June 16, 2026
One important key to managing elevator repairs smartly is to ensure that your elevator replacement/repair contract avoids unnecessary complications or challenges.
First of all, it’s important to choose the right elevator company. Although here in Omaha you may not have a lot of options. On the front end, it's about vetting the provider, getting recommendations, ensuring they have adequate insurance, and making sure the Board has an easy way out of the contract if the elevator company’s not being responsive. Also, what are their duties under the contract, and what does the contract say about how quickly they'll respond to necessary repairs? When you make sure you have the right company in place, they'll know how to help navigate repair issues and minimize the impact on the owners.
You want to review an elevator contract with a careful eye on the contract's payment terms and project management and indemnification provisions.
I'd also want to know the cause for termination would be. And you want to include language like mutual indemnification or mutual termination, so the Board has a way to get out of the contract if needed.
If you do need repairs, it's about making sure they're as efficient as possible to lessen the stress on owners. Whenever you have an elevator out, there's some liability exposure. But an association is run by volunteers, and board members are required to do what they can. When an elevator needs repairs, if you don't have an elevator contract that controls the repairs, I'd recommend you tell the Board to make sure it gets competitive bidding and has picked a vendor to do the repairs in the quickest and best way possible.
As much as possible, make sure you tell the Board to inform owners as early as you can and to make the process as streamlined as possible.
When a new owner moves into a high-rise, elevator repairs are sort of the cost of doing business. That owner knew what it was doing when he or she moved in. And there's only one way to get there. So the owners have to recognize that it is going to take time to fix the elevator. Of course, if there's an opportunity for the association to give owners enough notice, the Board should. The Board should say, ‘Elevator repairs are coming. They're 7 weeks away, and you need to make accommodations.' Then, ‘It's 6 weeks away; it's coming, and you need to make accommodations.' And so on.
But there may not always be time for notice. There have been cases where the condo had catastrophic water loss that took down elevators. In that case, a lot of the unit owners had to relocate to hotels. Insurance typically picks that up for the condo association. That's an unexpected loss for the condo. If there's a need to leave the building unexpectedly, the condo association has to take action.
If it's not one of those emergencies and the building has slower periods, tell the Board to take advantage of those slow times. Your hope is that you'd have one elevator down at a time. And if there's a slow time in the building—for instance, if you have a lot of folks typically gone for vacation—plan for maintenance or repairs around that down time. But that's not necessarily possible.
One way to ease the burden is to make sure at least one elevator is operational, if that's possible. (Yikes! I’ll tell you a story about a one-elevator building at the end). Also, encourage owners who can easily take the stairs to allow for those folks who must use the elevator.
Otherwise, the condo association and you have a duty to maintain and repair the common element elevators. So, it's also about giving adequate notice so people can make plans if they don't want to be there during the time the elevator is out. Beyond that, I don't think a condo association and property manager are obligated to relocate people while an elevator is out. And they can't carry people up the stairs.
You'll surely get owners who demand you do Something! Anything! when an elevator is down. Is there anything the property manager should—or must—do for them?
Imagine an elevator being down a year. That's happened before. One condo in DC faced no elevator for a year. There were permitting delays. There's this notion of impossibility in the law. As much as you shouldn't put people in a situation where they can't get to their own home, what's the alternative?
If there are two elevators (more on that later), if you can, fix one at a time, even if it's inefficient. Or if you can, put in a ramp or a chair lift, or rent a portable one to accommodate people. If they ask the property manager or the condo association to pay for temporary lodging, I think that's a little much.
When owners ask the condo association to pay for them to stay somewhere else, my immediate thought is “Do they know the condo association is them?” This isn't an apartment owner. The condo association is made up of the owners. All the owners could decide that they're going to pay for lodging and put that into the budget. But of course, that’s never occurred.
Whatever you do, don't ignore owners' requests for help. If you manage a one-elevator building and it'll take weeks for elevator repairs and an owner can't walk up six flights of stairs, it's a case-by-case situation (again, more on this below). Sometimes there's no other solution than the owner not living there for a long period of time. Sometimes there are things you can do, and sometimes there aren’t.
But never hide under the blanket of not engaging in a back-and-forth discussion. At the end of the day, if there's reasonable accommodation, the property manager and the condo association need to make it. If it's not reasonable, you don't have to make it.
So, what’s my story? I represent a “high-rise” condo association. That high-rise condo was quite a bit older. It only had one elevator serving all 6 floors. That elevator was constantly going on the fritz. Not surprising given its age. But the building actually had 2 elevator shafts. The other elevator shaft was empty. The condo association came up with a plan to put a brand-new elevator in the empty elevator shaft, keeping the existing elevator limping along while the new elevator was constructed and installed. Seems like a good plan. Especially since many of the residents on the upper floors were older and didn’t or couldn’t navigate the stairs.
So, what was the problem? The City. The City of Omaha has an ordinance which requires all new elevators to meet modern depth standards. Those depth standards were much larger than the existing elevator shaft. Making it impossible to install a brand-new elevator. The City said that the condo association couldn’t install a new elevator. All it could do was continually repair an almost non-functional elevator.
I brought a claim against the City to force the City to grant a waiver against its ordinance to allow the installation of a perfectly functional elevator that didn’t meet code. The City Board of Appeals granted this waiver request and allowed the condo association to install a non—code compliant elevator in the empty elevator shaft. And everyone was happy.
