How Preventative Maintenance Can Help Keep Your Elevator Costs Low
Property taxes, liability insurance, a mortgage — Oh My! These are the three fixed costs of owning or managing an office building, condo, or apartment building. There are also the daily, weekly, monthly, and annual operating expenses included in every business budget, such as snow removal, landscaping, trash removal, and recycling. Indeed, owning or managing a commercial building takes a keen sense for business budgeting, which falls under the general category of property management.
Every good building owner or manager understands their responsibility to keep the building’s elevators safe for tenants and visitors. It’s understood that a properly functioning elevator is the best means of attracting tenants to their building, and with that, increasing the value of the initial investment.
Keeping your elevator costs low with preventative maintenance
In our recent blog, the benefits of elevator modernization were detailed. While elevator modernization can significantly assist in reducing the ‘bumps in the budget’ by frequent repair calls to older elevators, a newer lift still requires elevator maintenance operating costs to stay in compliance with state and municipal safety codes, such as those upheld by the Department of Buildings (DOB). Preventative maintenance is the means to keep elevator operating costs more manageable.
Preventative maintenance responsibilities for building owners or managers:
General Daily Inspection
As a building owner or manager, staying on top of working elevators will keep repair calls and costs down. Start the business day by taking note of anything unusual in the bin. Take note of elevator buttons sticking, whether the elevator is stopping level with the floor, be aware of any noises as you ascend, or descend to the desired floor. Check that button lights are in working order on the control panel, the desired floor level, and that the emergency phone works.
Visual Inspection of Elevator Doors
A simple preventative maintenance step is to visually inspect the elevator doors for scratches on the door panels. Such is a sign that the door panels are dragging when opening and closing, which means the door is misaligned. Misaligned doors are a crucial cause of elevator breakdowns and significant repair costs.
Lubrication
Follow the elevator manufacturer’s guidelines with regards to scheduling the lubrication of motor, gears, hoist ropes, machine roller, and ball bearings, using ONLY those lubricating products recommended by the elevator manufacturer.
Leave Elevator Cleaning to The Pros
Cleaning and disinfecting an elevator is not the same as washing the family car. The elevator manufacturer has compiled cleaning guidelines, and choosing the wrong type of cleaning solution can bring about costly damage to the elevator surfaces. Leave the how-to of cleaning to the pros!
Keep A Repair Log
The best means of understanding your elevator is by logging the minor incidences of elevator malfunctions and repair dates. This data can help determine what corrective updates to the lift needs to be taken.
Purchase A Winning Maintenance Agreement
Arranging for a service contract with a professional elevator service firm, such as Champion Elevator, will provide you the security of keeping up with all routine maintenance checks, averting problems in the smooth functioning of a building’s elevator. All Maintenance contracts are NOT the same. Some are very low costs, which could lead to repair expenses that probably would have made the original monthly cost equal to 10x its sold price down the road.
The key for any building or facility manager is to be aligned with an honest service provider who will propose and carry out a maintenance agreement that is for the benefit of the customer! That’s right, THE CUSTOMER! Champion Elevator believes that the customer is part of our family and culture. Who better to help protect? See The Champion mission and vision statements MISSION & VISION to learn about our culture.