Smart negotiation of maintenance contracts can save money, whilst ensuring reliability, says Oliver Greening, LIFTEX 2025 Show Director.

A well-structured lift maintenance agreement is crucial for building safety and to ensure the life of your lifts. But with complex technical requirements, how can you ensure you get the right deal and comply with regulations?

Two key resources can help building owners navigate maintenance agreements: LEIA’s Lift Owner News items and its Code of Practice for maintenance.

The latter offers a framework for agreements between building managers and maintenance providers. It clearly outlines the obligations for both parties and serves as a foundation for comprehensive maintenance planning.

Types of maintenance

The LEIA Code identifies three maintenance levels:

• Basic: Essential servicing and statutory requirements

• Comprehensive: Wider coverage including parts and labour

• Premium: Complete protection with enhanced service levels

Your choice should reflect:

• Equipment type and age

• Building usage patterns

• Budget constraints

• Risk assessment findings

Getting the timing right

Contract length matters. Short-term agreements often lead to reactive maintenance, which can increase costs and reduce lift reliability. For comprehensive maintenance, consider:

• Minimum 3–5-year terms

• Allows contractors to invest in improvements

• Enables better long-term planning

• Can lead to cost savings through efficiency

Essential components

Every maintenance agreement should clearly specify:

• Planned maintenance

o Number of visits

o Scope of inspections

o Documentation requirements

o Access arrangements

• Emergency response

o Call-out procedures

o Response times

o Out-of-hours coverage

o Alarm monitoring

• Parts and labour

o What's included

o Specific exclusions

o Replacement schedules

o Stock arrangements

• Service levels

o Performance metrics

o Reporting requirements

o Review meetings

o Escalation procedures

Making it work for you

Before finalising any agreement request a thorough equipment survey. You should also define the specific building requirements, clearly communicating protocols. The next step is to establish performance benchmarks and agree on review mechanisms.

Looking to the future

It’s important to think beyond the basic maintenance, and to consider what may change with your lifts in future. For example, make a plan for modernisation. The number of lifts in use in the UK today were installed over 20 years ago and would generally have been installed to the safety level appropriate at time of installation. These lifts, if not improved, would have a lower level of safety than a more recently installed lift, following today’s state-of-the-art for modern technologies. This and the added complications surrounding type examinations and defined parameters means that a full revision of BS 5655 parts 11 and 12 is required for the lift industry.

Another important consideration is energy efficiency and any building changes. Of course, it goes without saying that you should also stay aware of regulation updates.

The free seminar progamme at this year’s LIFTEX 2025 (11 – 12 June 2025, ExCeL, London) will address these issues. Register here: www.liftexshow.com

This article is sponsored by LIFTEX.