Elevator & Escalator Maintenance in CAM Reconciliation
Maintenance, repair, and inspection of vertical transportation systems including passenger elevators, freight elevators, escalators, and moving walkways. Includes service contracts, annual inspections, code compliance, and non-capital repairs.
Benchmarks per SF
Source: BOMA EER / IREM 2024
Typical GL Codes
Recoverable Components
- Full-service maintenance contracts
- Annual state/local inspections
- Code compliance upgrades (non-capital)
- Emergency service calls
- Cab interior maintenance and cleaning
Non-Recoverable Components
- Elevator modernization (capital)
- New elevator installation (capital)
- Cab interior renovation (capital)
- Machine room structural modifications
Allocation Method
Pro-rata by rentable square footage for passenger elevators. Freight elevator costs may be allocated only to tenants with freight elevator access. Fixed cost, not subject to gross-up (the maintenance contract covers all elevators regardless of how many floors are occupied).
Common Lease Language
“Operating Expenses shall include all costs of maintaining, repairing, inspecting, and operating the Building's elevator and escalator systems, including service contracts, inspections, and emergency service, exclusive of capital modernization.”
Common Billing Errors
- Grossing up elevator maintenance (it is a fixed-cost contract)
- Including elevator modernization costs as operating expenses
- Charging ground-floor retail tenants for elevator costs they do not use
- Failing to separate freight elevator costs from passenger elevator costs when only some tenants use freight
Year-over-Year Trends
Elevator maintenance costs have increased 4-6% annually. The industry is consolidating, with four major manufacturers controlling most of the maintenance market. Proprietary parts and software lock-in create limited competitive bidding opportunities. Smart elevator systems (destination dispatch) are reducing wait times but increasing maintenance complexity.
Audit Flags for Elevator & Escalator Maintenance
Review this category before tenant statements go out when the GL activity, lease language, or benchmark range moves out of pattern.
- Compare current-year spend to prior-year actuals and budget by account.
- Separate contract base charges from one-time repairs, credits, and late invoices.
- Check whether the lease treats this category as controllable, non-controllable, or excluded.
- Verify that direct tenant charges are not also included in the shared CAM pool.
- Retain invoices for material variances in the audit support package.
Additional Context
Elevator maintenance is unique because it is almost always a fixed-cost contract with one of the major manufacturers (Otis, Schindler, KONE, TK Elevator). The cost does not vary with occupancy. Tenants should verify that the landlord is obtaining competitive bids, as proprietary systems can limit competition and inflate costs.
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