Traction elevator modernization - Schaumburg, IL

 

We did a super cool modernization in Schaumburg, IL last year and wanted to share it with you.  We got to work with a great design team and great owner to put everything together. 

New equipment providers 

Controllers – MCE

Door operators – GAL MOVFE

Fixtures – Innovation Industries w/Ktech camera

Machines & safety equipment – Hollister Whitney

Visual communication – CAT 5 line[building supplied & Towne Monitoring]

Cab interior - Cabworks

 

Elevator controller – The existing control system was a Swift and was having reliability issues as well as issues with competent techs knowing how to work on the Swift platform.  We replaced it with a bullet proof Motion 4000 traction elevator controller with Iso transformers to clean up the power.  

[Old Swift Controllers]

[Old Swift Controllers]

[New MCE 4000 elevator controllers]

 

[New MCE 4000 elevator controllers] 

Elevator door operator – The elevator had an old GAL door operator.  We replaced it with a GAL MOVFE linear operator. 

[Existing GAL operator]

 

[Existing GAL operator]

 

[New GAL MOVFE linear door operator]

Elevator fixtures – The existing fixtures where the Fixture Company/Dupar.  We replaced them with Innovation Industries fixtures with a Ktech camera.  We integrated their existing security system in to them. 

[Existing Fixture Company/Dupar elevator fixtures]

[New Innovation fixtures]

 

[New Innovation fixtures] 

Machines and safety equipment – The existing machines where Thyssen Northern and we installed new Hollister Whitney Legacy machines.   

[Existing Northern elevator machines]

 

[New HWEC legacy machines] 

Turnkey – The building wanted a turnkey project and we had great partners to complete the fire alarm, generator, electrical, security and other code required trades. 

Visual communication - VAM – We had an electrician pull a CAT 5 cable to our machine room for visual communication and we engaged Towne Monitoring for the answering service.  Ktech  was our camera partner on this project.

[KTECH monitoring & security integration]

Cab interior - Cabworks Chicago refreshed the elevator cab, it looks great!

[Cab refresh by Cabworks]

[Cab refresh by Cabworks]

[Cab refresh by Cabworks]

Elevator pit – A pit cleaning and new paint job finishes off the elevator pit!

[Pit before the elevator modernization]

[Pit after the elevator modernization]

Take away – We encourage building owners to take a proactive approach to equipment replacement. When equipment gets 20-30 years old, and a building’s expectations are that the elevators are to run reliably, it is a good idea to start planning when it should be replaced.  

Team work– The sales person and the project team who finishes typically get the glory on a project. In between the initial contract sale and the final acceptance are many other people who work on the project to make it successful. From the truck driver to the engineer to the billing department to the assist when needed, 15 Colley Elevator employees where involved in the project and we had tremendous team work on it. Thank you everyone. Without you we would not have had such a successful delivery! Let’s not forget our great material supplier participation!  A special shout out to our patient building through the whole process. 

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107. 

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.

Year in Reflection - Colley Elevator Blog - 2025 review

 

Welcome 2026!  This is our 12th year doing the blog; our first post was 2/28/14.  We had a great 2025 at Colley Elevator so this is a quick recap of our year as we move forward to the next.  For me, it is a great way to see where we came from and where we want to go. I’m lucky to have such wonderful people around as we enter our 118th year as an independent elevator contractor.  Thank you to everyone that was part of our 2025 year!

Annual reflection – This year we saw our maintenance portfolio grow from 2522 to over 2671 elevators.  Most of our new acquisitions for maintenance are 1 or 2 elevator buildings, though we had some 6-8 elevator groups come our way.  We are primarily using Alpha Elevator for our hydraulic controllers and MCE for our traction elevators.  We have spent the year acquiring more elevator door equipment and have a large stock pile of GAL, Dover, Westinghouse and Otis equipment in house at all times. In total we bought approximately 110 door operators, 80+ fixture packages, 60+ power units and a few complete packages[MEI & Canton].  We also purchased 30-40 cylinders from ITI.  All of this unfortunately came with some really challenging shipping issues. 

Colley Cares, our philanthropic outreach, gave out over $12,000 to philanthropic organizations ranging from substance abuse to food depositories.  The Colley team came together to help out Toys for Tots this fall/winter with a truck load of gifts to help those in need. 

Our own team is made up of incredible people with our average length of employment of 8.9 years. That's down from 10 years because we hired 9 new people in 2025.  I’m proud to work side by side with everyone here and am proud of the culture of openness at Colley that helps get everything done at a high level! Thank you to our coworkers, customers & suppliers for being great!  In 2025, we brought home the Best Contractor - North from the annual Elevator World Ellie award contest for a fifth time.

Post reflection – Take a look at the great catalog of blog posts in 2025, go back and read some. 

