Lift equipment “Life Expectancy” and Lift Maintenance Contracts.

What is a reliable lift and how long should it last?

The old adage “they don’t make them like they use to” could not be more true, sometimes it’s made better and sometimes worse.

It is certainly true that equipment is made to a price point and this generally determines how long an item will work reliably for.

The expected life expectancy of lift components is now a core concept in comprehensive lift maintenance contracts. Comprehensive maintenance contracts will have clauses to the effect that “any parts that have reached the end of their expected life or are obsolete will not be covered in the agreement”. This clause will, in effect, exclude many lift components from a comprehensive lift maintenance agreement.

The “working life expectancy exclusions”, at first glance, may seem to be unfair for the customer, however, the cost of lifts and the cost of comprehensive maintenance agreements has reduced enormously over the last 20 years. The price of a new lift is less than 50% of what it was 20 years ago. The current cost of a comprehensive agreement is 75% less than what it was 20 years ago. The price pressure that has brought down the cost of new lifts and maintenance has significant consequences for what can be covered by maintenance agreements as the lifts are now made down to a price point not up to a quality point. Lift maintenance companies have had to exclude worn out components in their agreements as there is simply not enough money in the maintenance agreements to cover them, its just basic economic maths. To offer an all- inclusive comprehensive agreement for a commercial lift a company would need charge around $16,000 per year to be safe (for a small lift), to ensure motors, drives and lift ropes are all covered, as they use to be!

Another implication for the customer as a result of significant maintenance pricing over the years, is the way most lift companies are maintaining lifts with their 15 minute visits. This will be addressed in a future blog “ The 15 minute maintenance visit con”. In short, 15 minute service visits are a very bad idea for customers!

With the above in mind, the expected reliable lift expectancy of a lift is now around 8 years with the overall life expectancy of 20 years. If the customer selects a high quality product from Germany the life expectancy generally extends to 30 years with a reliable life of 15. The numbers will vary from lift to lift according to the quality of the installation crew and maintenance but the trends are a good guide.. Poor quality (cheap gear) and cheaply installed, you may have trouble from day one but high quality gear, installation crew and maintenance, 30 years is a good life for a lift .

I trust that the above is food for thought.

Andrew Lewis
Director

Published: February 13, 2025