Proprietary Vs. Nonproprietary elevator systems

Buildings owners rely on the elevator professionals to install and maintain reliable equipment.  When we work with buildings on new installation projects or modernization there are two different types of control equipment you install; Proprietary equipment and non-proprietary equipment.  Proprietary equipment is equipment that the original equipment manufactuer[OEM] typically can only support.  Non-Proprietary equipment is equipment that many companies can support because product support is readily available to any elevator professional.  Typically your larger multinational companies such as Otis, Thyssen, Kone, Schindler, Fujitec, Mitsubishi install their own control equipment which would be considered proprietary.  While the quality of the equipment is on par with open market equipment[nonproprietary equipment] you typically have a significant reliance on the company who installed the equipment.  If Elevator Company A[OEM] installs your elevator system, you most likely will have a heavy reliance on them in the future for elevator maintenance.   If everything goes well Elevator Company  A does a fair job and there are no issues other than they may charge you a premium for maintaining the system.  If everything does not go well you are stuck dealing with one company for a resolution. If Elevator Company A is not making money with this account or you do not have a critical mass of business for them, you may not get the response you would like.  With non-proprietary equipment it gives the building owner more flexibility on whom to work with.  If Elevator Company B[independent elevator company] installs the equipment and things do not go well, in the Chicago area you can call 30 other companies to find someone who will find a resolution and give you what you are looking for.  It is our opinion that it is in the best interest of the building owner to work with a company who will install a Motion Control Engineering, Smartrise, Virginia Controls, Elevator Controls or other non-proprietary control systems which are as reliable as the OEM provide proprietary equipment and you will have flexibility in the future if you have to make decisions on a elevator maintenance professional.

 

We maintain a considerable amount of proprietary equipment, the issue is we have a difficult time getting product support.  99% of the time there are no issues and there are quick resolutions and everyone is satisfied.  Even when we have a 99% success rate on working on proprietary equipment if there is a decision to be made I encourage building owners to reduce their liability on relying on one vendor and make decisions that allow future flexibility for the elevator service.

 

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

NAEC - Home Safe Campaign

The blog has mentioned in the past how it is important for building owners who have home elevators to take measures to make sure their residential lift/elevator is maintained and be sure that it is safe operating condition.  NAEC[National Association of Elevator Contractors] has partnered with other elevator industry organizations to have a resource to inform you about having a safe home elevator.  The hot topic of the moment is the gap between the hatch gate and the hoistway doors where a small person can fit into.  I recently have been to a few home elevators for evaluations prior to the sale of a home as an inspector and most of the residential lifts I see are 100% safe and in good working condition.  There are a few I do see that should not be running and are not in safe condition.  Many of the lifts I see do not have a elevator professional going to the building on a regular basis.  It is my recommendation that you have a elevator professional review the lift on an annual or semiannual basis.  The items I see while doing buy/sell evaluations for homes can be caught and remedied prior to a safety issue occurring or the expensive repair when the owner is looking to sell the home with semi annual or annual home inspections with an elevator professional.  If you have a home elevator or are in the conveyance business, please review the resource that is available through the NAEC.

 

http://homesafecampaign.com/

 

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

Elevator maintenance visits

It is important to know how often your elevator company is visiting your building.  We have been seeing more elevator maintenance companies whom have contracts that bill once a month only visit the building every other month, quarterly or twice a year.  Many elevator contracts indicated maintenance service to be provided “as needed”, over the years this has been changing.  Our advice to building owners is to find out how often the elevator maintenance person is coming to the building, find out what your contract indicates on the intervals of service and try and determine how often you would like someone at the building.  I indicate try to find out because you may need assistance from your elevator professional to help find out how frequent someone should be at the building based on the age of the equipment, traffic flow and environment.  If you are getting 2 maintenance visits a year and you have 40 year old equipment that breaks down on a regular basis, you may want to increase your maintenance intervals to avoid the nuisance issues and shut downs.  A building owner should be able to go to the elevator mechanical area and find the maintenance records.  Maintenance records in the elevator machine room will soon have different and more stringent requirements when the State of Illinois adopts the 2013 elevator code. 

 

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

New State of Illinois Elevator Code coming

The State of Illinois at the last meeting of the Elevator Safety Board adopted the 2013 Elevator Code.  What this means is that it sets a series of events that will take place to officially adopt the code in the State of Illinois legislator.  This process could take 3 months to 2 years, depending on the speed of the process.  The effect it will have on building owners and elevator companies is mostly when a building is modernized it will have to meet a new set of requirements that is slightly different then the currently 2010 code and there is more specific wording for maintenance records and elevator documentation that is going to be required.  What to take from this?  Be aware that a change is coming, if you are considering on modernizing equipment, it will be less expensive to do it with the 2010 code versus the new 2013 code.  So get the projects moving. If you do not have maintenance records in the elevator machine rooms, get them!  If you do not have a written maintenance control program, we strongly encourage you have your elevator company give you a copy or let you know how to access a site specific maintenance control plan for your building.  Some companies put stickers with a phone number on the controller indicating that they can supply as requested.  If this is the case with your building, make sure they have a SITE SPECIFIC written program for your building on the other end of the phone.   Colley Elevator puts a written maintenance control plan in each elevator room that is specific to that building many companies do not do this.  

