Many times, building owners will pay for a service that they never actually receive.
At Innovative Lift Consulting, we have found that many building that have a preventative maintenance contract are not receiving that agreed upon maintenance.
This means elevators are not being taken care of like they should be. The building owner has to rely on their elevator service provider to know what is going on with the elevator and what condition the elevator equipment is in.
Sometimes, the terms and conditions for an elevator contract can be designed to deceive building owners. The terms of these papers are written in the favour of the service provider. The building owner only knows what those providers tell them about the elevators. The owner doesn’t even usually have any control of the elevator equipment that they supposedly own.
National building safety codes require that all buildings that contain an elevator or an escalator have an elevator service provider contracted to maintain the elevators for them. Building owners often wonder how those services that are contracted can be verified. There isn’t really any oversight for the elevator service providers (ESPs), and that means that many of the ESPs are not being held accountable. They often do not provide the service they are contracted to carry out. While this is happening, the building owners are still being charged full price for that non-existent service.
Without proper maintenance, the equipment simply won’t last as long. The elevator equipment will need more frequent repairs, and those who use the elevator will be put at risk. A lack of proper maintenance also leads to more costs for the building owners.
Building owners need to be aware that they can draft their own terms and conditions. They can force the ESP to stick to the agreed upon maintenance schedule and make sure they are being held accountable. By doing this, owners can empower themselves, cut down their costs, reduce the amount of repairs they are required to have done, improve inspection scores and protect their clients.