Elevators, can’t live without them

Elevators are starting to be a hot topic for residential condos. Far too many are breaking down and there are too many entrapments.

Why is this happening? In some cases, the elevators are too old and are at the end of their working life. In some condos, the boards have been neglecting preventive maintenance and timely repairs and replacements. In newer condos, the elevators made need adjustments or the construction crews are on site and using the elevators which can be brutal because of heavy loads, drywall dust and tiny screws and bolts dropping into the elevator tracks.

Here are some news reports on elevator issues.

Downed elevators plague Aura condo, residents say

What happens when lifts stop running at one of Toronto's tallest condos?

Out-of-service elevators at condo 'not ideal,' but not a safety hazard, city says

Toronto eyes time limit for elevator repairs

Residents frustrated with days-long power outage at 2 downtown condos

Downed elevators plague Aura condo,
residents say
Toronto Star
By Alex Ballingall
02 August 2016

Concerned resident Jim McNally talks to the Star   Photo Rene Johnston

Jim McNally lives 77 storeys above Yonge St. Through his floor-to-ceiling windows he looks down on Queen’s Park and the University of Toronto, and on a clear day he can spot distant planes on the tarmac at Pearson. The family physician says he put “all his marbles” into the condominium and much prefers the downtown locale to an alternative in the suburbs.

But life at such great heights hasn’t been so great lately.

It’s the elevators.

McNally doesn’t trust them.

There have been periodic problems since he moved in about a year and a half ago, McNally told the Star in an interview, but since a powerful rainstorm hit Toronto last Monday, the lifts’ lack of lifting has hit a new low. Of the nine elevators that serve the 79 floors of the Aura tower at Yonge and Gerrard Sts.—a building with billboards that boast: “Canada’s Tallest Condominium”—three have been broken for more than eight days, said McNally, who sits on the condo board.

For those like him that live above the 55th storey, only one elevator works—sort of. As of Tuesday afternoon, it was manned by a kindly security guard on a stool, who would pilot the elevator to the requested floor, stopping at every fifth storey on the way down to pick up any departing residents. If you want to go down, you can call the concierge and ask for the lift to be sent to your floor, or you can take the stairs to one of the storeys where the elevator is scheduled to stop.

“It’s like the ‘20s,” said McNally, provoking a laugh from the guard-turned-elevator attendant on Tuesday. “What happens when people are trapped and there’s an actual emergency?”

It’s a question that many were asking outside the Aura building, even while some grumbled about the inconvenience of the downed elevators. Many of them said the elevators conk out regularly. Last year, for instance, one of them was broken for about a month, McNally said.

Jodi Hynes of the Otis Elevator Company, which manufactured and maintains the lifts, said in an emailed statement that the damage was due to a pipe burst that affected six elevators. Three of those are now fixed, but the ones still out of service still require “extensive repairs to key critical components,” Hynes said.

She added that her company is waiting on approval from Aura management, which is run by Brookfield Condominium Services, to make those repairs. “There is nothing more important to Otis than the safety of the people who count on our products and services every day,” she said.

Condo management did not return several calls from the Star on Tuesday.

A recent investigation by The Canadian Press reported an “elevator crisis” in the country, with faulty lifts trapping passengers and inconveniencing tower residents more and more frequently. Last year in Ontario, for instance, firefighters responded to 4,461 calls to get people out of broken down elevators.

The report pointed to a 10 per cent rise in the number of elevators in Ontario over the past five years, as well as aging equipment and structural issues, as potential causes for the glut of lift problems.

But elevators or not, a study published in January found that people who go into cardiac arrest above the 25th storey have a “negligible” chance of surviving—less than 1 per cent. The study noted that survival rates drop by 7 to 10 per cent for every one minute delay to defibrillation.

Sophie Carroll, a 24-year-old who uses a walker, said she lives on the fifth floor of the Aura building in Toronto. She said that last Monday morning, there was an announcement over the building speaker system that “all the elevators” were down because of flooding. The three elevators to her portion of the tower—the lower third—were all online in a matter of hours, but there have been problems before, she said.

“It’s a little outrageous, and I’ve been debating moving,” she said. “It’s just too big a building. They haven’t accommodated.”