 

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

State of Illinois Elevator mandates – Door restrictors

Door restrictors are required on all elevators in the State of Illinois by 1/1/14.  Many buildings may be in the process of installing the door restrictors, may have had them installed or are getting proposals.  Please be aware that any door restrictor that is required to be installed requires a permit and final inspection with the municipality’s elevator inspector.  Some elevator companies do not identify this requirement in their proposals and will charge additional fees for permitting and the final inspection.  A permit for a door restrictor can cost $60.00 to $600.00 depending on the municipality.  The final inspection with the elevator company and inspection firm may cost $150.00 to $500.00.  Please be aware that this can add an additional $210.00 to $1,100.00 to the initial proposed cost of the door restrictor installation.  The permit requirement is an action that is required by the State of Illinois Fire Marshall.  If you have had a door restrictor installed and a permit was not pulled you may be cited for this and be required to have a permit pulled for the work. 

There are also 6 more items required by 1/1/15 that also require permits to be pulled

Emergency lights & Alarm

Pit ladders

Phase monitors

Pit stop switches

Door protection [safe edges ok]

Two way communication

 

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

Elevators in State of Illinois in "open territories"

If you are an owner or property management of a building in an “open territory” i.e. Winnetka, Hinsdale, Roselle, etc it is up to ownership to have the elevators inspected with a 3^rd party inspection firm.  How do you find out if your municipality has an agreement with a 3^rd party inspection firm?  You can call the building department, look in the elevator and see who inspected the elevator or you can go to

 

http://www.sfm.illinois.gov/documents/Municipality%20Agreements%20040414.pdf

 

If you go in the elevator and your certificate is issued by the City of Des Plaines that means that the City of Des Plaines is handling the elevator inspections.  If you go into the elevator and see you have a certificate from the State of Illinois that means that you will most probably need to look into getting a 3^rd party inspection firm to do a annual inspection on the elevator system.  If you need information on elevator inspectors feel free to call Colley and ask and we can forward inspection companies information. 

 

Before making an inspection appointment touch base with the elevator maintenance provider and make sure your testing is up to date.  You don’t want to call for an inspection if you are 3 years behind completing annual testing of the elevator system.

 

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

Intermittent power problems & intermittent elevator issues

Each year when the weather starts changing and getting warmer we see more intermittent issues with elevator system.  Some of these issues are typical elevator issues which do take time to resolve.  Other issues are from a safety device which is found on your elevator system which we call a phase monitor, if the voltage is not within range it will not allow the elevator to run.  There are different symptoms to this, some are the elevator just does not take a call, 5 minutes later it may take a call.  Sometimes the elevator will give a sensation it is bouncing up the hoistway, which is  startling.  A low voltage situation may be unbeknownst to the building owners because their lights are working just fine.  The elevator runs off a three phase power supply which is different than the power that runs the lights and outlets in the building.  An example is a building has 230VAC power, the power goes down to 200VAC, the phase monitor is set for 210VAC, the elevator will not run.  If the power comes to 210VAC on the same elevator and someone tries to run on the elevator it may give a “bouncing” sensation as the elevator is trying to run, the start on the elevator motor may bring the voltage down and then it will shut off again.  Depending on the elevator system and the phase protection, you may get different symptoms.  When you call in these issues to the elevator service company, please be very descriptive, it helps the elevator mechanic resolve the issues.  Many times voltage situations are frustrating because by the time the elevator mechanic gets to the building, the elevator is working normally.

 

Items to take note of if you are having irregular elevator issues during the summer months.

 

1. Is the elevator only having issues in the morning or in the evening – both times are when there is heavy electrical usage[i.e. air conditioning goes on]
2. Are the buttons lighting?  Are the buttons lighting and not staying lit?
3. Elevator doors open or closed and where is the elevator?  Lowest landing, top floor, etc…
4. Is the same person who leaves at the same time finding the elevator not working, if so the times are important so we can start broadening our trouble shooting.
    
   The more information you can share with the elevator company, the better we can go to the building and attempt to resolve the problems.  Colley Elevator does have a voltage monitor that we can plug into the system and supply the results so you can talk with COM ED and show them you are getting a low voltage situation.  We have also found that at times it is a buildings wiring having a loose connection in the vault which can simulate these issues.  The important part is communication and moving forward with a plan of action with Building owners, elevator company and the electrician[if they are involved] if intermittent power issues are causing reliability issues or damage to the elevator equipment. 
    
   If you have an questions or would like information from Colley Elevator you can go to www.colleyelevator.com, email Craigz@colleyelevator.com or call 630-766-7230.