Ensuring the serviceability of lifts in commercial, industrial and residential buildings requires regular lift maintenance in accordance with set maintenance guidelines. Lift owners in Singapore are required to engage only lift maintenance contractors who are accredited with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Singapore, the government authority mandated to ensure the development and excellence of built environment.
According to the BCA, regular lift maintenance must be conducted at intervals not exceeding one month, and under the guidelines provided by the Singapore Standard CP2:2000, which is the Code of Practice for installation, operation, and maintenance of electric passenger and goods lifts.
As the lift owner, what scope of work should you expect from a basic lift maintenance service in Singapore? Below is a list of common components behind your lift system that need regular maintenance:
The Machine Room
You can think of the Machine Room as the heart of your entire lift system. The Machine Room houses the elevator hoisting components, the motor generator set that activates and provides power supply in case of power outage, and the control systems that ensure the smooth stop and go operations of your lift.
The Hoistway
The Hoistway consists of the guiderails of the elevator car, the counterweight, the hangers, corridor doors and door locks, the switches, and the cables. Most of the maintenance works are carried out inside the hoistway and outside the car. Only qualified technical consultants are allowed to perform the maintenance of the hoistway.
The Car
The car of the elevator is where the passengers and cargoes ride, as such, maintenance works for the elevator car includes servicing the door, cleaning the car, fixing the light, making sure there is ventilation inside the car, among others.
Lift maintenance is important to ensure passenger and cargo safety and to minimise downtimes. Regular lift maintenance increases the longevity of your lift and minimizes your operations cost.
What You Can Do to Protect Your Lift
As the lift owner, you would surely want your lift to run smoothly and efficiently. Aside from engaging professional Singapore lift maintenance contractors, you can also do simple but important things that will protect your lift from break downs.
1. Clean the hall door, car tracks, and the inside of the car.
2. Do not overload the lift. Most people tend to overlook this. When you overload your lift, the mechanisms that it uses to operate wear out faster. This not only reduces the efficiency and life of the lift, but it also poses danger to anyone using the lift. Avoid loading your lift with anything that’s more than half of the lift’s total maximum capacity.
3. Perform daily inspections. Vandalism is one of the major causes of lift damages. Perform daily inspections to deter vandals from coming near the lift.
Remember to keep a log of your elevator’s operations. That way, you would have a written record of its serviced hours. Note everything down – from unusual sounds, to the door that doesn’t open or shut, among other troubles that you encounter when using your lift. This will speed up troubleshooting the problem as you can readily describe to the lift consultants some signs and symptoms your lift may be in trouble.
Professional lift companies like Meyer Engineering have lift consultants who can advise you basic maintenance needed for your lift to keep the lift functioning at peak performance round the clock.