Maintain Elevators to Avoid Huge Replacement Costs
Without elevators, we'd still live in a world of six-story buildings and climb stairs all day. In contrast, this might have a beneficial effect on our general fitness levels. However, it would be highly inconvenient, making upper floors inaccessible to anyone with health or mobility limitations. Like many other amenities in your Condo Association, the elevator will require general maintenance. This article covers the upkeep and maintenance needed to keep your elevators running safely and effectively in your community.
Care & Maintenance
An elevator maintenance company provides the regular care and maintenance of your elevator machinery and cab, typically under a contract. Almost all projects require at least three to four potential manufacturers for best-price purposes. Many vendors are out there, and so HOAs must plan for all variables. The maintenance contract comes with the elevator cab provider. They provide the service, and when a specific manufacturer is chosen, the developer must know the contract is included. That may offer pricing differences between cabs and contracts with different users.
Maintenance is essential now, as users are trying to extend the life of their elevators. You must get a copy of the maintenance agreement, as it comprehensively covers all the components for the type and style of elevator in your building.
What's different now is that capital work has been affected by high-interest rates and the many new rules and regulations about a building's carbon footprint. The work can be unusually demanding in terms of cost. The average cost of elevator replacement is now very high—so buildings are trying to figure out how to continue operating with what they have instead of doing a complete replacement. They're reviewing their current systems to see where they stand and to extend their useful life.
Most properties with elevators have a contract with a service provider. Different parts of the systems are maintained throughout the year. The doors, for instance, are done at a particular time. Lubrication of cables at another time. The cleaning and lubrication at other times of the year. Maintain a log book in the mechanical room that each technician fills out and details what tasks were completed and at what frequency.
Today's Challenges
In addition to the ever-increasing cost of maintenance and replacement, climate change has forced buildings to face other challenges today that weren't even considered a few years ago. All buildings must have emergency generators for power outages. All cabs are designed to go to a home return floor in case of a brownout. They will automatically return to ground level, and then they stop operating.
In power surge situations, systems are built to keep riders from getting trapped. With storm surges becoming more common in elevators, companies are moving the ground floor's elevator control systems and generators to the roof or the third or fourth floor in new buildings to prevent flooding.
While the elevator's ubiquitousness may be a fact of our daily lives, replacing even a relatively simple system can pose a severe financial challenge to all but the wealthiest buildings—so that makes regular, thorough, and, most importantly, expert care and maintenance critical.
Contact Us
Have you got questions? Give us a call today. We are your South Florida HOA association company, ready to serve your everyday and extraordinary HOA and COA issues and concerns.