Lift maintenance contracts: comprehensive, semi-comprehensive and basic — what's actually covered

Basic (also: 'planned maintenance only' or 'inspect and report')

A basic contract covers scheduled visits — the engineer attends at the agreed frequency, carries out the planned preventative work, lubricates, adjusts, tests the safety chain and writes a service sheet. Anything beyond that scope is chargeable on a time-and-materials basis.

This is the cheapest headline price and the most expensive lift to actually run. Every call-out attracts an attendance fee plus labour at the contractor's published rate; every component beyond consumables is invoiced at list price plus a handling margin. It only makes commercial sense for very low-use lifts with a tolerant downtime profile.

• Included: scheduled PPM visits, lubrication, adjustment, written service report, safety testing, LOLER liaison.
• Excluded: call-outs, all parts, all repair labour, out-of-hours work, entrapments, modernisation works.
• Typical price band: £40–£90 per lift per month (single passenger lift, urban).

Semi-comprehensive (also: 'service plus call-outs')

A semi-comprehensive contract includes the planned maintenance plus a defined number of in-hours call-outs and minor parts. The boundary of "minor" is the contractual battleground — most reputable contracts define it by a parts list (door operators, fuses, contactors, push-buttons, indicators, certain limit switches) and a value cap per item.

Out-of-hours call-outs, major components (motors, controllers, ropes, hydraulic ram seals, door operators above the value cap), and entrapments are usually chargeable. This is the middle ground that suits most commercial and residential property without a critical-service profile.

• Included: PPM, in-hours call-outs, minor parts under value cap, two annual safety tests, LOLER liaison.
• Excluded: out-of-hours call-outs, major components, ropes, hydraulic seals, entrapments after first incident per year (varies), modernisation.
• Typical price band: £80–£160 per lift per month (single passenger lift, urban).

Comprehensive (also: 'fully comprehensive' or 'all-inclusive')

A genuine comprehensive contract covers PPM, all call-outs (in and out of hours), all parts and labour, all entrapments, and remedial works arising from LOLER Thorough Examinations up to a defined exclusion list. The lift owner pays a fixed monthly fee and the contractor carries the risk on parts and time.

The exclusion list is where to read carefully. Almost every comprehensive contract excludes vandalism, water damage, fire, force majeure, modernisation-grade components (full controller replacement, complete rope set replacement past a defined wear threshold, hydraulic ram replacement), and any work arising from third-party modifications. A well-written contract states these explicitly with monetary thresholds. A poorly-written one leaves them to the contractor's discretion.

• Included: PPM, all in-hours and out-of-hours call-outs, all parts and labour, entrapments, remedial works to LOLER findings within scope, two safety tests.
• Typically excluded: vandalism, water damage, fire, force majeure, full controller replacement, full re-rope, ram replacement, third-party modifications, cosmetic refurbishment.
• Typical price band: £180–£380 per lift per month (single passenger lift, urban).

The margin disputes nobody warns you about

The contract clauses that most often end up in dispute are predictable. Knowing them before you sign saves the relationship later:

• Definition of "out of hours". Some contracts define it as 17:00–08:00 weekdays plus all of weekends. Others define it as 19:00–07:00. The difference is two hours of premium-rate cover every working day.
• Entrapment definition. Some contracts cap entrapments at 4 or 6 per year and charge per incident above that, even on comprehensive cover.
• Wear thresholds. Re-rope is often triggered at a defined wear percentage — 10% strand loss, for instance. The threshold and inspection method should be specified, not left to interpretation.
• Notice and price-review mechanism. A 12-month rolling contract with a 6-month notice period and uncapped annual price review is, in practice, a contract you cannot escape without a year's expensive lead time.
• Parts source and warranty. "Genuine OEM parts where required" is meaningful; "compatible components at engineer's discretion" is not.
• Response-time commitments. A contractually binding response time matters; a marketing-page "average response" does not.

Which tier is right for which building?

• Low-use, low-criticality lifts (small office, light-use residential): basic plus an emergency-only call-out rate is often financially sensible.
• Mainstream commercial and residential blocks: semi-comprehensive is the most common fit, with negotiated coverage of door operators (the single most failure-prone component on most lifts).
• Healthcare, hospitality, high-rise residential, public-sector, and any lift where downtime materially harms operations: comprehensive, with clearly defined response times and a named engineering account manager.
• Heritage or bespoke installations: bespoke contract — neither standard tier handles non-OEM componentry cleanly.

What to ask before signing

• Can you provide three reference sites of similar size and use, with the contract manager's contact?
• What is your contractually-binding response time, and what is the credit if you miss it?
• Show me the last 6 months' attendance data for a comparable contract.
• Who is my account engineer, and what is their tenure with the company?
• How do you co-ordinate with our LOLER inspector, and what is your remediation completion record on Category B findings?
• What is your notice period, and what is the cap on annual price increases?