5 Easily Avoided Elevator Mistakes
We’re all busy people, and most of us are guilty of occasionally getting distracted by the day-to-to-day challenges – leading to mistakes that could have been avoided. However, some of the most common elevator mistakes made by building owners are driven by a lack of a solid, dependable partner who can advise your business on good practice, safety, and cost-efficiency. We encourage all building owners and managers to regularly pause and look at how their elevators are managed, to spot any issues that can be avoided to save money, time, and reputation, while keeping tenants safe and happy.
Mistake 1: Taking the DIY Approach
Building owners, and especially new investors, often try to manage their property maintenance themselves – or get ad-hoc repairs done by bargain-basement contractors. This approach can lead to several damning problems. When an elevator service operator isn’t familiar with your specific equipment and deliver substandard or incomplete work, safety will be compromised and your building will continue to suffer from elevator problems in the future.
Mistake 2: Not Scheduling Regular Maintenance
Having your elevators serviced only if and when a problem suddenly occurs brings many disadvantages. Best practice is to keep your elevator uptime as high as possible by arranging for regular service with a reputable elevator maintenance partner. This helps you stay on top of things, by continuously monitoring performance, minimizing the frequency of emergency service calls, limiting inconvenience to tenants, and correcting issues before they lead to potentially dangerous situations and shutdowns.
Most importantly, in the event of a sudden breakdown, your regular service provider will know the particulars of your system and the parts and service needed to quickly get the elevator back into service.
Mistake 3: Waiting Too Long
As an owner, you have a major responsibility to ensure the safety of your tenants. This means that you are required to make sure your property meets safety and health standards. If a renter reports an elevator problem, or any other problem involving comfort and safety, you need to respond to it quickly and professionally. In an ideal world, you want to alert your service provider about an issue even before your tenants start reporting it. Waiting until a problem develops into a disruptive emergency can become costly in dollars as well as tenant dissatisfaction.
Mistake 4: Using Proprietary Equipment & Parts
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) often describe their products as the best choice for elevator modernizations and new installations. While this can seem to serve your needs at the time, you will typically end up becoming unnecessarily locked into expensive long-term commitments which may not fit your business in the future. A more cost-effective approach is to work with an equipment-neutral, non-proprietary service company. They will be able to offer you open-source equipment and parts which tend to be significantly less expensive and much more readily available in the event of emergency or other sudden need.
Mistake 5: Avoiding Code Compliance and Ignoring Violations
Falling out of code compliance and avoiding settlement of elevator-related violations is a major mistake with potentially severe consequences. Not only will your elevator passengers be exposed to dangerous conditions, you will also face possible legal liabilities, costly penalties, and disruptive shut-downs. It is critical that you regularly check whether there are any ‘skeletons in the closet’ in terms of old violations that may have been forgotten or ignored. If you don’t deal with these, they are certain to resurface at some point and become larger problems in the future.
What the Alternative Looks Like
It may seem challenging to know how to manage your elevator services to avoid elevator mistakes in your building. But the most important thing to remember is that you always have the option to reach out to an independent elevator service provider for advice and guidance. At Unitec, we’re here to help you make the right decisions that will keep your building safe and cost-efficient today and in the future.
We’re Here for You
If you want some advice or guidance when it comes to choosing the right maintenance plan for your business, call our friendly team today on (347) 592-1555.