Pawlu Saliba rode by on a bike after delivering hotdogs and a milkshake to the 33rd floor. He agreed with Carroll that the building is too big to handle so many broken elevators. “It’s a hassle,” he said. “They should have put 12 elevators in there.”

McNally said he has been told that the flooding damaged the circuit of some of the elevators. The solution, he suggested, would be to make them waterproof. He added that he’d like to see better maintenance, not just so he can more conveniently ascent to his abode in the sky.

“Quite often one of them’s broken,” he said. “It’s more of a safety issue.”

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What happens when elevators stop running at one of Toronto's tallest condos?
CBC News
August 2, 2016

Only half of Aura's elevators are back in service after an outage more than a week ago. (CBC News)

Stunning city views can be a perk of living on a very high floor of a downtown highrise. But when the elevators break down, what are residents to do?

More than a week ago, according to one resident at the Aura condominiums on Yonge Street just south of College Street, building management announced that all elevators were down.

The announcement came early on the morning of July 25, not long after heavy rains pelted the city.

Management got one elevator working up to the 55th floor, and residents on higher floors had to walk down, Jim McNally told CBC News. He's lived on the 77th floor since 2015.

"So everyone going to work that morning was pretty much walking and catching a crowded elevator," McNally said.

Now, half of the elevators remain out of service and the one that services the highest floors — from 50 to 78 — has to be operated manually on service mode.

McNally commended building management for getting some of the elevators back into service. A site administrator for the condo told CBC News that management is waiting to hear from the elevator service company, Otis.

A spokesperson for Otis would not say what has caused the elevators to go down or why it's taking so long to make repairs.

"Otis is aware of the issue and is working closely with the building owner to return the elevators to service as soon as possible," read the company's statement to CBC.

'What happens then if someone has a 911 call?'

McNally said he can deal with taking extra time to get into and out of his home.

However, he's concerned about potential repeat problems: an elevator went out a year ago and it was a month before a new circuit board could be brought in from overseas, he said.

And he's concerned about what might happen if a resident had to call 911 and elevator access to their floor was compromised.

"What if what's left of the electronics went out and then we're really down to zero elevators and what happens then if someone has a 911 call 20 floors above?" McNally wondered.

"I'm sure the 911 services would sprint up the stairs and probably do a commendable job of doing their job, but it would be a little irksome considering we're supposed to be in one of the flagship buildings certainly in the city."

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Out-of-service elevators at luxury condo 'not ideal,' but not a safety hazard, city says
CBC News
02 August 2016

Only half of elevators at Aura condominium have been working since storm more than one week ago

The City of Toronto says there's no safety risk for residents of one of the city's tallest and most luxurious condominium building, where half the elevators have been out of service and the top-most floors are served by a manually operated lift.

What happens when elevators stop running at one of Toronto's tallest condos?
More than a week ago, all elevators went down at the Aura condominium tower on Yonge Street, south of College Street following heavy overnight rain.

Half the elevators have been restored, except the only service between the 56th and 78th floors is one manually operated elevator.

The condo's management company did not respond to requests for comment from CBC News on Tuesday.

But a spokesperson for Otis, the elevator manufacturer, issued an email statement confirming that a burst pipe led to the damage to six of the elevators, three of which they managed to repair quickly.

"The remaining three elevators sustained the most damage from the building's burst pipe," the statement from Otis communications manager Jodi Golia Hynes said.

"These elevators require extensive repairs to key critical components. There is nothing more important to Otis than the safety of the people who count on our products and services every day. Otis is ready to resume work, and is waiting on approval from the property management company to begin."

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the city said that as the outage continues, officials are monitoring the property to ensure compliance with all bylaws and codes.

"It is the responsibility of the property ownership and management to ensure the elevators are maintained and operating at all times as per the City's Property Standards Bylaw," Tammy Robbinson said in an email statement to CBC News.

"The property managers in question are working to bring all of the elevators back on line as quickly as possible. Although not having all elevators functioning is not ideal, there is no life safety risk posed in the normal use of the building. Emergency systems are functioning."

Robbinson called the situation an "isolated incident" and said "there continues to be fire and building code compliance."

