Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between Lift Modernisation and Lift Refurbishment…?
Today, we’ll be talking to Nick Smith. Nick is a Technical Project Engineer at Pickerings Lifts. He’s based out of Leeds, but he’s responsible for tendering for lift installations, lift refurbishments and lift modernisations, across the north of the UK, from Birmingham, up to the Western Isles of Scotland.
He works with both prospects and customers to tailor lift modernisation solutions to their needs, with a special emphasis on improving the reliability and performance of their lifts. He has a wealth of knowledge and shares with us his most frequently asked questions.
“Lift refurbishment is only a ‘partial upgrade’ to the lift or lifts, whereas a lift modernisation is more comprehensive upgrade of the whole lift.”
“Refurbishment is usually the option when components fail, or are damaged and can be replaced on their own, i.e. lift controllers, door operators, etc. These items wear more quickly than most of the other lift items, but can either be replaced ‘like for like’, or can be upgraded to improve reliability.”
Sometimes the existing lift equipment is of such an age that it’s no longer manufactured or supported.
This is what we would call a ‘tired lift’. It’s just reached the end of its work-life using its existing parts and requires a complete overhaul, but it falls short of needing a completely new installation.
This might be due to a known fault that has been repaired time after time to keep the lift going, and which is now beyond repair due to disproportionate repair costs; or alternatively due to a system-wide failure of old parts caused by the failure of the initial part.
Either way, the cost to repair is such that modernisation is often beneficial and is more cost-effective and practicable.
This occurs when new Health and Safety rules and regulations come into play. In these cases the existing equipment simply does not comply or meet with the current regulations and needs upgrading, to provide a safe lift within modern standards.”
“A new six-floor passenger lift might cost somewhere in the region of £45-£50k for the lift installation alone, before costs to amend the lift shaft are considered.
But surprisingly, the choice between the modernisation of a lift and the installation of a new lift, often has little to do with the actual new lift cost itself.
That’s because a majority of basic lift chassis and cars are mass manufactured at scale in Europe or the Far East these days, to standard designs, and they arrive in kit form, to be assembled on-site.
For instance, a new gearbox or lift machinery might not fit into the existing steelwork, so engineering is required to overcome these issues.
If extensive engineering is needed, then this rapidly increases the cost of modernisation.
So, whether you modernise a lift, often becomes a management decision based on additional engineering costs.
The more the engineering cost, the easier it is to choose new lift installation. The lower the engineering costs, the easier it is to choose lift modernisation as the course of action.”
Q: What does Pickerings Lifts do, when modernising or refurbishing a lift that competitors don’t?
“I’d like to think Pickerings Lifts are more conscientious and caring towards our customers, particularly when they consider the modernisation of their lifts.
By way of example, we completed a project for a hotel in Morecambe.
The client called and I went to site to survey the lift. The existing incumbent lift provider was in reception at the same time. They had just told the client they couldn’t repair the lift and walked away. That’s something Pickerings Lifts would never do, as it’s our belief there’s always a solution to a lift problem.
I surveyed the lift, prepared the proposals and we turned the project around pretty quickly. The praise and acknowledgement we received from the client was tremendous. So much so, that they referred Pickerings Lifts to other hotels in the area.
In addition to our approach to problem solving, we’re very versatile in our approach to jobs, offering ‘open protocol’ parts and equipment.
This simply means the lift parts and equipment we use can be repaired or replaced with generic parts, that are widely available, to keep the customer’s costs as low as possible.
Some of our competitors’ only offer in-house or owner manufactured equipment. Unsurprisingly this is known as ‘Closed Protocol’, and means only the lift company can interrogate, repair and replace the parts with their own, usually more expensive, products.”
“Phew… well, here is my rules of thumb…
A hydraulic passenger lift has a life expectancy of 15-18 years, before it needs modernising or replacing. Once modernised, a further 15-20 years of life can be gained from the lift.
A traction passenger lift has a service life expectancy of 20-25 years before it needs modernising or replacing. As above, once modernised, a further 20-25 years service can be gained.
A new MRL (Motor Room Less) type passenger lift has a lift service life of 12-15 years, but they are difficult to modernise due to the constraints of the design and installation.”
“In my own opinion, you should consider modernisation every time, albeit the ultimate conclusion might be that lift replacement would be a more effective solution.
Purely from the statement of the lift service life expectancies above, you can provide ‘value engineering’ in a modernisation, giving the customer with piece of mind and increased longevity for their lift equipment.
The question should really be ‘why wouldn’t you consider modernisation?’ And the only reason you wouldn’t is if the additional engineering makes the difference between modernisation and new lift installation so slight, you might as well have a new lift.”
“Yes of course.
Sometimes it’s not always practical or possible to modernise a lift, making a new lift the more cost effective solution.
In addition, the customer then has the added comfort that all aspects of the lift have been brought upto modern standards, and that the lift is fully covered by at least one years’ warranty.”
“Modernisations vary in many ways, and lot can depend on the scope of work required or if there is a Lift Consultants Specification involved.
A recent £1.2m project we completed involved various sites.
We had to modernise a number of lifts across the UK. Some were traction lifts… some were hydraulic lifts… and we were working to an independent Lift Consultants Specification.
The works involved the modernisation of their existing lifts by installing new control systems, machines, door operators and also upgrading the lift car interiors.
In some case the lifts were in excess of 40 years old.
Again, time frames varied, dependent on the scope and how much work was involved and the number of floors the lifts served. Obviously, the more floors the longer a project takes, and this particular project averaged between 5-8 weeks per lift on site.
With regards to people involved… there was initially just myself undertaking the site surveys to see what was required. This was for the logistics, and more importantly, the high level aspect of the projects.
I then collated and priced up the project and prepared the proposals. Once we had the instructions to proceed and the job was placed on our systems, the Project Managers got involved.
The Project Managers carry out a more in-depth technical survey and then procure the necessary equipment and drawings for the work to actually start.
Once the installations are near completion we then bring in our own technicians to test the lifts in accordance with lift regulations.”
“Yes in both cases, and in some ways the Health & Safety aspects of a modernisation or refurbishment can be more stringent than installing new lifts.
This is often because we operate as the Principal Contractor on modernising and take full Health and Safety responsibility for the site, rather than sub-contracting for someone else.
When employed as a Principal Contractor, we also have to produce construction phase plans for the purpose of issue resolutions.”
“There are a number from recollection, the project I alluded to earlier, for one.
Another good Project was the order to modernise ‘5 bed’ passenger lifts (£500k) for St James’ Hospital in Leeds… the largest Teaching Hospital in Europe.
The Hospital have a policy that they will not accept MRL type lifts, so this obviously falls right into our area of modernisation expertise.
The projects were all delivered on time and on budget with minimal disruption to the everyday activities of the hospital… and that’s why we get repetitive work from clients… we understand the customer’s needs and we can be relied on.”
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Email contact@pickeringslifts.co.uk for more in-depth enquiries.
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