic for whom you obtained a favorable recommendation will service your elevator. Inquire about the anticipated performance concerning the outlined performance standards. Whenever you get into a maintenance contract, it is advisable to ensure that you have an exit strategy if the maintenance firm fails to provide the promised services.

Evaluate your Elevator Repair Company in these Areas:

The annual number of service calls

The majority of lift businesses monitor this metric. A highly competent service provider will have an annual average of fewer than two calls per lift. (Some elevators get as little as one call each year!) The typical business targets four elevator calls per year but needs to achieve this level of elevator dependability. Other businesses have average annual service calls per lift of 10 or more. As seen by these figures, the service performance of various organizations varies significantly. Instead of just resetting the lift and waiting for the issue to reoccur, the excellent firms make it a point to identify the underlying reason for lift malfunctions.

An annual number of billable calls

The kind of structure is one of the elements that cause this value to fluctuate greatly. Typically, a student apartment will have more elevator misuse and service calls that incur fees than a senior community. The service provider's charging philosophy is another changeable aspect. On average, some businesses have a billable service call once every couple of years. Some elevator maintenance firms will attempt to charge for almost every service call, regardless of the reason or what should be covered by the maintenance agreement.

Cost typical for a service call

With a reputable lift service business, 60 to 90 percent of service requests may be resolved within one hour. Yet, many businesses have a minimum billing time of two to three hours. With average industry hourly rates ranging from $175 to over $300 per hour during normal business hours, the fees may rapidly accumulate. Find out how much time and money should be spent going to your location. Inquire about additional expenses, including mileage, gasoline surcharges, environmental fees, etc. Depending on your chosen provider, the minimum fee for a chargeable service visit during normal business hours that lasts just a few minutes on-site might range from $200 to well over $1000.

An average number of TSSA directions

On average, only one TSSA directive is issued every TSSA periodic inspection to reputable lift service providers. Less diligent businesses often have five or more instructions for every TSSA inspection. Historically, the industry average has been between two and three directions per an inspection report. There is a substantial difference between inspectors in the number of written instructions. The reputable firms and elevator technicians learn the quirks and preferences of the local inspector and ensure that the necessary things get the additional attention they need to prevent the elevator owner from incurring additional expenses from TSSA for follow-up inspections.

Time to correct TSSA directions

If the Owner and contractor collaborate to complete their respective directions and report the completion to the inspector using the voluntary compliance form, the expenses of a re-inspection by TSSA may often be avoided if the severity level of the directions is low. For directives not subject to voluntary compliance, they must be performed within the necessary time limit. Otherwise, the Owner may incur treble costs for TSSA's follow-up inspections. The top maintenance providers have mechanisms to assist owners in avoiding treble costs.

Number of average TSSA shutdowns

The average performance of required yearly testing in Ontario has deteriorated to the point that the TSSA has begun shutting down elevators for noncompliance. Excellent elevator service providers have an average of one or fewer TSSA shutdowns per one hundred TSSA periodic inspections. Unless the TSSA issues a directive or shuts down an elevator, several firms will only bother arranging mandated elevator inspections. The average number of TSSA shutdowns per 100 TSSA periodic inspections is around four, which is rising. The building owner must guarantee that these periodic examinations are performed. Request that your maintenance provider demonstrates how you may monitor his work in the Log Book to verify that your elevator complies with the law. Request a credit if the task still needs to be completed on time.

Count of inspections

Several contractors need to execute even the minimum number of preventive maintenance assessments! Inquire precisely how many preventive checks of your lift will be done. Many maintenance agreements are structured deceptively to provide the appearance of monthly inspections but only truly commit to a monthly inspection schedule. The consequence is often four or fewer inspections each year. Again, checking the contractor's work in the Log Book regularly is important to verify that your lift is following the law and that you are receiving the expected inspections. Get credit for any missed inspections. Moreover, keep an eye out for the all-too-common practice of backdating missing inspections. Ensure that, while comparing the prices of different contractors, you are comparing the same amount of preventive maintenance checks.

Elevator maintenance

Typically, some firms respond to service calls within hours or less, and the elevator company is nearly always fixed quickly. Some must be more responsive and often keep the lift out of service for a day or more while waiting for replacement components. Several smaller manufacturing enterprises may not even give service around the clock, 7 days a week! Ask what you can anticipate and observe the performance to see whether it corresponds.