One of the bigger challenges in buildings for property managers can be their elevators and managing their elevator contractors. Get an inside view of what you should know to educate your buildings when times are good as well as when they could be better.
Join us June 6th at 11:00 am for our first ever Elevator 101 Lunch and Learn workshop. We will be discussing:
The basics about elevators and their main components.
The most common violations and how to avoid them.
Code updates and how they affect your equipment.
Realistic expectations based on the elevator's usage and traffic patterns.
Dealing with obsolete equipment.
Capital planning for the future.
Program designed and given by Qualified Elevator Inspectors[QEI]
Lunch will be provided.
Angelo’s Ristorante 247 N. York Elmhurst, IL 60126
Tuesday June 6th, 2023
11:00am
RSVP to Cathy@colleyelevator.com
We will also be raffling off some Yeti and Northface Colley Elevator gear. Show up, sit down, eat and learn. The next time you are at a board meeting and there are elevator questions and headaches, you will be better informed and can help the building make better decisions.
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.
In
1963 Ray Zomchek did the engineering for a project at the Itasca Country Club –
Itasca, IL for Gallaher & Speck Elevator[Dover/Rotary Rep at the time].In 2023 Craig Zomchek did the engineering for
a modernization project at the Itasca Country Club – Itasca, IL for Colley Elevator.We came across the original construction
drawings a number of years ago when we did a site visit to the building that have
RAZ[Raymond Anthony Zomchek] listed as the draftsman.
[Title block of final engineering drawings listing RAZ]
[Original blue print for construction]
Existing elevator &
project scope
– The elevator is/was a very small freight elevator installed in 1963 with
manual gates and doors. This elevator is
the heart beat to the building that has events and functions all year
long. Over the years we had seen a
decline in the elevator’s ability to service the building reliably. We recommended a full overhaul of the
elevator system with exception of keeping the hydraulic power unit that was
replaced within the last 5 years.
New
equipment providers
Controllers
– Smartrise Engineering
Door
equipment & Cab – EMS Freight doors
Sling,
platform & cylinder - EECO
Fixtures
– Innovation Industries
Power
unit – Quality w/Maxton valves[existing]
Elevator controller – The existing Rotary/Dover
relay logic control system was having some challenges keeping up with the
building’s demand. We installed a new Smartrise Engineering hydraulic elevator
controller that will be a good fit for now for the next 25-30+ years.
[1963/64 Rotary/Dover Elevator hydraulic elevator controller]
[2023 Smartrise Engineering hydraulic elevator controller]
Elevator door equpiment
– I’m
not quite sure whose door equipment was in prior to modernization but it was
replace with new EMS freight door equipment & cab.
[Old elevator interior]
[New EMS cab and gate]
[Old hoistway doors]
[New EMS Freight elevator hoistway doors]
Elevator fixtures – We installed
Innovation Industries hall and car fixtures to replace the original Dover/Rotary.Notice the A17.1 2019 Visual display on the
new car station.
[Old CJ Anderson car station]
[New Innovation Industries car station w/A17.1 2019 visual/text communication]
Hydraulic power unit – We removed the Rotary
dry power unit with a new Quality submersible power unit with a Maxton UC4
valve[2019].
[Old elevator machine room]
[Machine room after modernization]
Elevator cylinder – We removed the Rotary/Dover
elevator cylinder and installed a new EECO jack unit.
[Elevator pit and cylinder before modernization]
[Elevator pit and cylinder after modernization]
Take away – We encourage
building owners take a proactive approach to equipment replacement.This old beat worked well for the building
for many many years and was fine.We
were encountering brittle wires and general fatigue in the control system.The building decided to do an “everything but
the rails” approach so they can have a reliable elevator for many years to
come.
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 14 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!
In
memory of Ray Zomchek 6/13/35 to 5/18/23.
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.
NEW YORK (AP) — An elevator mechanic’s failure to execute basic safety procedures caused an elevator at a New York City building to plunge six stories and crush a co-worker to death, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Mechanic Peter Milatz, 67, was charged with criminally negligent homicide for the Feb. 18, 2021 death of apprentice mechanic Joseph Rosa, 25, at a Bronx building where the men were working to modernize the elevator.
According to prosecutors, Milatz and Rosa were working on replacing the steel ropes between the elevator cabin and the counterweight when Milatz told Rosa to go to the pit at the bottom of the shaft.
