Category: Elevator Parts

Does your elevator interior have scratches on it or look dated? Should you replace it?  Will it cost a lot of money? One way to make sure you successfully upgrade your elevator aesthetically, is to hire an elevator consultant. Consultants have years of experience working with companies to upgrade elevators, and ensure that all code requirements are being met.

Defining the elevator interior

When your elevator maintenance company talks about the elevator interior they could be referring to a number of parts of the elevator.  You need to make sure you are all on the same page.

The elevator wall panels are typically what an elevator company is referring to when they discuss elevator cab interiors upgrades. Keep in mind this won’t include the elevator ceiling, the control operating panel (where the buttons are), the front wall cladding, or the doors.

Who upgrades your elevator wall panels?

After your building lobby, the elevator is often the next part of your building a prospective tenant can see, so the aesthetics are important.  The rule of thumb is every 10 years the wall panels should be modernized, but in my experience it really depends on the building needs.  So who do you go to for new elevator wall panels?

Your current elevator provider:

Your current elevator provider can give you a quote for new wall panels and install them. Some of the big 4 companies have their own internal products. However, a lot use a third party vendors that a mom and pop elevator maintenance company would use as well.  One example would be SnapCabs. They produce the elevator wall panels that your elevator company will install. The largest benefit to using your existing maintenance company is that if something goes wrong a year down the line you can hold them accountable for it. Also, as you will see later in this post they will need to be involved for balancing and inspections.

A third party vendor:

There are third party vendors, especially in larger markets, who can actually do the entire quoting and installation of the elevator interiors.  Some examples include Eklund’s and EMCO. It may be worthwhile to check out one of these vendors to compare prices with your elevator company. The positives of going with a third party vendor is they are often cheaper than using your elevator maintenance company. However, once they have completed the project and been paid, if there is an issue a year down the line it may be much more challenging to get them to fix it.

Don’t forget about re-balancing the elevator cabs and inspections

Whenever you have the potential to change the weight of an elevator it can change the way the elevator operates. You must find out from the elevator interior installer if any weight is changing. If there is a weight change, you will need your elevator maintenance company to test the elevator and see if it needs re-balancing. If you had a third party install the elevator cab interiors do not have them re-balance if they offer.  This can void part of your maintenance agreement with your elevator service provider and make you subject to excessive invoices.

For hydraulic elevator a pressure test will need to be conducted. The vast majority of time unless a very significant amount of weight was added you will not need to change anything. If the pressure test fails you may have to replace the pump motor, which would now not be covered under your maintenance agreement. The cost will likely exceed $10,000.

For traction elevators a load test will be conducted. On traction elevators it is more likely that you will need to add weight to the counterweights.

Once the elevator has been tested or balanced if necessary an inspection by the governing jurisdiction may be necessary depending on the state. This is separate from an annual inspection and will be billed as additional work by your elevator maintenance company. Again this must be conducted by your normal elevator maintenance provider.

Total pricing for your new elevator interior

Elevator Cab Interior (Remember the 3 elevator wall panels): You should be able to find a low cost option for about $12,000-$15,000.  This quote includes labor. However, cab interiors can be tens of thousands of dollars depending on the material used. For example if you had diamond crested elevator walls these would be very costly.

Balancing: Your elevator company should be able to do this in about 2 hours of team labor per elevator.

Adding weight: This will very greatly depending on how much weight needs to be added, but I have seen proposals for as much as $20,000.

Inspections: For a hydraulic elevator this should 1-2 hours. For a traction elevator this can be 2-4 hours of team labor per elevator.

Send me a note if you would like a referral to a reputable company to help with your ca interiors.

 

My elevator company keeps saying some of my parts are obsolete.  I thought I had a full maintenance contract, but I keep having to pay for everything?  What gives with elevator obsolescence?

History of elevators and their maintenance contracts

Remember when you used to be able to buy a washing machine or refrigerator and it would last 50+ years. Those were the good old days.  Now like most products elevators are microprocessor based, incorporate more plastic in their design and are planned to become obsolete. This has been a major trend in American consumerism.  We live in a throwaway culture. Elevators are now designed to last about 25 years before they require an elevator modernization.

On the maintenance contract side, margins have been decreasing for years. Elevator companies have had to make up the difference by decreasing elevator maintenance.  Another way they do this is declare certain products obsolete.  What does obsolete mean? To you and me it means that the part no longer exists, so it has to be replaced with an upgrade.  However, if you look at your maintenance contract obsolescence can be defined as in the sole discretion of your elevator company!  Maybe it says any parts over 20+ years aren’t included in your contract or that if the part is no longer manufactured (well there could still be thousands on the shelf) it is obsolete.

Sad stories of elevator companies “selling” obsolescence

I have seen door detection devices (what you wave your hand in front of so the elevator opens up), be declared obsolete on equipment that was installed less than 3 years ago.  What changed with this product?  Barely anything. But the elevator company still charged the client thousands of dollars to replace this item.  Probably not fair.

How to fight elevator obsolescence

So you now know that elevators don’t last as long and elevator obsolescence is now part of the elevator industry.  What do you do so you aren’t stuck with a $10,000 proposal for an obsolete part that your elevator company says you need to get your elevator back up and running?

First, use the smell test.  If your elevator is less than 10 years old, the part is probobly not obsolete. It may not still be produced by the OEM, but I would be willing to bet a third party supplier still has it.  Ask your elevator company the exact name of the part and it’s part number.  Call a third party vendor like SEES  and see if they have the part and for how much.

Also, ask what is better about the upgraded part or if it takes longer to install then a like for like part (which is covered under a full maintenance contract).

Second, if the part really does fall under the elevator obsolescence clause, play hardball.  Threaten to bid out the proposal they gave you. Their reaction will be to tell you that the new part will not be covered by them. This is contractually accurate, but you will likely be frustrated that they are holding you over the flames for this.  Ask for them to come down on price.  They will likely say they will cover the “labor” if you cover the “parts”.  Make sure to have this discussion after you have received the initial proposal.  Otherwise, your elevator company could still charge you full price with you thinking your getting a deal.  Sadly, I have seen this many times before.

Finally, the best way to avoid this is to negotiate it into the contract. Try and get rid of all mentions of obsolescence in your elevator contract.  If you have a relatively new elevator this should be fine.  However, down the road when your parts become “obsolete” striking that part of the contract could save you tens of thousands of dollars.

If your elevator is older or your elevator company will not strike the obsolescence clause try something else.  Ask them to list all parts that are obsolete now and those will not be covered under the contract.

If that does not work, tell them to put into that contract that you need to receive a yearly capital planner so you know what is obsolete.  Without the capital plan you can’t be held to pay for obsolete parts.  This last clause should work.  Not only is it fair that your elevator company should provide you with annual capital planners so you can budget appropriately, but unfortunetly 90% of the time it won’t be honored due to attrition amount account managers.  That means you will not have to pay for obsolete parts!