1/13/25 – Year in Reflection – Colley Elevator Blog – 2024 Review 

2/2/25 – Cold Weather and Elevators – Deep Freeze 2025

2/8/25 – Elevator Picture Hall of Fame 2025 – Superbowl of Elevators 

2/22/25 – CAI – Community Association Institute – 43^rd Annual Winter Expo – Elevator

3/9/25 – State of Illinois Fire Marshal Elevator Safety Review Board Meeting 3/9/25 –Door Lock Monitoring DLM

3/21/25 – End of Life/Obsolete Elevator Equipment – TAC 20/TAC 22

3/30/25 – Hydraulic Elevator Modernization – Highland Park, IL

4/24/25 – Elevator 101 – CAMICB CEU Approved Course – Morton Grove, IL

5/13/25 – Notice of Obsolescence – Schindler Elevator – HPBNA Push Buttons

6/8/25 – Information on State of Illinois Adoption of Elevator Code A17.1 2022 – Door Lock Monitoring

6/21/25 – Hydraulic Elevator Modernization – Highwood, IL

8/4/25 – Vote Colley Elevator for Elevator World's 2025 Best Contractor – North

8/21/25 – NAEC Elevator Convention & Exposition – Houston, TX

9/15/25 – Elevator 101 – Oak Brook, IL – 10/7/25

10/16/25 – One Step Closer to Door Lock Monitoring in Illinois

 10/26/25 – NAEC 76^th Elevator Convention – Houston, TX

 11/18/25 – The Financial Implications of Door Lock monitoring (DLM)

 

Blog reflection – 17 posts in 2025[that is a lot of words, pictures and time], over 266,000 views, over 627,715 views in the blog’s history.  New posts here down this year as there never seems to be enough time in the day! 

Most popular blog posts of 2025

 1.    Elevator Independent Service – 1,810 views

 2.    Elevator Disconnect Auxiliary Contacts – Elevator Controller Emergency Battery Lowering – Rescuevator – 1,680 views

3.    End of Life/Obsolete Elevator Equipment – TAC 20/TAC 22 – 1,240 views

 4.    Residential Elevator Safety – Have Your Lift Inspected – 1,140 views

 5.    Guide for Elevator New Construction for General Contractors and Building Owners – 983 views

 6.    End of Life/Obsolete Elevator Equipment – Schindler Elevator – HPBNA push buttons – 860 views

 7.    End of Life/Obsolete Elevator Equipment – Dover DMC Elevator – 744 views

 8.    The Financial Implications of Door Lock Monitoring – 660 views

 9.    Schindler 330 Inverted Piston Roped Hydraulic Elevators MCP Update Notice – 651 views

 10. Elevator Cable Rouge – 624 views

Elevator resolution – This year I would like everyone to not only look at their jobs but look at their coworkers and help. When you help, you learn something new. EXPAND that mind!

FAID inspections– We finally have FAID inspections down – now something new.

DLM – We have door lock monitoring right around the corner which is going to make the challenges we had with FAID look like a walk in the park.  We will have a challenge with performing the tests and we will have a challenge getting our buildings the right solution in a timely manner.  Bombs Away!

2025 projects/relationships – We have gotten ahead of a lot of our supplier challenges by stocking extra equipment, which has been great.  We have had a lot of good fortune to work with great people on the supplier side and the customer side and have received a lot of positive feedback about our team's hard work.  

Competitive market – Since the sale of Suburban Elevator and the challenges with Urban Elevator we have seen a lot of good opportunities for us as an Independent Contractor.  Suburban Elevator and Urban Elevator were the two giants in our market that have receded in 2025.  We have seen the performance of OEMs continue to decline in our market[low to mid rise], though we have seen some positive movement from one of the OEMs.

Suppliers – We have had some great suppliers like Innovation, Alpha, MEI and Canton perform great as usual.  We met a new supplier who we didn’t ever really get a chance to get to know, K Tech, they have been a great partner with the visual communication.  Most of the consolidated companies have some great employees but it is hard to operate in an impossible box.  

If anyone is still reading – I ended the year in NYC and saw the Statue of Liberty, what a powerful symbol.  We are a divided country.  I encourage everyone to think for themselves, turn off your news station, put down your social media and think about how you got to where you are.  The United States sure isn't perfect but we all can have a hand in making it better or talking about how it is getting worse. Do something good for someone else, give more than you get and you will get paid back 20 fold.  And get your shingles vaccine.

Thank you for everyone who took the time to read the blog.  Work safe, getting better, do great things and make our industry a better place for everyone.  Much love in 2026.

The Financial Implications Of Door Lock Monitoring (DLM)

We've been talking about the upcoming changes to the elevator safety code for more than a year. Though we're still waiting for the state's official approval of A17.1 2022, we want to remind our customers to be prepared. This applies to our suburban customers - City of Chicago is exempt.

As currently written, the moment Illinois' Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) approves it, elevator contractors and inspectors will need to adhere to it. That means little to no notice once the code is adopted.

We've discussed what this means for existing elevators from an equipment standpoint. The question then becomes what it means from a financial standpoint and, unfortunately there are no good answers. Until DLM has been on the books for a few months and the dust settles, we can only speak generally.

