On paper, every lift maintenance contract looks similar — a number of visits, a response-time promise, an annual fee. The differences live in the exclusions clause, the engineer ratio and the contractor's actual accreditation status. Here is the buyer's checklist we wish more property managers used.
Ask about the engineer ratio
Engineer-to-lift ratio is the single most predictive number for response performance. A good comprehensive contract typically supports 80–120 lifts per engineer; non-comprehensive contracts (visits only, breakdowns billed separately) sit higher. Anything above 200 should prompt questions about how a 1.5–2 hour response is genuinely achievable on a busy day.
Distinguish 'response' from 'attendance'
Some contracts promise a 1-hour response — meaning the call-handler will respond. The number that matters is engineer attendance time. Get it in writing.
Read the exclusions clause first
Comprehensive contracts cover labour and parts; semi-comprehensive contracts exclude major components (motors, controllers, ropes, ram). Exclusions are not bad — they make pricing honest — but they should be enumerated, not buried. If the exclusions list is vague, the bill will not be.
Verify accreditations
LEIA membership is the industry standard for UK lift contractors. ISO 9001 (quality), 14001 (environmental) and 45001 (health & safety) — ideally UKAS-accredited — demonstrate audited management systems. Cyber Essentials matters if the contractor has access to your building's BMS or IoT devices.
Insist on a Schedule of Works
Every visit should have a documented, signed-off list of checks completed. If your contractor cannot produce the last 12 visit reports for any of your lifts on request, your audit trail is fictional. The defect log on each report is also your modernisation roadmap, three years before you need it.
Questions to ask before signing
- What is your engineer-to-lift ratio in my service area?
- Where are your nearest two engineers based?
- Show me three sample visit reports from a similar building.
- How are out-of-hours call-outs priced — and what counts as out of hours?
- What is your average attendance time, by month, for the last 6 months?
- How do you co-ordinate with our LOLER inspector?
- What is your notice period and price-review mechanism?
Need this applied to your portfolio?
Talk to one of our engineers.
No call centres. Direct line to a working engineer who will give you a straight answer.
Get in touch