Lift Maintenance | Elevator Maintenance

After the defect and liability period – which often coincides with the so-called ‘free’ or ‘first’ -service period – the building owner is responsible that the needed maintenance of the elevators and escalators is performed by a professional maintenance provider.

The legal requirements for elevator and escalator maintenance, 3rd party inspections and load tests are varying a lot in Asia and Middle East. In most countries, there is no harmonized (EN or ANSI) elevator and escalator code present, and in several countries there are no legal requirement for regular 3rd party or government inspections and tests. Elevating Studio has extensive knowledge on all relevant codes and maintenance requirements, for all main markets in Asia and Middle East.

Elevating Studio has a unique maintenance specification and maintenance contract-template, which takes into consideration the equipment usage, environment and design of the equipment, and the contract has clear and measurable equipment performance criteria (availability, response times, break downs and man-traps) – with penalties clauses for non-performance. The maintenance contract specification also includes a list of critical spare parts needs/requirements, over a specific time frame.

The Elevating Studio maintenance-contract will ensure highest quality of maintenance with preventive replacements of all relevant parts, to minimize unexpected break-downs. This will improve service level and equipment performance, reduce down-time, enhance traffic performance and reduce man traps – compared to most common contract types and generic maintenance processes, as offered by the original equipment manufacturer and independent service providers. The Elevating Studio maintenance contract template can thus help to reduce the total costs of ownership and prolong the equipment life time.

Elevating Studio experts will support the maintenance contract tender process, negotiations and support the award of the maintenance agreement – in accordance with international- and local codes and legal requirements, based on the needs and design of the equipment and the usage. As part of the evaluation, Elevating Studio experts will assess the capabilities, skills and track-record of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or the independent maintenance providers.

In selected countries, the OEM may be proposing ‘remote monitoring’ or ‘remote maintenance’ technologies, as well as voice- or video link between the elevator car and the service centre of the OEM or maintenance provider - in case of emergency. Elevating Studio will analyse these systems’ performance and benefits and will assist the customer in making the right decisions to fit the building and owner’s needs.

This ‘stand-alone’ service from Elevating Studio will provide a comprehensive status overview of the equipment’s technical ‘health’. Based on thorough technical inspection and analysis of the historic data on maintenance costs, repair costs, technical performance (break-downs, man-traps, ride comfort, noise levels), and the traffic performance (waiting time, journey time), Elevating Studio will provide a comprehensive report on the status of preventive/predictive maintenance, expected remaining life time, equipment quality and safety status.

Elevating Studio will also prepare proposals and recommendations for improvements on maintenance regime, contract type and costs, technical upgrades or modernization or replacement.

Additional aspects like initial equipment design, sustainability/energy consumption, compliance to local and international codes and standards, building usage, end-user behaviour and the organization of the communication between owner, end-user and maintenance provider, will also be assessed. Optionally, Elevating Studio can prepare a multiple year asset plan, spare parts plan or a traffic analysis, based on the health check findings and results.

Typically, equipment health checks are done in preparation of a possible modernization.

Spare parts are often a reason for extended period of equipment stand-still. The waiting time for identification, tendering and ordering, logistics and manufacturing of spare parts, can be excessive – even with latest generation of elevator and escalator technology. The unavailability of spare parts is typically creating a lot of problems with the building owner and end-users; related to traffic performance and waiting times with the moving of people and goods, and usage of the building in general.

Elevating Studio can help to mitigate these problems by assessing your equipment needs, building requirements and equipment usage, and the technical status of the equipment. Elevating Studio will prepare a detailed spare parts plan for all your elevators and escalators – based on equipment/component criticality, life cycle status and age, technical risks and availability of the technology and parts. In consultation with the OEM or maintenance provider, Elevating Studio will provide a list of critical and less critical parts, and will prepare a recommendation for the acquisition and/or storage of such parts with the OEM or the maintenance provider, or, in specific cases, within the building site itself.

Real Estate Services
The quality, designed capacity, performance and condition of vertical transportation equipment, is extremely important to understand during any real estate transaction, either rental, purchase or during moving-in.

Elevating Studio experts can provide expert support with preparing detailed equipment health checks, traffic analysis and assessments, as well as multiple year asset plans, to help you understand the details on the equipment condition and risks for the elevators and escalators, for the coming years.

Legal Services
Elevating Studio can provide unbiased and independent advice or assistance in case of contractual disputes, during performance review, accident and incident reviews, codes and standards and litigation support, related to elevators and escalators.

Elevator and Escalator safety certification are often required by insurance companies and by labour law.

Elevating Studio is an authorized provider for Annual Safety Test, Inspection, and Formal Certification with a safety mark. Tests follow EN81 and EN115 standards and abide international and local government regulations and requirements.

The load-test certification is valid for 5 years for elevators. Inspections are carried out by a certified Elevating Studio safety inspector, accredited by the Dutch Liftinstituut.

A Maintenance Audit is recommended yearly or bi-yearly. Maintenance audit is a regular, independent inspection of maintenance quality, which checks on the work of the maintenance provider. Is everything done as it should be? Are you getting what you pay for? An independent audit is especially useful in case of high break-down rates or if unexpected costs have occurred from unclear invoices or disputes. An audit will also help in case of end user complaints on issues such as elevator ride comfort, levelling accuracy, abnormal noise or long waiting times.

Due diligence is carried out when buying or renting a building with elevators and escalators. Due Diligence verifies that the building is 'fit for purpose' and traffic performance is in line with required capacity.

Traffic Performance Inspection is conducted in case of poor performing elevators. Indicators of poor performance are for example long travel times or waiting times in the lobby.

Health Check is typically performed when the equipment has been in use for 15 to18 years or when a modernization is already planned. We compare equipment to latest codes and prevalent code and provide recommendations. The outcome of the Health Check may lead to several different conclusions:

1. No need to plan modernization – improvements to maintenance quality may be suggested

2. Recommendation to perform minor repairs or replacements

3. Recommendation to consider modernization

4. Recommendation to consider full-replacement.

According to the conclusions from health check, Elevating Studio can engage in planning the next steps such as budget preparation, consultancy or design and spec preparation.

The health check can be used also to verify tenders from lift vendors.

Elevating Studio conducts bespoke functional tests according to client’s requirements Functional tests include but are not limited to:

• Fire Alarm test
• Evacuation test
• Earthquake test
• Access control integration test
• 'explosion proof' verification and inspection
• Ventilation and air-conditioning inspection and test
• Traffic performance test
• Destination Control Test
• Controller function tests for special equipment such as VIP elevators or bed elevators

Elevating Studio organizes and supervises both nonrecurring functional tests and tests required e.g. annually or biannually.