Many building managers and business owners or leaders across the United Kingdom have many things to worry about on any given day. From individual employees needing supervision in their personal roles to how a building or business might get impacted by the larger picture of Brexit, economic entrepreneurs have a lot to handle any given day, even if just in their minds.
Some questions that might be among the many in their minds could include things like whether or not their lift company is doing the right lift maintenance? Even if so, are they doing it with sufficient diligence? Do a building’s lifts have unusually high rates of breaking down?
Even if lifts are working, are they doing so properly? Does the performance involve noisy operation? Is the levelling accurate? Any business leader worried about such things needs to find answers to these questions, and anyone not worried about such things likely has some neglected issues to look into.
Lift maintenance audits are what provide answers to these questions, informing you about the current quality, or lack thereof, of your lift maintenance. This is good to keep up with because lifts are complex pieces of equipment and machinery. Many have sophisticated technology involving electro-mechanical parts. Maintenance should be high-calibre and regularly conducted so that lifts not only continue to perform their functions, but do so safely and reliably.
Lift maintenance audits might be something you avoid because you don’t want the expense, but they can actually save you money over time. Your lifts are not cheap, and any work done on them for repairs, upgrades, or modernisation add up too. However, poor maintenance, or none at all, can cut the life cycle of various components back. That means your repair bills show up more frequently, and they’ll likely grow in size as well, given that a serious upgrade or total modernisation becomes a high priority.
It’s often the smaller matters that add up. You might have accumulations of grease and dust on the door lock electrical contacts, or the door-operating mechanisms might be poorly adjusted. Even pulleys without sufficient lubrication can cause a chain reaction of failures and issues. Lack of any attention to such issues in your lift maintenance eventually decreases the performance, followed by a lack of reliability. Compromised safety is inevitable after all this.
So, you now understand the importance of lift maintenance audits. They keep things running, keep things safe, and save you money over time. Yet, what exactly gets covered when you have someone come in and do a life maintenance audit? There are five primary areas of investigation for lift maintenance auditors:
1) They check out things like overall cleanliness, repair and replacement levels, lubrication, adjustment, and general wear and tear.
2) The auditors will look into the operation of the lift or lifts. They measure light levels, how smoothly the lift rides and doors operate, the accuracy of the floor levelling, and the functionality of indicators, push buttons, and any special features of the lift.
3) Record keeping is analysed to see if motor room log cards are properly up to date. The presence of needed wiring diagrams and/or maintenance manuals on-site is confirmed and documented.
4) Lift auditors will have conversations with building operators about the service levels. Do any related lift companies respond promptly to issues brought to their attention? When they do get on-site, do they respond to the issues effectively?
5) Each of the areas auditors look at are scored into an overall service report about your lift or lifts. Scores can also be broken down into dozens of subcategories so you know where your strengths and weaknesses are.
Good lift maintenance audits result in a comprehensive report, but it should also be a report you can actually use. It shouldn’t just point out problems, as it should also make specific recommendations on actionable steps you can take to correct things. It should also be free of jargon and concise enough that you can use it to clearly communicate with others, whether they are your superiors or your subordinates. A robust report will include detailed asset information that was documented and recorded. You can also expect a comprehensive score of the calibre of the current maintenance along with detailed scores in many subcategories.
The report should also contain a full list of all noted maintenance deficiencies. This is something you should be able to pass on to your specific service providers so they can address it in full. Each deficiency should be noted as something that’s inside or outside of your maintenance contract parameters and boundaries. If systemic problems are present, they should be highlighted in the report, but also accompanied with recommended remedies, answers, or solutions. If need be, there should be photographic and even video evidence that backs up the findings of the report.
Now that you know why you need a lift maintenance audit and what benefits it provides you, the final step is finding life maintenance auditors to come out and take a look at your building. Look for an establishment that has consultants with many years of experience in the life industry, as many former engineers, installers, and repair or maintenance technicians go into auditing in their career growth. These experts know exactly what they should check for and can give you objective feedback about how your lift maintenance is clearly going.
The only real thing to keep in mind here is to use a third-party that has no association with your business or your lift service provider, so there are no complications, conflicts of interest, or other entanglements. Other than that, calling around for fee proposal is pretty simple. Most lift auditors just need to know the location of your lifts, their capacity in kg or persons, and how many floors they serve. You can usually expect an instant fee proposal, but if you have to wait, it shouldn’t be more than the end of the business day.
Lift maintenance audits typically happen quickly, with a survey conducted and a report finalised within one day. Prices vary based on the specific market within the United Kingdom, your lifts, and the audit firm, but they’re generally a few hundred pounds. The investment, though, can save you thousands of pounds or more with the results and recommendations you get.