At Milatz’s instruction, prosecutors said, Rosa secured the counterweight, then used a small saw to cut through the ropes. The elevator cabin plunged down the shaft and crushed Rosa. Prosecutors said Milatz had failed to carry out a procedure called hanging the elevator cabin, which prevents the elevator from falling when the ropes are cut. Additionally, they said, he had earlier removed a safety feature called the governor, which triggers the elevator’s braking system, in order to replace it with a new one. The replacement didn’t fit, but instead of reinstalling the old governor, Milatz allegedly continued to work on the elevator without the safety feature, prosecutors said.
“The defendant allegedly failed to comply with multiple safety protocols, and because of those faults the elevator car plunged six stories, killing his co-worker,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said in a news release. “If safety measures had been followed, the victim would still be alive today.”
Milatz, a resident of upstate Orange County, was arraigned in state Supreme Court in the Bronx and given supervised release. He is due back in court on June 8.
A phone message seeking comment was left with Milatz’s attorney.
Rosa had married a few months before his death and was looking forward to a bright future with his bride, Karina Stepanova-Rosa, the Daily News reported.
“He made my life as beautiful as possible,” Stepanova-Rosa told the newspaper. “He was a real big light in all of our lives. He is the most amazing person I ever met, and his friends, everyone is just shattered by this.”
This is our second feature pertaining to the 17.1 2019 requirement for visual and text capabilities. Thank you to our friends at Rath for working with us to get the word out about their product. It is here, lets learn about it and get it installed and working!
Please explain how your visual communication
system works and how it complies with the 2019 A17.1 code.
Our fully compliant SmartView product is a
camera and text display all-in-one. The camera allows emergency personnel to
view the entire floor of the cab and communicate with trapped elevator
passengers with "Yes" or "No"
questions to be answered through "Yes/No" buttons. This combination
of text and visual communication ensures emergency personnel can communicate
with passengers in whatever way is needed.
Concurrently, Rath-Janus is developing its Monitoring Service to provide
emergency call handling for 24/7 assistance.
How long has the product been on the market?
The original SmartView product was launched in May
of 2020, and thousands of units have already been installed. Not content to
stop at phase one, we've surveyed the market, collected customer
feedback and injected those insights into the second
iteration of SmartView which is poised for release in Summer 2023.
What fixture companies use your product?
There are many fixture manufacturers and major
OEMs who count themselves as SmartView users including Innovation Industries,
PTL Equipment, ERM/Dupar, MAD Elevator, Monitor Elevator,
Canton Elevator, Schumacher, Schindler, Otis,
ThyssenKrupp, and Kone.
Do you have a stand alone product that can be
purchase direct to comply with A17.1 2019?
Our SmartView product can be retrofitted into COPs
to comply with the A17.1 2019 two-way video requirement. All that is needed is
a single twisted pair wire from the traveling cables to connect the
car phone to the machine room unit.
How does an emergency communication operator
communicate with the person in the elevator?
Our SmartView product features a phone,
camera, and text display. If installers choose to connect the SmartView system
to its phone, emergency personnel can communicate with the elevator via
voice just like they would with a traditional emergency
telephone. Emergency personnel can also communicate with passengers via text
and video through our website portal adding the visual
communication required by code. Cellular data and voice
gateways are also available for use and support other Rath-Janus products
supporting a flexible offering.
How does your product differ from other
competitors who have similar product offerings?
We pride ourselves on knowing our customers, and
our SmartView product is tailored to installer needs. SmartView is an
all-in-one solution that simplifies installation with an average install time
of less than 20 minutes. Our product is supportive of
unique customer specifications, agnostic to whichever phone or COP that is
needed. Lastly, we provide a full solution inclusive of hardware and portal
accessibility. The customer pays for the system and, through our online portal,
is able to view their elevator when needed.
Do you offer a cellular option for the end user?
Cellular data and voice gateways are also
available for use and support other Rath-Janus products supporting a flexible
offering.
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.
Lets take a few moments this week to think more about safety. Call your coworkers, call your industry friends, meet someone for lunch. Most of us have had close calls, know of people who have been seriously injured or died. Take a few moments, focus, think about complacency and how to avoid it. Our goal is all elevator constructors walk out of our careers healthy and accident free. We all have a responsibility here.
