SMART ELEVATORS CO.
Money saving contract negotiation tips.
Understanding maintenance contract terms and conditions.
How to select an elevator maintenance company.
What type of maintenance agreement will work best for your elevators?.
How to select an elevator maintenance company.

Every day many people depend on the safe and reliable operations of your building's vertical transportation system. It is of critical importance to the owners and ultimately to the tenants and visitors who travel throughout these buildings each day. Deciding on a competent maintenance company is a complicated decision. The best service provider is not automatically the company that installed your system. Elevator maintenance can be provided by manufacturers, Independents, or on a self-maintained basis.

Manufacturer Elevator Mintenance

Other elevator manufacturing companies actively pursue maintenance contracts for elevator equipment they did not manufacturer. The service contracts they offer are comparable to service contracts you would consider with the actual OEM manufacturer of equipment in your building. An advantage of using another manufacturer may be to save money or obtain better service in a specific geographic area. Most manufacturers also offer a variety of discounts for contracts covering multiple buildings with the same owner or property manager.

Independent Elevator Maintenance

Independent elevator maintenance companies are located in most areas of the country. Independents often charge less for their maintenance programs than manufacturers. When considering an independent you will want to investigate the company's level of technical expertise and ability to provide spare parts to avoid extended downtimes.

Self Maintained

Today, many large facilities such as universities and medical facilities provide in-house maintenance for elevator equipment to reduce overall maintenance costs. Your decision to self maintain elevator equipment should be based on economics and the availability of skilled labor. Other factors to consider include your ability to obtain spare parts and manage major components repairs. In addition, you will also need the necessary infrastructure to process and react to customer questions or complaints. Due to the increased liability exposure and technical expertise needed to maintain the elevator equipment properly, we recommend using other maintenance options for most customers. Many elevator companies will not service elevator equipment that is being maintained by non-certified elevator mechanics due to increased exposure to lawsuits.

What type of maintenance agreement will work best for your elevators?

Knowing the different types of elevator contract options can greatly increase your chances of saving money and finding a maintenance agreement that meets your building's requirements. The more risk you are willing to assume, the lower the cost of services will be. Most elevator companies offer four types of elevator maintenance contracts. These contracts offer you a range of coverage options and discount opportunities.

What is a Full Maintenance Contract? (FMC)

A full maintenance contract is written to allow an elevator service company to take total responsibility for the elevator equipment identified in the maintenance agreement.

What is an Oil and Grease (OG) or Examination & Lubrication Contract?

OG contracts include lubrication of moving parts and minor adjustment on a regularly scheduled basis. When additional services are needed, the mechanic reports potential problems to the property manager who then schedules all repairs to be paid by the building owner. The cost for the OG contract is relatively low but when you include repairs, the entire yearly cost is usually much higher and more complicated to budget. OG agreements also generate additional paper work, as the property manager must coordinate with the maintenance provider on all repairs. Liability exposure to claims in the event of accidents or injuries are even greater than a POG contract because the owner is responsible for having parts repaired and replaced. Customer satisfaction with this type of agreement is usually very low.

What is a Survey and Report Contract?

Coverage under a survey and report contract consists of quarterly, semi-annual or annual inspection of all major equipment components. The inspection does not include maintenance, repair work or dismantling equipment. Maintenance or replacement recommendations may be completed by the owner or by selected contractors under the property manager's coordination. This type of contract also makes it extremely difficult for a building owner to avoid liability if an accident should occur.

Understanding maintenance contract terms and conditions.

Once you have decided which maintenance contract will work best for your property you will need to find an elevator company. The company you select will then perform maintenance services under the type of contract you have specified. But here's where your troubles can begin. You must understand what is not covered and how those services will be billed and what steps can be taken to control overall maintenance costs.

Important questions to ask potential maintenance provider.

Managers should understand the circumstances under which they will be invoiced for costs in addition to the contract price. Before you accept any maintenance agreement your service company should answer the following questions:

When does overtime apply under the contract?

What are the differences between overtime trouble calls and overtime repairs as they relate to the contract?

Is travel time a consideration because of location or union agreement?

If maintenance is missed or incomplete are you entitled to a refund for that month?

Do trouble calls count as a regular monthly service call?

What is the response time for a trapped passenger?

What is the availability of spare parts?

Important facts on maintenance term years and automatic renewal clauses.

Elevator companies bill in advance, at the beginning of each month. Full Maintenance Contracts are also similar to insurance policies protecting you from unexpected major repair bills. Owners will also be required to pay in advance at the beginning of each month. Some maintenance providers are even going as far as requiring payment for 90 days in advance via electronic funds transfer. The standard elevator contract usually covers a 5-year term with a termination clause requiring 90-days prior written notice. These terms can be modified by reducing the length of the contract and eliminating automatic renewal clauses. Typically shorter-term contracts will provide the building owner with the ease of re-biding or switching maintenance contractors. The trade-off is that the cost of a shorter-term contract will most likely be at a higher rate.

