Maintaining your elevator, whether in a corporate office skyscraper or apartment building, is critical to extending the unit’s lifespan and to keeping passengers safe. Regular maintenance is part of your responsibility as the property manager or owner, mandated by your local city or town. Hire a professional for regular elevator maintenance and repair, but before you do, here are some things to keep in mind.
- Inspections are required on elevators once a year. Maintenance is a big part of this process to ensure your elevator passes inspection to be in compliance with state and federal regulations. Upon successful inspection, you will be issued a certificate of operation, which can be posted within the elevator itself.
- Make sure the elevator machine room is up to code. It’s not just the elevators themselves that need to be in good working order. The machine rooms do too. Part of maintenance means making sure the elevator machine room is self-closing and locking so no one without authorization can gain access, the room features adequate lighting, and the room is not being used for storage, which is a fire hazard.
- Elevator units should be in top working order. Maintenance tasks should reveal any problems with the following: pit light or top light is broken, car top is dirty, elevator pit has water or debris in it, the door reversal device is not working properly, fire recall service is malfunctioning, emergency lights are not working, cable measurements are not in compliance, and the door restrictor is missing.
- Be proactive and regular with maintenance. Building management is a many-pronged approach to facility safety. Staying on top of elevator issues in particular can ensure you’re not blindsided by dangerous and costly repair issues. In the back of your mind, always ask yourself if your elevators need to be modernized and whether you are due for an upgrade. Staying on top of regular maintenance will also help you stick to a budget. Approach planned elevator maintenance with a preventive rather than reactive methodology. Remember, elevators that are out of service disrupt normal operations and inconvenience your tenants. Maintenance will also ensure you get a long life span out of your units.
- Know your problem spots. Understanding where you’ll run into the most trouble in terms of repair will help you to anticipate them and be ready to fix them. For example, about 70% of elevator maintenance calls are due to malfunctioning unit doors. You may want to integrate a solution to head this problem off at the pass, such as with a closed loop door operator which keeps an eye on the speed at which the doors open and shut.
Mowrey Elevator is your trusted elevator maintenance and repair company. Need a repair? Call our repair hotline at 800-441-4449 or send a repair request to us online.