Buying an elevator company in Florida

An elevator company installs, maintains, repairs and modernizes what Florida's rules call conveyances: passenger and freight elevators, escalators, wheelchair and platform lifts, stairway chairlifts and dumbwaiters. Small independent companies live mostly on maintenance contracts with condo and homeowner associations, office and medical buildings, hotels and apartment complexes. Those contracts pay monthly for routine inspection, lubrication, cleaning, adjustment and parts replacement, and bring in repair calls when something breaks.

Other money comes from modernizations (replacing controllers, machines and other major parts of aging elevators), new installations, home elevators and lifts, and the testing that goes with each conveyance's annual state inspection. Florida's many mid-rise condos are a natural market. A small company usually has licensed technicians and helpers, an estimator or salesperson for modernizations, a dispatcher taking calls around the clock, and the owner. Skilled technicians are scarce and take years to train, and that shapes everything else.

• Long-standing customers on multi-year contracts that renew automatically. Association boards change often, so contracts that renew without a new vote are worth more.
• Contracts priced to cover the work, with clear limits on what's included. Old, troublesome elevators on cheap all-inclusive contracts can lose money.
• Experience with equipment from several makers. Some manufacturers limit independent companies' access to parts, tools and diagnostics.
• Experienced certified technicians who plan to stay, with helpers training behind them.
• Modernization work won from its own maintenance customers.
• A good safety and inspection record with the state.
• Parts and suppliers for the brands it services, so repairs don't wait weeks.

The Bureau of Elevator Safety in the DBPR's Division of Hotels and Restaurants regulates elevators under chapter 399 of the Florida Statutes, not the construction licensing boards. Under rule 61C-5.007, a company that constructs, installs, inspects, maintains or repairs conveyances must register with the division every year as a registered elevator company. It must also carry general liability insurance of at least $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence, and name at least one employee who holds a current elevator certificate of competency or is a certified elevator inspector. Technicians need a certificate of competency and must register each year as certified elevator technicians. Helpers may work only under the direct supervision of a certificate holder. Each conveyance generally needs a yearly inspection by a certified elevator inspector. In most of Miami-Dade County, a county office handles elevator permits and inspections under contract with the state.

You don't need to be an elevator technician to own the company, as long as it keeps certified technicians on staff. The rules don't say what happens to the registration when ownership changes, so ask the bureau before closing.

• Every maintenance contract: building, number and type of units, monthly price, term, renewal and cancellation terms, and whether a buyer can take it over.
• Repeat repair calls, building by building. A few problem elevators can eat up a technician's week.
• The age and make of the equipment it services, and whether parts are available for each.
• Modernization proposals still out, and work already signed.
• Each technician's certificate and registration, and their ages and plans. Replacing a senior technician is hard. Know which employee the company's registration relies on.
• Past accidents, injuries, claims and lawsuits, including people trapped in cars.
• Open violations from inspections at customer buildings, and who's expected to pay for the fixes.
• The company's insurance and its cost, and whether the insurer will stay on with a new owner.

• How many units do you maintain, and how many contracts renew automatically?
• Which brands do you work on, and are there any you can't get parts or tools for?
• How many certified technicians do you have, and how long have they been with you?
• Who covers nights and weekends, and how often do they get called out?
• What modernization work have you pitched to your current customers?
• How do your buildings usually do on their annual inspections?
• Have you lost any customers to a competitor lately, and why?