How good is your Elevator Maintenance contractor?
Doug Guderian
Most building owners with elevators would be very surprised to learn that the Technical Standard Safety Authority (TSSA), who oversees all elevating devices in Ontario, provides a detailed rating of all elevator contractors as they compare to the industry average. These stats are only provided directly to the elevator contractor and were most recently released at the end of November 2012 and represent the maintenance performance results of the first 10 months of the year.
TSSA does not directly measure or inspect all aspects of an elevator preventative maintenance program, but they do inspect the legislated and safety related aspects of the preventative maintenance. Some of the deficiencies (orders) cited by TSSA during their periodic inspections may not be part of the scope of work that is the responsibility of the maintenance contractor, but rather are the responsibility of the building owners. On average this factor should affect the results of all contractors equally, except that the elevator contractors who are interested in helping their clients save extra TSSA inspection fees, will work with their clients both proactively and reactively to help the building owners resolve deficiencies that are not the contractor’s responsibility.
It is not surprising that many contractors do not publish this rating information because it reflects poorly on them. In contrast, Elevator One is very pleased to publish our results. Elevator One exceeds the industry average (often by multiples) in every one of the 17 categories measured by the TSSA. Here is just a selection of some of the most important results (The complete report from TSSA is attached at the end of this post).
Statistics from Director of Elevating & Amusement Devices Safety Program, TSSA, November 19, 2012
| Measure | Elevator One | Industry Average |
|---|---|---|
| % of Periodic Inspections Passed on the 1st Visit | 56.74% | 29.84% |
TSSA inspectors are required to make periodic visits to buildings with elevating devices. It is usual that they find items that require attention so an outright pass on a first visit is very exceptional. A higher the percentage is better.
| % of Periodics requiring a followup | 10.64% | 42.52% |
If the TSSA inspector does require items to be addressed, they can choose that these items can be voluntarily completed and that a followup is not required. This option is typically given for more minor items. The lower this percentage the better as it also suggests a greater trust in that contractor to complete written items.
| Percentage of Hazard Rank 1 Orders | 76.77% | 66.28% |
When TSSA inspectors write up an an order, there is a safety hazard associated with it. Hazard Rank 1 orders are the lowest safety concern and are often items like missing or damaged signage or data plates. This high percentage of low hazard orders combined with the low number of orders shows that elevators maintained by Elevator One are significantly safer than the provincial average.
| Number of Orders per Inspection | 0.70 | 2.48 |
When TSSA inspectors write up an inspection report and there are items to address, they are listed as “Orders”. The more orders, the more items the inspector deems as deficient and must be corrected. A lower the number here is better. This is an amazingly good result for Elevator One, with the industry average of orders written being over 3 and half times as high as Elevator One’s result!
While these statistics refer to the quality of elevator contractor maintenance, they are pertinent to construction, modernization and repair projects for two main reasons: firstly, if a contractor works to this level of excellence in their maintenance division it is highly likely that they display the same excellence throughout their organization; secondly, the proper installation of high quality equipment correlates strongly with ongoing life-long maintenance results.
We encourage you to request the TSSA results from competing contractors.
Here is the link to the complete rating data that TSSA sent to Elevator One
