Elevator Maintenance Basics for Building Owners

An elevator that works quietly for years gives its owner very little to think about, and that is exactly the trap. The machine is only quiet because someone has been doing small, repetitive jobs on it. This page explains in general terms what that work is, how public regulators draw the line between maintenance and inspection, what records and contracts usually involve, and which tasks are never a do-it-yourself matter.

It is educational only. It does not tell any owner what to buy, whom to hire or what their own code requires. Rules differ by place, and the local authority and qualified professionals have the final word.

What maintenance means

The word has a precise meaning in the elevator world. A bulletin from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs quotes the ASME A17.1 definition: maintenance is "a process of routine examination, lubrication, cleaning, and adjustment of parts, components, and/or subsystems for the purpose of ensuring performance in accordance with the applicable Code requirements." Four verbs, all of them repeated on a schedule. The same definition, the bulletin points out, treats repair and replacement as separate things.

That framing is useful. Maintenance exists to keep a machine performing to the code it was built under. It is a continuing duty, not a response to a breakdown. For how the machine itself is put together, see how elevators and lifts work.

What the routine work looks like

Public sources rarely publish a full maintenance procedure, because the detailed requirements live in the code and in the manufacturer's documentation. What a regulator can show is the kind of tasks involved. New Jersey's rules, as summarized in that bulletin, list work that includes cleaning, oiling, greasing, painting, changing brushes, relamping, replacing comb plate teeth on escalators, replacing carbons and contacts, replacing door gib inserts, and clearing obstructions. For certain equipment the list extends to testing, cleaning and adjusting contacts, replacing items such as relays, fuses, batteries and lamps, replacing rollers, guide shoes and seals, and adjusting swing door interlocks.

A few terms in that list need defining. A gib is a small guide part that keeps a sliding door panel running in its track. A guide shoe is the part that rides along a guide rail to keep the car steady. A comb plate is the toothed plate at the landing end of an escalator, and an interlock is the device that keeps a landing door from opening unless the car is in position. None of this is a recipe, and nothing here should be read as a prompt to touch these parts. It simply shows that maintenance means lubrication, adjustment, cleaning and replacement of wearing parts, in places ranging from the doors to the electronics.

Doors, interlocks and rollers show up in that list because they are moving parts, and moving parts wear. For the safety logic behind doors and other devices, see elevator, lift and escalator safety.

Maintenance is not inspection

Owners sometimes assume that a mechanic's monthly visit and an official inspection are the same event. Regulators say otherwise. The UK Health and Safety Executive makes the point in its equipment FAQ: a thorough examination of a lift "is in addition to normal inspections as part of lift servicing and maintenance" and "is not a substitute for servicing." It also says the examiner "should not be the same person who services / maintains the equipment."

New York City draws a similar line. Its Department of Buildings says the agency doing a periodic inspection cannot be affiliated with the agency that performs the device's maintenance. The reasoning is easy to follow. Someone who checks their own work has little reason to find fault with it.

So the two roles complement each other. Maintenance is the continuous care, and inspection is the periodic independent audit of the result. A clean inspection does not remove the need for maintenance, and regular maintenance does not replace inspection. The wider picture is in the pillar guide, inspection, maintenance and regulation explained.

Maintenance contracts and records in general

Most building owners do not maintain elevators themselves. They arrange for a qualified provider, usually under a written agreement. We do not recommend providers or contract types. What can be said in general terms is what sorts of topics owners commonly ask a qualified provider to explain, so that the arrangement is clear on paper.

• What the visits cover and how often they occur.
• Whether the people doing the work hold the license or registration the jurisdiction requires.
• What happens when something fails between visits, including how a service call is received and answered.
• Which records the provider keeps and how the owner can see them.

Records are not a courtesy in every jurisdiction. In New Jersey, according to the same bulletin, state staff stopped performing routine six-month inspections in 2017, and "the onus was placed on those owners to retain a checklist of maintenance performed by their elevator maintenance company and produce same" for inspectors. The bulletin adds that the owner shall make such records available to the authority. That is one state's approach. Other places set different rules.

It is also worth knowing where responsibility sits. Texas states in its elevator FAQ that the building owner's responsibilities include having the equipment inspected annually by a registered inspector and displaying the Certificate of Compliance, and that an owner "may not lawfully delegate the responsibility for safely maintaining the building and equipment." Hiring a maintenance provider helps the work get done. In that state's framing, it does not hand over the owner's accountability. How a certificate looks and what it shows is covered in reading an inspection certificate.

Why neglect matters

A lubricated, adjusted, cleaned machine is one that continues to perform to its code. Skip the work and wear accumulates quietly, because parts that are meant to be adjusted drift out of adjustment and parts meant to be replaced stay in service. The first sign may be an annoyance, such as a door that hesitates.

There is a practical side as well. In New York City, defects found on an annual Category 1 safety test must be corrected within 90 days of the initial inspection, and uncorrected conditions after that period draw violations, according to the Department of Buildings page. That shows how a deadline-driven process can work once defects are found; it makes no claim about how often they are.

What is not a do-it-yourself job

Everything above is for understanding. None of it is permission. Work in a hoistway, a pit, a machine room or on top of a car is for licensed or registered mechanics, and New Jersey's bulletin says its regulations require elevator maintenance to be carried out by a licensed elevator mechanic. Texas requires anyone who performs installation, alteration, testing, repair or maintenance of an elevator to be registered with the department. Even the lighter jobs in New Jersey's list are described as work for a licensed mechanic or someone supervised by one.

For owners and managers that means the practical limit is simple. Staff may report symptoms, such as a door that sticks or a car that levels badly, to the responsible provider. Staff should not open doors, bypass devices or reach into the shaft. If anyone is trapped or hurt, call emergency services and use the building's emergency phone.

The short version

Maintenance is routine examination, lubrication, cleaning and adjustment, carried out by qualified people on a continuing basis. Inspection is a separate, independent check, and in several places the owner remains accountable for both. For specifics about a given elevator, the local authority and qualified professionals decide.