In brief
Compare the same cover and fault scenario, then add the separate costs your building will actually pay. Count each item once.
Use current quotes and your own records. An allowance is money set aside for uncertainty; it is not a prediction or permission to delay safety work.
Call-out · Response time · Exclusions · LEIA
Why maintenance prices differ
There is no single price that tells you what your building should pay. A useful quote needs to identify the lift, what is covered and what remains chargeable.
- The equipment: type, condition, usage and availability of parts or technical support.
- The maintenance programme: planned visits, scope of work and records supplied.
- The cover: working hours, emergency response, included parts and labour, exclusions and spending limits.
- The site: location, access restrictions and arrangements for attendance.
Ask for the reason behind a price difference. A cheaper fee may leave more work separately chargeable. Compare the written terms, rather than assuming that “comprehensive” means everything is included.
Give each provider the same brief
Prepare one summary: lift identification, type, number of stops, typical use, known faults, service history and access restrictions. Include the latest examination report. Send the same information with each quote request so that assumptions are visible.
Ask each provider to list its assumptions and exclusions in writing. A contractor who has not surveyed the equipment may need to qualify the offer; establish when those qualifications will be resolved.
What does LEIA membership tell you?
LEIA is the Lift and Escalator Industry Association. Membership means a company has chosen to join this trade association and must meet its membership criteria. It is not a quality rating, a guarantee of service or a reason on its own to choose one quote over another.
Non-membership alone does not show poor quality. Ask each provider for evidence of experience with your equipment, relevant references, insurance and a clear written service offer.
Association information: About LEIA ; LEIA membership criteria . Checked 19 October 2026. Assessing the proposed service remains your own comparison.
Check what “included” means
| Contract detail | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| Planned visits | How many, what scope, and what record after each visit? |
| Breakdowns | Which hours are covered? Are travel, labour and return visits included? |
| Parts | Which parts are excluded, limited or subject to prior approval? |
| Entrapments | What is the call route and attendance commitment? |
| Examination | Who arranges it and is the fee included or separate? |
| Alarm connection | Who pays for the SIM, line, monitoring and testing? |
| Handover | What records and access information will you receive when leaving? |
“Comprehensive” is a description, not a substitute for the actual terms. Read the schedule of covered equipment and the exclusions together.
Provider example: Forge Lifts’ maintenance cover options show how a provider separates planned visits, call-outs and repair cover. Use this as an example of the questions to ask; the written agreement for your lift determines what is included.
Separate response from repair
A promise to attend does not tell you when the lift will be working again. Ask how urgent calls are prioritised, when you will receive an update, how parts are sourced and who owns communication during a long outage.
For a building where lift availability is critical, discuss contingency arrangements and reporting before signing. Make the expected update frequency and escalation contact part of the agreement.
Build the annual budget in three parts
1. Known recurring costs
Use the contract fee and confirmed separate charges for examinations, alarm connection or monitoring. Include attributable electricity costs if available; label an allocation or estimate clearly. Check whether specialist attendance at examinations is a separate charge.
2. Planned or assumed spending
Add known repairs due in the period and a stated scenario for chargeable call-outs. Use fault history to inform the assumption, but do not assume next year will be identical. If a call-out includes labour or a repair already listed, count that amount once.
3. An explicit allowance for uncertainty
Agree a separate contingency with the owner or budget holder. Explain the risks it covers and who can release it. There is no universal percentage suitable for every lift.
Record the building, lift, budget dates, quote dates and VAT basis. Check fees that change part-way through the year. Mark unknown costs as “to confirm”; a blank is not evidence of zero cost. Review the budget when work, prices or fault patterns change.
Keep a major upgrade or replacement project separate from this running-cost budget. A contribution to a future replacement fund is a funding decision, not a repair invoice. Make sure neither it nor a planned repair is counted twice across budgets.
Annual lift budget worksheet
Record each cost, what is already included, the evidence, budget amount, committed and paid amounts, and when payment is expected. This is a manual worksheet; blanks remain unknown and it does not calculate totals.
