How to read your elevator maintenance contract
Ten clauses that decide what you pay and how much leverage you have. Pull out your contract and check each one.
Most elevator maintenance contracts are written on the contractor's standard form. The terms below are where owners most often lose money or flexibility without realizing it.
1. Term and automatic renewal
What it covers: How long the contract runs and what happens when it ends.
Watch for: Terms of three to five years that renew automatically for the same length unless you cancel in writing. Miss the window and you are locked in again.
2. Cancellation notice window
What it covers: How much notice you must give, how, and by when.
Watch for: Notice required 90 to 120 days before renewal, sometimes only by registered mail, sometimes with a window that opens and closes on set dates.
3. Price increases
What it covers: How the monthly price changes each year.
Watch for: Increases tied to the contractor's own labor rates with no ceiling. Over a five-year term these compound quickly.
4. What is covered, and what is excluded
What it covers: Which parts and repairs the monthly price actually pays for.
Watch for: A long exclusion list: ropes, traveling cables, controller boards, door panels, below-ground hydraulics and anything the contractor decides is obsolete.
5. Callbacks and after-hours service
What it covers: Whether calls outside business hours are included.
Watch for: After-hours callbacks billed at overtime rates, even on full-coverage plans.
6. Response times
What it covers: How quickly a mechanic must arrive.
Watch for: Average response times rather than commitments, with no consequence when the contractor is late.
7. Maintenance visits and hours
What it covers: How often the mechanic visits and how long they stay.
Watch for: Visit frequency left to the contractor's discretion and no minimum time on site, so a visit can be ten minutes.
8. Required testing
What it covers: Whether annual and five-year safety tests are included.
Watch for: The Category 5 full-load test, required every five years on traction elevators, excluded and quoted separately.
9. Software and diagnostic tools
What it covers: Whether another contractor could maintain your equipment.
Watch for: Proprietary controllers and tools that only the original contractor can service, which makes switching contractors difficult.
10. Leaving early
What it covers: What it costs to end the contract before the term is up.
Watch for: Cancellation penalties of several months' fees, or the full remaining balance.
Rather we read it for you?
Send us your contract and we'll mark up every one of these clauses for free, with the renewal date and cancellation window confirmed.