Our first member joined because his trade wasn’t on the site. He’s a lift consultant, we only listed lift maintenance, and he pointed out they’re not the same job.
He was right, and the difference matters more than it sounds.
The short version
- A lift maintenance contractor services your lift. A lift consultant tells you whether that contractor is doing it properly.
- Consultants are independent. They sell no equipment and take no commission on the work they specify.
- Worth calling for condition audits, maintenance contract reviews, modernisation specifications and tenders.
- The cover that matters for a consultant is professional indemnity, not public liability.
- Lift Consultants is now its own trade here, separate from Lift Maintenance.
Our first member asked for his own trade
Strata Tradies launched with 44 trades. Lift Maintenance was one of them. Lift Consultants wasn’t, because we hadn’t thought of it as separate.
The first person to get in touch about joining explained why that was wrong. LPM Lift Consultants audit lifts, review maintenance contracts and run modernisation tenders. They don’t service lifts and they don’t sell them. Filing them under Lift Maintenance would have put them next to the companies they’re often hired to assess.
So we added Lift Consultants as the 45th trade, and LPM became our first member. If your trade isn’t listed, say so. That’s how this one got here.
What a lift maintenance contractor does
Your maintenance contractor holds the service agreement. They do the routine servicing, attend breakdowns, carry out compliance testing and repair the lift when it fails. If your lift is stuck with someone in it at 6pm on a Friday, this is who you call.
Most buildings have one, on a contract that renews quietly for years.
What a lift consultant does
A consultant doesn’t touch the lift. Their product is advice, and the work usually looks like one of these:
- Condition audits. An independent assessment of what state the lift is actually in, and what it needs over the next five to ten years.
- Maintenance contract reviews. Reading the agreement you’re already signed up to, and checking whether you’re getting what you pay for.
- Contractor performance checks. Whether callouts are being attended properly and whether the servicing is being done.
- Modernisation specifications. Writing the scope for an upgrade so contractors are pricing the same thing.
- Tenders and quote comparison. Running the process and comparing proposals on equal terms.
- Project supervision. Staying across the work through to the final safety test.
The important word is independent. They sell no equipment and take no commission on the work they specify.
Why that independence matters
If your lift company tells you the lift needs a $400,000 modernisation, they may well be right. They’re also the ones who would do the modernisation.
That’s not an accusation, it’s a structural problem. Nobody should be asked to mark their own homework on a six-figure recommendation, and a committee without lift expertise has no real way to test the advice.
A consultant has no stake in the answer. They get paid the same whether the recommendation is to replace the lift, refurbish it, or leave it alone for another four years.
It isn’t just us saying it. LookUpStrata has covered why independent advice matters when a lift replacement is on the table.
For most strata buildings the lift is one of the biggest single items in the capital works fund after the building envelope. It’s worth a second opinion before the money goes out, in the same way you’d get one on concrete cancer or a major switchboard upgrade.
When a committee actually needs one
You probably don’t need a consultant for a lift that runs reliably on a contract you’re happy with. It’s worth the call when:
- The maintenance contract is up for renewal, especially if it’s rolled over untouched for years
- Breakdowns are becoming frequent and you’re being told the lift needs replacing
- A modernisation or replacement is on the table
- The lift is approaching the point where it belongs in the capital works forecast
- You suspect the servicing isn’t being done to the standard you’re paying for
The insurance question
Here’s something worth knowing when you engage either one.
A maintenance contractor works on site, so public liability is the cover that matters. Most strata managers won’t let anyone through the door without a current certificate.
A consultant’s risk is different. If their report is wrong and the committee spends badly on the strength of it, that’s a professional indemnity claim. Public liability won’t answer it. Professional indemnity is the cover to ask a consultant about, and a good one will have it to hand.
Both are shown on member profiles here, so you can check before you call.
What this means for your committee
If lifts are on your agenda this year, work out which of the two you actually need. A maintenance contractor if the lift needs servicing or fixing. A consultant if you need to know whether the advice you’re getting stacks up, or you’re about to spend serious money.
They’re separate trades on the site now, so you can ask the right one.
Getting quotes through Strata Tradies
Both trades are listed. You can browse Lift Consultants or Lift Maintenance, or request quotes and pick the contractors you want to hear from. It’s free for committees, owners and building managers.
And if the trade you’re after isn’t there, tell us. It worked last time.