Specifying Lifts for a new building: why an independent specification is important

Developers often specify Lifts from a supplier's brochure, or leave the choice to the builder. That saves a little at the start, but it can cost the building's future owners a great deal over the next 25 years.

An independent Lift specification defines exactly what is to be built. Every contractor then prices the same thing, and the finished lifts can be maintained by more than one company.

What a lift specification covers

• The number, size, speed and control of the Lifts, from the traffic analysis
• Equipment standards and performance: ride quality, noise, levelling, energy use
• Finishes and fixtures
• Safety and accessibility requirements
• Testing, witness testing and handover
• Maintenance and parts provisions, including access to tools, software and spare parts

The cost of specifying by brochure

When one supplier's product defines the specification, the tender becomes a one-horse race and prices are harder to compare. The building also often ends up with proprietary equipment that only that supplier can maintain.

Keeping maintenance competitive

A lift is maintained for decades after it is installed, so who is able to maintain it matters as much as what it costs to install. If you specify equipment that at least two maintenance companies can service, and include the tools and software they need to do it, the building keeps its bargaining power for decades.

2+

maintenance companies should be able to service whatever you install, for its whole life

Specifying for the building's whole life

An owners corporation can inherit equipment that only one company is able to maintain. Keeping maintenance competitive means specifying non-proprietary equipment, and access to the diagnostic tools, from day one.

Who lives with the lifts

The developer sells the building, and the owners corporation is left with the lifts. A good specification has to work for both of them.

How the tender works

1. Traffic analysis and specification
2. Tender to several contractors on the same scope
3. Only approved contractors asked to tender, which avoids the costly error of awarding the work to a poor contractor
4. Evaluation of each bid on value as well as price
5. Award, then design reviews, installation oversight, witness testing and handover

What goes into a good specification

• Performance: speed, ride quality, noise, levelling accuracy and door timing, all of it measurable at handover
• Maintainability: equipment that at least two companies can maintain, with access to the diagnostic tools and software
• Spare parts: a guaranteed period during which parts stay available
• Testing and handover: the tests to be witnessed and the documents to be supplied
• Warranty and defects liability: length, scope and response times
• Maintenance pricing: the first years of maintenance priced in the tender, so the cheapest installation isn't paired with expensive maintenance

Pricing maintenance in the tender

When each tenderer prices 3 to 5 years of maintenance post end of defects liability period (DLP) alongside the installation, you can see what each bid will really cost. A low installation price paired with a high maintenance price is a common pattern. Comparing the two prices together avoids it. At end of DLP the Building Owner can choose to accept the maintenance offer or tender.

When to bring in a Lift consultant

Bring the consultant in as early as you can. The number, size and position of the Lifts affect the building's structure, so decisions made at concept design are the hardest to change later. The consultant's work at each stage:

• Concept design: traffic analysis and the size of the Lift core
• Design development: the specification, and coordination with the architects and engineers
• Tender: competitive pricing on the same scope
• Construction: design reviews, site inspections and progress checks
• Handover: witness testing and the defects liability audit

What the owners corporation inherits

In apartment buildings the developer chooses the Lifts, but the owners corporation pays to run them for decades. A poor specification can leave the building with:

• Maintenance available from only one company
• Parts that become obsolete early
• Lifts sized for cost, not for the people who live there

Common inherited problems include: Lifts installed by contractors whose work is not compliant or of poor quality, Lifts too small to take a stretcher, no second Lift to fall back on, and maintenance that only one company can provide.

Questions people ask

What goes into a Lift specification for a new building?

It sets the number, size, speed and performance of the Lifts, and the maintenance terms, so every contractor prices the same scope and more than one company can service the result.

What is a proprietary Lift?

A proprietary Lift is one whose intellectual property, which may include tools or software, is available only from its manufacturer.

When should the Lift consultant be engaged?

Engage the Lift consultant at concept design, before the lift core is fixed.

Next steps

LML Lift Consultants prepares Lift specifications, runs tenders and oversees installation for new buildings. We sell no equipment and take no commissions.

Talk to us about your development or call 1300 001 565.