Climbing a few flights of stairs is considered healthy exercise, but when the elevators of a towering skyscraper break down, they cost thousands of dollars in lost business, not to mention the safety hazard they pose to tenants. The last thing any corporate office needs is an “out of order” sign taped to its elevators. The good news is, this can be avoided with preventative elevator maintenance, which allows building management to periodically assess and enforce protective mechanisms to the machinery in order to avoid emergency breakdowns.
With countless of maintenance service providers to choose from and contract prices to consider, it’s important to select the elevator maintenance company that best suits the day-to-day operations of the building and the budget allocated for maintenance. Here’s a guide to choosing an elevator maintenance company:
Place a Premium on Commercial Service Providers
Elevators are a universal application — from three-storey structures to office towers, they are essential in moving around both people and valuable cargo. But for large-scale operations, it’s important to select a provider that specializes in servicing commercial elevators. After all, it’s no secret that commercial elevators shuffle more than twice the volume of foot traffic than in residential units, along with the added demand for transporting stocks, equipment, and other commercial-grade cargo.
Aside from narrowing your search down to commercial service providers, it’s also important to consider the overall size of the building and the volume of daily foot traffic that shuffles in and out of its doors. Not all companies are capable of providing simultaneous elevator maintenance services to large-scale applications and instead can usually do so up to a certain threshold. For this, it’s important to take into account the size of the operations of the provider, as well as the business size of their clientele; this information indicates how well they can meet the operational requirements of your business and if they can simultaneously service multiple elevators at once with little to no downtime.
Negotiate the Best Contract
Getting the best out of your preventative elevator maintenance boils down to negotiating a fair and detailed service agreement. No matter what equipment a provider uses or the cost of their service, if the terms are not properly laid out, your business can still be at risk of operating potentially malfunctioning elevators that fall behind operational requirements and safety standards.
When selecting an elevator maintenance provider, it’s in your best interest to negotiate a contract that provides for service terms that your business actually needs. This means deciding between a full maintenance contract or a more limited parts, oil, and grease contract.
Full-Service Contract
A full-service elevator maintenance contract works like an insurance policy. Your service provider charges a flat rate fee annually which will be used to finance any elevator maintenance work performed; this is designed to shield your company from incurring additional expenses in the event of a major repair, as well as the hassle of looking after the entire elevator system in-house. With a full-service contract, the elevator maintenance company can implement a maintenance schedule according to the condition of the equipment and the day-to-day operations in order to keep elevators at optimal function.
Parts, Oil, and Grease
As opposed to a full-service contract, a parts, oil, and grease contract is a limited elevator maintenance option. Instead of covering the maintenance of certain parts like cables and controllers, this limited contract option takes care of lubricating moving parts and performing minor adjustments to keep elevators functioning. If larger elevator maintenance is required, your service provider will notify you regarding the additional fees that may be required.
While limited, a parts, oil, and grease contract allows businesses to save on operational costs in the short term; however, it can prove to be more expensive in the long run if major repairs need to be performed. At the end of the day, it’s important to consider what your business needs and the operational budget required to support routine maintenance.
Proprietary vs. Non-proprietary Elevator Software and Parts
Elevators are manufactured by different companies, and as far as maintenance is concerned, this means dealing with systems that require replacement of proprietary parts. Proprietary parts are available only through the manufacturer, which then translates to paying premium costs in case of repairs and parts replacement.
On the upside, independent elevator maintenance companies exist to remedy this situation and provide businesses with cost-effective solutions. This is achieved through the use of non-proprietary parts which offer the highest degree of compatibility across different elevator systems, but without sacrificing quality and function. In fact, a growing trend in businesses today is the installation of elevators constructed using generic, non-proprietary parts, as these offer the same high degree of function and reliability, but without the price tag and exclusivity associated with proprietary parts and software used by some manufacturers.
The use of non-proprietary parts has proven to facilitate fast and smooth elevator maintenance. This is because service providers are able to acquire parts faster and perform preventative maintenance in no time, since these do not require complex and highly specific installation process. For business owners like you, this means significantly reduced downtime and great savings on your elevator maintenance budget.
Why Trust Alcor Elevator
Alcor Elevator is a full-service elevator installation, upgrade, and maintenance provider. Our mission is to equip buildings with state-of-the-art elevators that allow for unparalleled ease of access and a seamless flow of foot traffic in and around buildings, no matter the size and the scale of operations. This is backed by a fully customizable elevator maintenance plan, so your building gets exactly the support it needs to function.
At Alcor, our process begins with installing elevators that are built using non-proprietary parts, which provide your business with the utmost flexibility for maintenance down the line, as well as fast repair times and cost-effective service. With a seamless transition from installation to preventative maintenance and routine modernization upgrades over time, our clients enjoy generous savings, reduced downtimes, and optimal function of elevators over extended periods of time. Start each business day right knowing that whether you’re ascending to the top floor boardroom or going down to meet clients at the lobby, you can rely on excellently serviced elevators for a safe and smooth ride.
For more information about the Alcor advantage in elevator installation and preventative maintenance, call Alcor Elevator at (905) 538-0171 or contact us here.
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