REPLACING A CO-OP / CONDO ELEVATOR, P.2

Regardless, cab upgrades must comply with the Fair Housing Act and the New York City Building Code. For example, the call button panel must be at a wheelchair-accessible height and have Braille or raised numbers, and the cab must use auditory aids such as a bell or a recorded voice indicating the elevator's direction and floor location.

The building code requires an exhaust fan in the ceiling, adequate lighting and a dedicated fire-call telephone. A grille on the floor of the cab, while not required, facilitates cross ventilation in conjunction with the exhaust fan.

Survey Your Residents

Because of the extensive work involved in a complete elevator upgrade, it will be necessary to completely shut down service for the entire installation. Therefore, boards should survey residents well ahead of time to find out their vacation plans, verifying who will be away and for how long.

For buildings with elderly residents who travel during the winter, that may be the best time to schedule the upgrade. In any case, it's critical to keep residents updated on the status of the project and let them quickly know about any delays or problems so they can adjust their schedules accordingly.

A single-elevator upgrade in a building such as yours normally takes approximately six weeks. But by undertaking an accelerated schedule of 60 hours a week (10 hours a day, six days a week) instead of the usual 40-hour week, the contractor should be able to complete the project within four weeks. Extending the number of hours and days in the schedule usually works better than having separate day and night crews.

In choosing a contractor to perform the work, you should look for specialists in elevator repairs and ask for references from projects that the firm has done for other residential buildings the size of yours. You will probably want to hire a separate contractor that specializes in interior work for remodeling the elevator cab.

Given the importance of getting the elevator back in service as quickly as possible, it's advisable to include a  liquidated damages clause in your agreement to give the contractor an incentive to finish on time. It's also recommended that you call in an elevator consultant or engineer to initially survey the system to determine the extent of repairs, evaluate bids from contractors, and observe the work.

As a very rough guide, the cost of a full-scale elevator upgrade will run roughly $15,000 per floor, per elevator. Your agreement with the contractor should include a regular preventive maintenance program, which usually entails twice-per-month visits and servicing. (Maintenance programs are not included in the upgrade cost.)

Upgrading your building's only elevator is a major undertaking and an unavoidable inconvenience. Managed properly, however, the modernization will address the everyday annoyances and potential safety problems that the aging elevator system now presents to residents.

Stephen Varone and Peter Varsalona are principals at Rand Engineering & Architecture.

Adapted from Habitat September 2005. For the complete article and more, join our Archive >>