Frequently asked questions

An elevator is a large investment on your part. As with most mechanical systems, it is important to maintain your investment.  Elevator maintenance provides parts replacement and lubrication to keep your elevator running efficiently and prolong its life.

Good question.  These days many companies will tell you that their elevator maintenance plans are based on your type of equipment.  Sometimes this can stretch your maintenance visits to your elevator being seen a couple times (or less!) per year while you are actively paying for a contract.  While a newer elevator may not need quite as much TLC as one that is older, we believe that it’s much better to proactively provide maintenance and that the elevator should be viewed on a monthly or every other month schedule.  This helps to prevent service calls, keeps your elevator clean, and keeps the code requirements completed on time.

An elevator maintenance contract is designed to be a longer-term contract so that it can cover any large parts replacement your elevator may need.  For instance, if your motor failed in month two of your maintenance contract, the elevator company would be taking a large loss for much of the contract in order to cover the motor replacement.  Integral strives to keep our prices and hourly rate at a level that pleases our customers and allows us to perform the maintenance that is needed.

The service life will vary based on the type of equipment, amount of use, and quality/frequency of maintenance.  Typically, we see a 20 year service life on equipment. Although elevators can last longer than this, manufacturers will stop making parts for the equipment around this timeframe.

All elevators should be tested annually. Some elevators require more rigorous testing every 3 and 5 years.

Only TRAINED authorized personnel are permitted to work on vertical transportation equipment. Elevator technicians are required to be constantly trained in order to keep up with safety and new technologies. Continuing education is also required to keep up with Virginia licenses. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title54.1/chapter11/section54.1-1141/

There should be record keeping for visits both in the elevator machine room per code and the local office should have record as well. This could be a red flag if your service provider isn’t communicating their visits with you. We pride ourselves on making contact with the customer before and after our visit. We can set up a schedule in advance to fit your building’s needs.

While the customer is ultimately responsible for scheduling inspections and testing for their equipment, Integral Elevator eliminates the hassle of having to play middle man and will test your elevators and coordinate with inspectors for you and to your schedule.