To try to brace for this new code requirement:

If an Elevator Already HAS DLM

Door Lock Monitoring has been a standard part of elevator controllers since approximately 1996 in different iterations. However there is no guarantee that the elevator has the correct version of it. Even elevators permitted under Illinois' current code A17.1 2019 may not meet the 2022 code. A lot will depend on how the State of Illinois decides to interpret the new code.

Regardless of whether the elevator has the specific DLM required, if it has it it needs to be tested. The test will become incorporated into the annual category 1 (CAT1) safety test which means there is an additional item to test. Extra items mean extra time and from our standpoint could mean an additional mechanic. There will undoubtedly be higher inspection fees. Estimates today are between AN ADDITIONAL $750 - $1000 depending on the time and labor needed.

Another potential issue is if the elevator does not meet 2022 and the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) does not allow it to pass inspection, a customer can expect the following:

• A software/board upgrade to enable the specific 2022 code.
• Either a mandate to upgrade immediately since the car will fail its CAT1 test or a three year grace period similar to elevators that do not have DLM.

If an Elevator DOES NOT HAVE DLM

If your elevator's controller was built before 2000, it almost certainly DOES NOT have DLM. If it was built between 2000 and 2008 it is questionable. As written, these elevators will have until January 1, 2029 to become compliant. There is NO GRANDFATHERING of DLM so expect a costly solution with a fair amount of downtime.

As we've mentioned before, there are only two options if the elevator does not have door lock monitoring:

1. Replace the elevator controller – Replacing the elevator controller and door operator will ensure the elevator has door lock monitoring and is the most reliable way to complete the requirement. This is also the most expensive way to get DLM because it will trigger other code requirements on the elevator and with the building.

Expense – High
Reliability and chances of compliance - High

2. Install an auxiliary DLM panel on an existing controller– This is the quickest and least expensive option, though we don't recommend it for older elevator controllers and door operators. Older equipment may become less reliable as they may not be able to support the new systems. Also wiring the new door lock system to an elevator that has had several wiring changes over the years, and may not have them documented correctly, could be challenging. Some may be impossible to have a door lock monitoring system added and will require a full mod.

Expense – Lower

Reliability and chances of compliance - Lower

Next Steps?

For now, we don't expect the code to be adopted until early in the coming year so we've been placed in a holding pattern until then. Once it's passed, we anticipate confusion in the first few months as we get feedback from inspectors and AHJ's regarding their interpretations of the new rules. 

In the meantime, feel free to contact us with your questions and concerns. We will continue to do our best to get out in front of this and provide our customers with the most timely and accurate information possible.

NAEC 76th Elevator Convention - Houston, TX

 

I had the opportunity to attend the National Association of Elevator Contractors (NAEC’s) 76th annual convention September 17th to 18th. It was great to get back and see some old friends, meet new friends, sit through education, be involved with talking points and walk around and visit about 300 different vendors. With Illinois adopting the 2022 code, it was of particular interest to know what is on the horizon and how our vendors can support us.

What did I get out of it? On a regular basis I’m asked what I get out of going to the convention or other NAEC events. I had a list of items from our office to look into since you can talk face to face with industry suppliers. Meeting people face to face is different than trading emails or even phone calls. Challenges that occur over the year can be discussed and resolved in a matter of minutes. The networking is wonderful, seeing friendly faces and talking to people that you email on a regular basis cannot be beat. What I get the most out of is seeing my peers from independent contractors and seeing what is going on in their area and what they are doing and what challenges they are facing.

9/17/25 – Wednesday – I caught an early flight in and ran over to catch the IUEC presentation of some code updates for 2022.  My goal was to get around the whole convention and see all of the booths.  I had to run quick.  But!  I found a lot of cool stuff!

[Show floor with my favorite Laura photobombing]

[More show floor]

[IUEC code update]

[IUEC code update]

[Adams DLM solution]

[Argus DLM solution]

[Friends at CJA]

[We won another Ellie - Thanks Elevator World!]

[New EMS Freight controller]

[Didn't know these guys existed - good connection]

[New GAL controller]

[Hyperion solution to Westinghouse single brake]

[Just cool!]

[New MEI controller]

[Thanks for having me at the party!]

[How Texas is this?]

[Thank you sponsors!]

9/18/25  – Thursday – I went to the awards breakfast and it was packed! I ran through the rest of the floor which I did not get to the day before I flew out.

 

[Packed awards breakfast!]

[ECI Boards]

[WE needed a pit flood solution - ECI]

[ECI relay tester - we bought one]

[Our friends at Innovation]

[Met our new KTech friends]

[F5 will be obsolete - replaced with F6 soon]

[VC traction controller - color coded - if you're not color blind]

[I still don't like IOT]

[Safety gear]

[Canton - how cool is this?]

[Cool to see someone else is pressure testing]

[Imperial - Congrats on the Ellie!]

[Goodbye Texas]

Why you should go – If you're in the elevator industry, this is THE show to attend where you can meet the best in the business, exchange ideas, get challenged, and come back to your company with new ideas, see new products and be a better elevator person.

2026 Convention – Chicago, IL - Yes its coming to our home.  Gary Who?

2027 Convention – St. Louis, MO – Hey! Gary got one too! 

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107.

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.