Toronto Fire told CBC through Robbinson that inspectors have visited the building to ensure compliance with the fire code, as well as to assess whether there's an effective and efficient plan in place in the event there is a fire.

'It's been frustrating'

Residents who have spoken to CBC this week have said the current issue is just the latest of ongoing elevator problems.

Tara Farquharson
Resident Tara Farquharson says elevator problems at the Aura condominium have been "frustrating." (CBC News)

Resident Tara Farquharson lives in the low-rise portion of the building, so has not been as severely impacted by the elevator outage.

But she said that when elevators were out in her section, wait times hit 10 or 15 minutes. On another occasion she was stuck in an elevator for an hour-and-a-half with 10 people.

"I would like to think that property management is dealing with it appropriately. But I do question the quality of the elevators either when they were put in or when they become fixed because it seems like on a regular basis there's at least one down, sometimes two down, and there's three for my level," she told CBC News.

"If they are doing the best that they can it seems a little bit hard to believe, but I don't have the expertise to fully assess that. But it's been frustrating, certainly."

She also shared concern with other residents about what would happen if an emergency occurred on a higher floor, given how long it took to extricate her when she got stuck.

"Certainly it seems a bit silly if you were going to have a really tall building you'd think the one thing you'd put a little time and effort into would be the elevators," she said. "That just makes rational sense."

'A living hell'

Three friends who have been staying on the top floor of the building for the last week said it's been "a living hell."

Taylor Henry said it's at least a 10-minute wait for an elevator to go up, and they have to walk down one floor and wait if they want to leave.

"We don't even live here and we're frustrated," Henry said. "If I was paying to live here I'd be pissed off."

Resident Roger Davidson is retired, and said he avoids long waits for the elevator by going in and out at night, when there's less traffic. He lives on the 23rd floor, and when one elevator was down for the lower floors and then another had to be shut down for people to move, wait times were long.

"It seems that it takes a very long time to order the parts and replace them," Davidson said. "I don't know why, because it should have been planned in advance because the elevator needs fixing on a regular basis."

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Toronto eyes time limit for elevator repairs
CondoBusiness
Michelle Ervin
24 June 2014

Property owners and managers may eventually face not only frustrated residents and tenants when elevators have to be taken offline, but also a time limit for elevator repairs. Toronto City Council voted at its June meeting to have staff look into the feasibility of establishing service standards to this effect as part of an ongoing review of the city’s property standards.

Toronto Centre-Rosedale Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam proposed the move after fielding a steady stream of calls from residents in her ward complaining about frequent, lengthy and multiple elevator outages in their buildings.

“Some buildings only have one elevator or two elevators, so if that one elevator is down, if you’re pushing a stroller, or you’re trying to push a walker, or you happen to rely on your wheelchair, I don’t know how you’re going to get home,” she says.

The councillor’s motion focuses on establishing service standards for elevator repairs in buildings and housing that serve vulnerable people or people with disabilities. She is calling for an enforceable bylaw that sets clear expectations for property owners and managers.

Coun. Wong-Tam allows that, in some cases, repairs may be held up, for example, by the search for hard-to-source replacement parts. But in most cases, she doesn’t think it’s reasonable for elevators to be out of service for longer than 48 hours, though she adds she will leave it to staff to determine what time limits are appropriate.

“It’s not just about the inconvenience factor — I think we can all handle a little bit of inconvenience here and there — but in a state of emergency, a medical emergency, we need those elevators working,” she says.

In Coun. Wong-Tam’s experience, the problem is most prevalent in older, lower-income buildings. But even well-resourced condominium corporations experience elevator issues.

Indeed, Roger Thompson, executive vice president, Ontario, FirstService Residential, says often, sophisticated new elevators face their share of problems. And that’s after they’ve been rigourously tested, inspected and approved for use.

“During new construction in particular, they might put online one or two of maybe the four elevators, so those are getting used much more, especially with all the construction crews, and one of the concerns is that usage rate is putting more strain on a new system that really hasn’t settled down yet,” he says.

Working for a large property management company, Thompson says elevator repairs come up on a daily basis. He is quick to escalate any major service issues.

