Excessive Elevator Maintenance Charges

An elevator maintenance contract is a vital piece to the upkeep of all vertical transportation/elevator equipment. The terms and conditions of a maintenance contract can quite literally make or break the life of the equipment. Elevator maintenance contracts are written by the elevator service provider with terms and conditions in their own favor. Most building owners and property managers have little-to-no technical and mechanical elevator knowledge and therefore cannot properly decipher what equipment and parts are covered in their elevator maintenance contract. This commonly results in excessive elevator maintenance charges. It is common to see terms written in such a way that they are intentionally confusing.  There is no oversight or accountability for the elevator service provider to ensure that their contractually obligated maintenance is even being performed. The elevator maintenance contracts contain stipulations of elevator components covered for repair and/or replacement and talk about elevator part obsolescence.  For example, an elevator stopped running unexpectedly and the elevator service provider was called back to assess the problem. They determine the reason for the shutdown was a part failure due to normal wear and tear and needs to be replaced. Instead of referencing the maintenance agreement, the elevator service provider automatically opts to charge the client for the full cost of labor and material for the drive replacement, despite the work already being covered in the elevator maintenance agreement. The client was going to pay in full and approve the work yet the work is covered in the contract. In this case, the client saved over $55,000.00. Unfortunately, it is extremely common to see unnecessary excessive elevator maintenance charges.