Lift consultants are the professionals in the best position to explain why it is critical to maintain your lift on a regular basis. Life equipment must be regularly maintained so that the life's proper functioning can be preserved by the building owner as well as comply with all legal obligations and improve its durability.
Fortunately for building operators and owners, it is not
expensive to have lift maintenance services done. You will not need to incur
high expenses in order to get a lift maintenance contract secured. In fact, a
good lift maintenance plan will preserve the efficiency of the equipment and
will actually save the owner money over the long run.
The following discussion is with the lift engineer
David Pickering. He offers further insight on why lift maintenance is so
important for both residential and commercial properties.
About David Pickering
Mr Pickering is an ILECS Associate Director. He started his
career working as an apprentice and obtained more than twenty years of life
servicing, installation, manufacturing, and design experience. He also worked
in Dublin as a senior engineer before moving into consultancy work in 2002 in
the UK.
Mr Pickering earned a Master's in Lift Engineering at the
University of Northampton and is also a Chartered Institution of Building
Services Engineers (CIBSE) member. Below are some questions we asked David
Pickering. See here for Eze Lifts.
How Is A Lift's Reliability Protected By Maintenance?
I often use car analogies to provide my client with an
overall idea of why their building's lift equipment needs maintenance on a
regular basis. In general, people have a tendency to better understand new
concepts when an explanation uses easy-to-understand and engaging language.
A lift's general design features, like a car, include the
following:
- Doors
- User control features
- Braking system
- Electronic control system
- Motor machine
Some of the above lift equipment parts are consumable items.
That means the building owner will be required to replace them on a regular
basis throughout the operating life of the lift.
A lift's consumable items can include ropes, oil, and
rollers. A car owner will need to replace the filters, oil, and tyes after a
certain amount of use time.
Lifts are available in various designs, just like cars. EZE
Lifts and other lift manufacturers will also vary based on their reputation,
customer base, and product quality.
Like with cars, when we are using a lift, we expect certain
levels of reliability, efficiency, and mobility. When entering a car or lift,
we want to arrive at our destination in a reliable, quick, and simple way.
However, a lift and car will lose some of their operational efficiency over the
years and when used constantly.
A preventative maintenance plan will schedule regular
inspection and servicing over the course of the lift equipment's entire useful
life to ensure that it performs without faults.
Are You Saying That Adopting a Good Maintenance Plan Is An
Essential Requirement To Have A Reliable Lift?
Basically, yes. Having a preventative maintenance plan in
place will protect the proper functioning of the lift and sure that the lift
works in compliance with regulatory and safety guidelines and laws. A building
operator or owner will rely on a planned preventative maintenance plan to
satisfy their legal obligations.
Quite often safety regulations will affect both commercial
and residential buildings. The guidelines include the following:
- The Health and Safety at Work
Act
- The Lift Operations and Lifting
Equipment regulations
- The Provision and Use of Work
Equipment regulations
In order with the regulations above, the building operator
or owner will need to ensure that the lift is in safe and good working
condition at all times
How Much Does It Cost To Secure A Lift Maintenance Plan?
Continuing with our car analogy, a maintenance plan's scope
for a lift is going to vary depending on the type of lift equipment it is.
The cost of a quality lift maintenance plan is going to
depend on the factors below:
- Type of use
- The lift equipment's original
quality
- Lift equipment's age
- Level of usage
If a heavily engineered and well-installed lift is compared
to a value-engineered that are working in the same type of environment the
former would need a lower-level preventative maintenance programme compared to
a value-engineered lift.
A heavily engineered and well-installed lift features robust
components. This boosts the durability of the lift. It also minimizes the scope
of maintenance services that are required compared to lesser quality lifts.
