As a premier elevator and escalator consulting company, BOCA Group is the partner of choice for the biggest and best-known building owners and developers in the United States.

With offices located across the United States, our licensed and experienced inspectors can be mobilized and dispatched quickly to evaluate the water damage from any hurricane/tropical storm. We will provide you with a thorough on-site examination of your elevators to visually verify that they are safe before placing them back into service.

For example, in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy, our team of experts inspected hundreds of elevators in affected buildings throughout New York and New Jersey to identify water damage and other storm-related conditions. We continued to work with contractors, building owners and managers in the months following our initial inspection to ensure fair pricing and a reasonable completion schedule for repairs due to storm damage. Let our experience give you peace of mind as we work together to recover from this disaster.

BOCA Group is here to help you prepare your elevators and escalators for any potential weather threat.

With hurricane season upon us, here are a few tips you may find helpful related to your elevator and escalator equipment:

Before a hurricane:

• Bring all of the elevators up and away from any possible flooding areas.

• If possible, shut down the elevators. Before shutting down, any elevators opening to the outside, should have sand bags placed along the bottom of the hoistway doors. This will make the elevator unusable.

• Re-check all sump pumps, float switches and alarms in the elevator pit.

• Close all vents and openings at the top of the hoistway and into the machine room to prevent water intrusion. If the machine room is air conditioned you shouldn’t have vents, except for emergencies. Also, be mindful that vent closing in the machine room should be the last stage of your preparation as the equipment can heat up much faster than you would expect.

• In your designated security area you should have a diagram of the location of your elevators, the car numbers, as well as the elevator car phone numbers, and your elevator company’s emergency number.

During a hurricane:

• Run the elevator to either the center of the hoist way for a traction elevator or to the top floor for hydraulic elevators.

• Pull the main breaker in the machine room. This will prevent an unauthorized person from moving the elevator, prevent severe damage caused by short circuits from wet circuitry, or voltage surges, spikes or dips. If there is water intrusion, the equipment should be dried and inspected by the service mechanic, after which it can be quickly restarted.

• Park elevators with doors closed. This will prevent debris from entering the hoist way and anyone from advertently getting trapped.

• Do not operate the elevator during the Hurricane.

After a hurricane:

• Inspect pit, cab and the machine room for indication of water. If water is found call us immediately.

• Do not attempt to start the elevator if the power is out.

Before placing your elevators and escalators back into service, we strongly recommend that you inspect the pit, cab and the machine room for any indications of water. If water is found call BOCA Group and your elevator contractor immediately. Do not attempt to start the elevator if the power is out.

For more information or to set up an inspection, please contact info@bocagroup.com or call 888-410-2622.