Contract and Invoice Oversight
Elevator maintenance agreements are written by elevator companies, for elevator companies. We read yours the way the contractor's lawyers did, then tell you in plain language what it actually obligates them to do and what it lets them charge you for.
The problem with elevator paperwork
A typical maintenance agreement runs five years, renews itself automatically inside a narrow cancellation window, escalates every year, and excludes more than most boards realize. Then the invoices start: callbacks billed at overtime rates, repairs invoiced for components the contract arguably covers, testing charged as an extra. Each item is small enough that nobody fights it. Over a contract term they add up to real money.
Most buildings have never had anyone independent read either document. That is the entire service.
Contract review
- Term, auto renewal, and cancellation window, with the exact dates you need on your calendar to keep your leverage.
- Coverage: what "full maintenance" includes and, more importantly, the exclusions list where the cost lives.
- Escalation clause mechanics, and what the compounding actually does to year five pricing.
- Callback and overtime terms. Many buildings pay for calls their contract already covers.
- Required maintenance frequency and tasking against the manufacturer's procedures and ASME A17.1 requirements.
- Obsolescence language, testing responsibility, assignment clauses, and termination for cause provisions.
- Where you have negotiating room, in specific terms you can take into a renewal conversation.
Invoice review
- Line by line check of repair invoices against your contract's coverage.
- Labor hours and material pricing sanity checked against what the work actually involves.
- Callback billing audited against contract terms and the maintenance record.
- Patterns over time: chronic repairs that point to maintenance not being performed, and charges that repeat under different names.
The renewal window is the whole game. Most agreements renew automatically for another full term unless you give written notice inside a specific window, often 90 days before the anniversary. Miss it and your negotiating position is gone for years. If you do not know your window, that is the first thing we will find for you, no charge.
Start at no charge
The standing offer. Send your maintenance contract, a recent invoice, or a modernization quote to andrew@oceanviewelevator.com. Within five business days you get a written, plain language read on what it says, what it costs you, and what to do about it. No charge. No obligation. No sales pitch, because we have nothing to sell you.
For ongoing oversight, property managers and associations put us on retainer to review invoices as they arrive and to run contract renewals. Fees are flat and quoted in advance. The no charge review will tell you whether that is worth doing for your building.
Doing a first pass yourself costs nothing: download the 10 point contract checklist.