Keys to pricing and annual price adjustment.

Material costs and labor costs are subdivided in most contracts. Pricing under full maintenance contracts is normally divided into a percentage for materials and labor. Each elevator company has a different way of calculating the percentage of labor and percentage of materials. Under full maintenance agreements you can usually expect costs for labor to be around 80% and materials around 20 %. Every elevator company also has a different procedure for annual price adjustment. Owners need to be aware that a price adjustment will occur every year. One problem with the annual price adjustment approach occurs when cumulative increases are applied over many years. This yearly price adjustment may increase the contract price to a level that exceeds the price the current contractor would charge if the maintenance contract were put out to re-bid.

Union elevator mechanics regular working hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Wages for work performed outside these hours during regular working days is normally paid at time and a half including Saturdays. On Sundays and holidays union mechanics are paid double time.

If you select a maintenance agreement that does not include callbacks you most likely will be charge the full overtime portion. Usual maintenance contracts do not require elevator companies to perform two-person (crew) or major repairs on overtime unless specified by the owner to proceed with the work. For a slightly higher monthly fee maintenance contracts can be structured so the owner will be charged only for the overtime-differential portion on callbacks services and reduce overtime costs. These overtime charges usually include more than just the time spent on the job, such as door-to-door travel time plus mileage for overtime repairs. You should budget for these calls and estimate a minimum of 3 hours per trouble call to be safe.

What is not covered under maintenance agreements.

All service contracts include a list of exclusions that will not be covered under the maintenance contract. Unfortunately, these exclusions can happen regularly and may increase your overall maintenance cost by as much as fifteen percent. Here are some common examples of items that can result in extra charges:

Overtime callbacks / trouble calls

Doors knocked off tracks by movers.

Keys dropped in the pit (you may be surprised at how often this happens)

Car left "keyed off" or left on "independent" by building personnel, movers or security guards.

Debris in car or hall door sill tracks. Foreign objects caught or wedged under car or hall doors such as carpet tacks, small rocks and coins.

Stuck buttons and broken safety edges. Flooded machine room, top of car, or pit Vandalism: doors kicked off tracks, fire in elevator cab set by vandals and burned car buttons.

Calls placed for service resulting from building power even though no emergency power feature exists to run the elevator equipment.

Money saving contract negotiation tips.

Tip 1

Long term contract discounts.

Elevator companies prefer long term contracts. Usually, elevator contracts cover a 5-year term with a termination clause requiring 90-days prior written notice. If you are willing to sign a long term agreement ask the elevator company for a 5% discount for a five year contract. You may be surprised at how many companies will accept this deal.

Tip 2

Multi-building discounts.

If you have more than one property you may want to consolidate maintenance agreements to receive a volume discount price. Multi-building discounts usually range between 5% and 20%, depending on the number of elevators.

Tip 3

National-accounts discount

In general if you have 10 or more properties in more than one state you may want to consolidate maintenance agreement to receive a volume discount price. National account discounts usually range between15% and 35%, depending on the number of elevators.

Tip 4

Annual Price adjustment.

Most contracts include an annual price adjustment clause that will increase your cost as the cumulative increases are applied over several years. It is possible to save hundreds of dollars by limiting the percentage the cost can increase each year. You may want to add a "not to exceed 3% percent per year" clause to keep cumulative maintenance costs down. In addition, you may also want the elevator company to notify you in writing prior to applying any increase.

Tip 5

Control trouble call costs.

One way a manager can control trouble call costs is by having building personnel investigate each complaint before the elevator maintenance contractor is called. Here are just a few examples of owner responsible calls that can take place:

Car left "keyed off" by movers, security guards, building engineer, resident manager

Debris in car or hall door sill tracks Carpet tacks, coins, and other foreign objects caught or wedged under car or hall doors

Keys dropped in the pit.

Stuck buttons due to moisture

Tip 6

Reduce overtime repair costs.

When trouble calls occur on weekends you are typically billed for the time differential or double-time if a breakdown occurs on a Sunday or a holiday. When possible call the company's answering service and ask for repairs to be scheduled first Monday thing morning at no charge under full maintenance contracts.

Misuse or vandalism

The same protocol applies if misuse or vandalism that is not covered under most contracts causes a breakdown. When possible avoid double-time charges for the overtime callbacks on Sunday by scheduling repairs on Monday morning at normal labor rates.

Major Repairs

If the elevator mechanic finds that a repair is major, it will be held for regular hours. You will be billed for the time differential for a double-time hour if a breakdown occurs on a Sunday or a holiday.