PROPERTY MANAGERS: How to Make Elevator Replacement Less Stressful and Expensive to your Clients
I have a condo association client that has gone through the torture of an elevator replacement. Have some of your clients had this same difficulty? Here are some tips on how to handle elevator replacement. And what I suggest boards watch out for in new elevator contracts.One important key to managing elevator repairs smartly is to ensure that your elevator replacement/repair contract avoids unnecessary complications or challenges.
First of all, it’s important to choose the right elevator company. Although here in Omaha you may not have a lot of options. On the front end, it's about vetting the provider, getting recommendations, ensuring they have adequate insurance, and making sure the Board has an easy way out of the contract if the elevator company’s not being responsive. Also, what are their duties under the contract, and what does the contract say about how quickly they'll respond to necessary repairs? When you make sure you have the right company in place, they'll know how to help navigate repair issues and minimize the impact on the owners.
You want to review an elevator contract with a careful eye on the contract's payment terms and project management and indemnification provisions.
I'd also want to know the cause for termination would be. And you want to include language like mutual indemnification or mutual termination, so the Board has a way to get out of the contract if needed.
If you do need repairs, it's about making sure they're as efficient as possible to lessen the stress on owners. Whenever you have an elevator out, there's some liability exposure. But an association is run by volunteers, and board members are required to do what they can. When an elevator needs repairs, if you don't have an elevator contract that controls the repairs, I'd recommend you tell the Board to make sure it gets competitive bidding and has picked a vendor to do the repairs in the quickest and best way possible.
As much as possible, make sure you tell the Board to inform owners as early as you can and to make the process as streamlined as possible.
When a new owner moves into a high-rise, elevator repairs are sort of the cost of doing business. That owner knew what it was doing when he or she moved in. And there's only one way to get there. So the owners have to recognize that it is going to take time to fix the elevator. Of course, if there's an opportunity for the association to give owners enough notice, the Board should. The Board should say, ‘Elevator repairs are coming. They're 7 weeks away, and you need to make accommodations.' Then, ‘It's 6 weeks away; it's coming, and you need to make accommodations.' And so on.
But there may not always be time for notice. There have been cases where the condo had catastrophic water loss that took down elevators. In that case, a lot of the unit owners had to relocate to hotels. Insurance typically picks that up for the condo association. That's an unexpected loss for the condo. If there's a need to leave the building unexpectedly, the condo association has to take action.
If it's not one of those emergencies and the building has slower periods, tell the Board to take advantage of those slow times. Your hope is that you'd have one elevator down at a time. And if there's a slow time in the building—for instance, if you have a lot of folks typically gone for vacation—plan for maintenance or repairs around that down time. But that's not necessarily possible.
One way to ease the burden is to make sure at least one elevator is operational, if that's possible. (Yikes! I’ll tell you a story about a one-elevator building at the end). Also, encourage owners who can easily take the stairs to allow for those folks who must use the elevator.
Otherwise, the condo association and you have a duty to maintain and repair the common element elevators. So, it's also about giving adequate notice so people can make plans if they don't want to be there during the time the elevator is out. Beyond that, I don't think a condo association and property manager are obligated to relocate people while an elevator is out. And they can't carry people up the stairs.
You'll surely get owners who demand you do Something! Anything! when an elevator is down. Is there anything the property manager should—or must—do for them?
Imagine an elevator being down a year. That's happened before. One condo in DC faced no elevator for a year. There were permitting delays. There's this notion of impossibility in the law. As much as you shouldn't put people in a situation where they can't get to their own home, what's the alternative?
If there are two elevators (more on that later), if you can, fix one at a time, even if it's inefficient. Or if you can, put in a ramp or a chair lift, or rent a portable one to accommodate people. If they ask the property manager or the condo association to pay for temporary lodging, I think that's a little much.
When owners ask the condo association to pay for them to stay somewhere else, my immediate thought is “Do they know the condo association is them?” This isn't an apartment owner. The condo association is made up of the owners. All the owners could decide that they're going to pay for lodging and put that into the budget. But of course, that’s never occurred.
Whatever you do, don't ignore owners' requests for help. If you manage a one-elevator building and it'll take weeks for elevator repairs and an owner can't walk up six flights of stairs, it's a case-by-case situation (again, more on this below). Sometimes there's no other solution than the owner not living there for a long period of time. Sometimes there are things you can do, and sometimes there aren’t.
But never hide under the blanket of not engaging in a back-and-forth discussion. At the end of the day, if there's reasonable accommodation, the property manager and the condo association need to make it. If it's not reasonable, you don't have to make it.
So, what’s my story? I represent a “high-rise” condo association. That high-rise condo was quite a bit older. It only had one elevator serving all 6 floors. That elevator was constantly going on the fritz. Not surprising given its age. But the building actually had 2 elevator shafts. The other elevator shaft was empty. The condo association came up with a plan to put a brand-new elevator in the empty elevator shaft, keeping the existing elevator limping along while the new elevator was constructed and installed. Seems like a good plan. Especially since many of the residents on the upper floors were older and didn’t or couldn’t navigate the stairs.
So, what was the problem? The City. The City of Omaha has an ordinance which requires all new elevators to meet modern depth standards. Those depth standards were much larger than the existing elevator shaft. Making it impossible to install a brand-new elevator. The City said that the condo association couldn’t install a new elevator. All it could do was continually repair an almost non-functional elevator.
I brought a claim against the City to force the City to grant a waiver against its ordinance to allow the installation of a perfectly functional elevator that didn’t meet code. The City Board of Appeals granted this waiver request and allowed the condo association to install a non—code compliant elevator in the empty elevator shaft. And everyone was happy.
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