We got into the industry for a better life, not a shorter one. Work safe!
As
the preferred maintenance provider for several municipalities, educational
institutions, libraries, and park districts, we know our work has a positive
impact on helping their facilities run smoothly.
In
an effort to highlight the importance of the work they do, we’re planning to
celebrate our library customers during National Library Week. As an integral
component of our communities, libraries provide access to information and
education regardless of socioeconomic status. Many are also a library of things
as they’ve expanded to loan useful items such as museum passes, games, musical
instruments and tools.
The
managing partner of Colley Elevator is at his local library once a week filling
up his kids' book bags and making sure they get to the 1,000 books before
kindergarten goal. Libraries are more than books and information, they provide services like proctoring tests for certifications. The company has used the local library to recertify for transferring elevator inspector licenses from ANSI to ASME. Get to know your library and what they offer!
Colley
Elevator currently takes care of over 40 libraries in the Chicagoland area on
an ongoing basis and is doing upcoming construction/modernization projects at a few new
ones.
From
April 24th to April 28th, we will select two winners each day to
receive a YETI Daytrip® lunch bag. If you are a library in our maintenance portfolio, be on the lookout, you may win! If you are not in our portfolio and want to be entered, sign up for our mailing list and we will get your email for the drawing. From Colley to our libraries; thank you for servicing our communities
and thank you for letting Colley be part of your everyday!
Support your library systems, show up, use their resources, vote yes for referendums and bond issue for improvements!
To
see a really cool library elevator renovation we recently completed go to the link for the
Forest Park Library elevator modernization project we completed at the end of
2022. We had a great building owner and a great construction manager, SMC!
Tell
us about your company. Where are you from? How long has it been around?
What do you do, other products you may provide besides visual text
communications, etc.?
Founded
in 1985, Wurtec has built a reputation as the elevator industry’s destination
for innovative solutions. We design, manufacture, and distribute products that empower
elevator professionals work more safely, quickly, and efficiently. Our products
include tools for elevator installation, repair, and modernization; safety
gear; test & measuring equipment; elevator components; communication
solutions; and more. We also design and manufacture residential and commercial
elevator systems. You can check out our website to
explore our complete product catalog.
We
have our corporate headquarters in Toledo, Ohio and branches in NYC, Miami, Dallas,
Vegas, Vancouver, and Toronto.
Please
explain how your visual communication system works and how it complies with the
2019 A17.1 code.
B44:19, Section 2.27.1.1 and ICC IBC-2018,
Section 3001.2, specifically providing:
• Two-way audio communications between
passengers and designated personnel
• Text display for hearing- and
speech-impaired passengers
• Standardized messages from emergency
responders
• Video monitoring of inside the elevator
cab, including the cab floor
A single-board computer running specialized
software processes communications and conveys them to
designated stations or devices via an
Internet or LAN connection.
How
long has the product been on the market?
The WUR-COM has been on the market for about
two years.
What
fixture companies use your product?
Innovation Industries and PTL Equipment.
Do
you have a standalone product that can be purchase direct to comply with A17.1
2019?
Wurtec offers a complete package for a
compliant ASME A17.1-2019/CSA B44:19 and ICC IBC-2018. WUR-COM Watch video
monitoring services and WUR-LINK cellular may also be purchased for a turn-key solution for hardware,
connectivity, and monitoring.
How
does an emergency communication operator communicate with the person in the
elevator?
The operator may communicate with the
occupant in the elevator through a standard phone call or through the WUR-COM
website to access all three elements: audio, video, and text. This allows the
operator to answer the phone and use the additional video and texting system as
needed still traditionally.
You can see a demonstration of the WUR-COM’s
functionality in this video.
How
does your product differ from other competitors who have similar product
offerings?
Our competitors’ products commonly use a 2019-compliant
system that adds the video and text capability to an existing elevator phone.
The building will be required to maintain two communication mediums, increasing
cost, complexity, and points of failure in the system. The WUR-COM provides an
all-in-one solution for simplicity and dependability.
Do
you offer a cellular option for the end user?
Yes, Wurtec offers a scalable cellular
solution for the WUR-COM system.
Is
there anything else you would like to plug or bring up?
Check
out the Sentinel –
Wurtec’s hydraulic elevator controller.
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.
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