“Oftentimes, we’ll have the leadership of the elevator companies come to board meetings to explain exactly what is going on, what’s needed and why there might be consistent issues that are arising,” he says.

When an elevator is down, Thompson says front desk staff and signage will notify residents that a technician will soon be, or already is, working on the issue. If the outage is causing line-ups and residents are visibly frustrated, FirstService Residential may use its mass communication system to send out a resident alert by email or phone so residents know what to expect upon arriving home.

He says a condo board may also want to communicate to residents what is being done to resolve any recurring problems.

“The issue is that all trades in the condo industry are busy, so sometimes it’s difficult to respond to things in a timely fashion because of resource constraints,” says Thompson.

Rob Isabelle, chief operating officer, KJA Consultants, echoes Thompson, saying that the elevator industry in particular is busy. But it’s not unreasonable to expect that an elevator requiring only a minor repair could be turned over in 48 hours, Isabelle adds.

“A majority of repairs can be addressed on the spot, assuming the elevator is no more than 25 years old,” he says. “Within four hours, the elevator should be placed back in service.”

By law, all elevators in Ontario must have a service schedule available on site in order to be licensed. Starting May 1, 2013, all elevators have required a maintenance control program. Instead of continuing monthly inspections, this move included giving elevator companies the flexibility (within established minimum mandated frequencies) to determine the best maintenance schedule for a particular device based on factors such as its age and usage level.

Isabelle still likes the monthly maintenance schedule.

“It gives the mechanic the opportunity to ride each elevator in the building, at least once, and to enter the machine room to find out if there are any smells, any unusual noises, and so on and so forth,” he says.

On average, Isabelle says the rate of callback in the elevator industry is four callbacks per elevator per year. (Callbacks refer to any service visits outside of the maintenance schedule.)

Property managers can be proactive by watching for trends of increasingly frequent callbacks, which signals to the elevator consultant that the root problem is not being addressed. He says increasing callbacks may also suggest an elevator is near the end of its life expectancy — usually about 20 years — or is suffering from accelerated wear and tear or poor maintenance.

When major repairs come up, they tend to take longer to resolve. Elevator mechanics carry fuses and small components in their services vehicles, Isabelle says, but parts such as cables need to be ordered and delivered. Then a busy elevator company may not have a service crew available for a few days.

“It’s not an easy answer to say every elevator should be fixed within 48 hours,” he says. “I think you have to look on a building per building basis to be able to establish guidelines. If it’s a mandatory service building, if it’s a hospital, for example, hospital repairs should probably take priority over office buildings, because they provide a critical service.”

Toronto city staff is expected to report back on its findings as part of the broader property standards review around mid-2015.

Reader's Comments
Valerie Alia on January 22, 2016 said:
This was posted in 2014. What happened in 2015, what is happening now, in 2016. Was the repair time limit ever established?

Michelle Ervin on January 26, 2016 said:
Hi Valerie,
A staff member from Coun. Wong-Tam’s office provided the following update:
“The review was delayed while staff undertook additional work. As it stands now, the review and amendments are expected to be reported back to Municipal Licensing & Standards Committee in the fall of 2016.”

Michelle

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Residents frustrated with days-long power outage at two downtown condos
CP24 News
Chris Fox
11 August 2017

Residents at two downtown condominium buildings (126 Simcoe St. and 21 Nelson St) are frustrated with a power outage that is now in its second day.

The high-rise buildings on Simcoe Street near University Avenue have been without power since Thursday morning.

According to Toronto Hydro, the issue is related to a problem with equipment that is owned by the buildings rather than the utility.

“We are waiting for their customer equipment to be fixed and then we will restore power as soon as we can,” spokesperson Brian Buchan told CP24 on Friday. “The crews are on site ready to do whatever work is necessary.”
One of the buildings that is impacted by the outage has more than (30) floors while the other is 15 storeys.

The outages have left both buildings without functioning elevators or working air conditioning systems, meaning some residents have had to climb hundreds of stairs just to get home.

“It has been incredibly frustrating,” resident Risa Rosenfield told CP24. “I had to call Toronto Hydro and contact my board of directors. The property management company has communicated but not frequently enough.”
No timeline has been provided for when power will be restored.


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