Annual lift budgetChoose Excel to edit, PDF to fill in or print, or CSV for a plain spreadsheet. Add your building details and save a copy on your device.
The contract comparison tool adds the figures you enter for two offers. It waits until every field in both quotes is complete. Leave unknown charges blank and ask the provider; enter 0 only when a charge is confirmed as nil or already included. Use this worksheet for the wider building budget.
A worked example: count each cost once
Fictional example only — not market prices, a recommended budget or a required visit schedule. These invented figures use one annual period and exclude VAT throughout.
| Item | Example amount |
|---|---|
| Annual maintenance fee | £1,200 |
| Separate examination fees for the period | £300 |
| Separate alarm connection and monitoring | £120 |
| Two assumed chargeable call-outs at £200 each | £400 |
| One planned repair, not included above | £250 |
| Listed costs before contingency | £2,270 |
| Illustrative contingency chosen by the budget holder | £300 |
| Illustrative budget including contingency | £2,570 |
This example omits electricity and any other site-specific costs. Replace the figures and add missing categories for your building. If alarm charges are already inside the maintenance fee, remove the extra £120; the example total becomes £2,450. If another quote includes the same call-outs, enter no separate call-out cost for that quote.
Compare both offers using the same incidents, dates and VAT treatment. For a multi-year contract, repeat the calculation for each year using known price changes and clearly labelled assumptions.
Ask for the figures you are missing
Ask for the annual cost breakdown
Copy this wording and replace the square brackets with your details.
Subject: Annual lift budget — [building / lift reference / budget period]
We are preparing the budget for [start date] to [end date]. Please confirm:
1. The maintenance fee, equipment covered, planned visit programme and any price change during this period.
2. Which breakdown attendance, labour, travel, parts and return visits are included, and which are charged separately.
3. The charges for excluded call-outs, including out-of-hours attendance and any minimum charge.
4. Whether examination fees, associated engineer attendance, alarm connection and monitoring are included or separate.
5. Known repairs or recommended work: the evidence, urgency, restrictions on use, written quote and intended timing for each item.
6. Any other recurring charges, exclusions, approval limits or assumptions we should record.
Please state the VAT basis and whether each figure is a firm quote, an estimate or still to be confirmed. Flag anything already included elsewhere so we do not count it twice.
Our call-out assumption for comparison is [number and type of chargeable events, based on stated history or scenario]. Please explain what each quote would charge for that same scenario; this is not a prediction of faults.
Please reply by [date]. This request does not authorise work or change any safety instruction or defect deadline.
Download message template (TXT) ↓Approve the cover, then track the spending
- Record the initial term, renewal date and notice deadline.
- Check how and when prices can change.
- Confirm authority limits for repairs and whether quotations need approval.
- Agree access, keys and out-of-hours contact arrangements.
- Check the process for complaints, escalation and ending the agreement.
- Obtain appropriate professional advice on terms you do not understand.
“Please itemise the annual fee, planned visit schedule, chargeable call-outs, parts exclusions, examination arrangements, recurring communication charges, price increases and notice period.”
Keep the accepted quote, budget assumptions and approval limits together. Review paid invoices and work already committed, not just money that has left the account. When a committed job is paid, move the amount to paid spending so it is not counted twice.
Compare the forecast with the agreed budget and explain changes. If the available funds do not cover required work, escalate the funding decision promptly. A budget limit does not alter an instruction to stop use or a defect deadline.
For a specific job, use the repair quote guide. For larger investment, see repair, modernisation or replacement.
Sources & scope
HSE · Thorough examinations and inspectionsHSE examination guidance supports the distinction between budget decisions and defect actions. Cost categories, worksheets and the fictional example are editorial planning aids, not market price research or HSE-endorsed budgets. Contract and tax treatment depend on your circumstances. HSE source checked on 16 October 2026. Provider examples checked on 16 October 2026; they illustrate services or reporting formats, not regulatory requirements or recommendations to appoint those companies.