Custom Maintenance Contract and RFP Consulting

Facility managers typically track the following KPIs to evaluate elevator maintenance performance:

• Elevator uptime: Track the percentage of time each elevator remains operational compared to its scheduled operating time. This metric helps show whether your maintenance program is effective and how well your maintenance provider is keeping equipment in service.

• Maintenance rates: Consider the preventive maintenance completion rate, percentage of planned maintenance in comparison to emergency maintenance, and maintenance backlogs. Preventive maintenance completion rates indicate how often scheduled work gets done on time. Higher rates indicate better reliability. Meanwhile, higher instances of emergency maintenance indicate reactive responses. A growing backlog also compounds safety risks when critical tasks get deferred.

• Callback rate: Callback rates measure how often your vendor has to return after maintenance or repair work to address an unplanned issue. Lower rates indicate that elevator contractors get it right the first time.

• Mean time between failures (MTBF) and mean time to repair (MTTR): MTBF tells you how long elevators run before breaking down. A rising MTBF can indicate a working preventive strategy. MTTR measures a contractor's speed when restoring equipment. High MTTRs indicate skill gaps, part shortages, and poor diagnostic processes.

• Entrapment response times: These indicate how quickly contractors free someone stuck in an elevator. Fast response times come with improved safety and indicate good maintenance practices.

• Overtime billing expenses: Overtime results in additional costs that affect your budget. Frequent overtime also indicates poor scheduling.

• Obsolescence: An elevator contractor should ideally have the parts you need in case of incidents. Readily available inventory enables shorter downtimes.

Your elevator service contract should cover the following metrics and requirements:

• Service and equipment coverage: Include service level agreements, such as covered service hours, elevator response time requirements, and uptime requirements. Decide whether subcontractors can do the work, as this affects quality control and accountability. Define numerical targets, such as percentage rates, based on your equipment. Ensure services cover all your equipment, and address whether your elevators have obsolete parts.

• Financial obligations and protections: Escalation clauses should determine how and when prices increase. Make sure increases are reasonable. Labor and overtime rates should also be clear and competitive. Cap any additional fees.

• Code compliance and testing requirements: Determine testing and assessment costs. Include a clause that requires compliance with your maintenance control program (MCP) to maintain standardized, compliant records.

• Termination and renewal clauses: You should be able to terminate the agreement with reasonable notice, especially if the provider fails to meet their obligations. Avoid automatic renewals that lock you in and prevent you from navigating competitive bids.

Ultimately, writing an elevator maintenance contract means ensuring it protects you and the facility, not just the elevator service provider.

Use your MCP and completion records to track elevator repair costs and frequency. The MCP is required by ASME A17.1, the Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, which is adopted by many jurisdictions. Review your repair and replacement records and identify how often technicians returned between visits. Separate the costs and frequency history for each elevator car to catch which units have been impacting your budget the most.