As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, most office spaces, apartment buildings, and hospitality facilities were left vacant.  BOCA Group is expecting to see an influx of companies and people returning to our nation’s cities and we encourage all building owners and property managers to prepare for the return of their tenants.

BOCA Group is here to ensure that your building’s devices are running properly. As we predict a spike in tenants returning to work, it is important to understand and consider the health of your elevators and escalators.

• During the beginning stage of COVID-19, BOCA Group made the recommendation that building owners and property managers rotate which elevators would be placed in shutdown mode. If there was not a rotation of elevator shutdowns, building owners and property managers should re-audit all of the devices that have remained in a shutdown during the entirety of the pandemic.

• Sanitize your building’s elevators and escalators more frequently.

• Consider the maximum number of passengers allowed per trip in the elevators. Property managers may prefer a higher maximum but may have to consider a mask mandate in the elevator to ensure the safety of tenants.

• When there is a maximum number of passengers allowed per trip, most office elevator systems will not be able to handle traditional peak period traffic. Consider working with your tenants to identify the tenant’s return to work date, how many days a week, and how many employees will be returning daily.

• During the pandemic, there were many buildings that started an elevator or escalator modernization program to take advantage of the decrease in traffic. Property managers should make the construction sites aware of the predictive traffic.

  • Limit the number of elevators/escalators that are out of service.

  •  Make sure the construction space is clean.

  • Mandate that the construction personnel are wearing masks while the tenants are entering and exiting the building.

  • Limit the amount of construction staff there are on site.

•  If the devices saw a reduction in maintenance hours, schedule weekly meetings with the contractor to predict and measure traffic flow and increase maintenance hours.

• Consider performing a ride quality assessment. BOCA Group can assist with ride quality assessment, as elevators and escalators return to full service. BOCA Group has seen a common trend of elevator ride quality decreasing during the low usage of the devices.

Additional Items to Consider

As you may be getting your devices serviced and refurbished, BOCA Group wants to remind you of any recent code updates that have been mandated during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that all of your devices are compliant. Please visit our website’s homepage for a list of all recent code updates.

In addition to the code updates, property managers should be aware of invoices and proposals regarding maintenance contracts and refurbishment recommendations. BOCA Group provides invoice and proposal reviews to ensure that all recommendations and prices are accurate and necessary.

Please contact BOCA Group to assist with your elevator and escalator consulting needs when repopulating your buildings.