Chicago elevator maintenance & FEO – Help!

We got a call about 6 months ago from a building that wouldn’t get a phone call from their current elevator maintenance vendor and needed someone today.  Of course it was a Friday and the person’s route it was on was on vacation.  We pulled someone else over there to complete a routine repair.   Over the last six months we have kept in contact with the building and they had been fairly ghostly [responding every once in a while, they are in an existing contract].  Recently the building got in touch with us and said they have a few violations.  We went there and it was typical City of Chicago violations

1.    Door restrictor not working

2.    Appendix O “in case of fire” signs needed

3.    Floor lockout is active on FEO phase II

We did a site survey and found what you are more and more commonly finding on the Intergalactic company’s maintenance jobs.  No maintenance or poor maintenance.  We ran down to the machine room and heard a familiar rumble.

[both sides of car are in similar shape]

We looked in the controller and found a jumper.  In the mechanic’s defense, he was just at the building and perhaps he needed parts…

The violations where all legitimate and not unusual, old Adams Hatch Latch that needs to be replaced, signs are a new item, lockout probably never has been noticed for years and years[the lockout that had been used looked as if it was installed by a company who has been out of business for 15 years].

The stinger of the whole thing is that this building most likely will need to replace their controller because of the City of Chicago Fireman’s Emergency Operation[FEO].  Violations where written on 12/16/16, mandate went live on 1/1/17.  Once the violations are fixed and re-inspected they essentially fail the FEO test.

[No flashing hat, no call cancel, did not check protocol on other mandated items]

Take away – Keep up to date when your contract is up, get a maintenance service provider you are comfortable with and will communicate with you.  We[elevator contractors] may not always tell you things you want to hear but there should be someone at the other end of the phone to explain to you what is going on in a timely manner.  Most importantly make sure you know what you are paying for; once a month, once a quarter, full coverage, etc.  And make sure you are up to date on new mandates that are occurring that may impact your building.

If you have any questions or would like information from Colley Elevator you can go to www.colleyelevator.com, email Craigz@colleyelevator.com or call 630-766-7230.