LIFTS
A typical programme for the installation of new lift.
the scope of the works being undertaken. This is likely to range between one and three months, or more – for taller or more complex lifts. The impact on the operation of a hospital building which is without a lift for this length of time is significant, and generally requires plans to be but in place during the lift works to divert lift users to other routes (assuming, of course, that alternative routes are available). Buildings with a single lift will be most significantly affected, and any significant work on the lift may necessitate the building or ‘area’ having to be decanted for the works’ duration. My top tip to approximate the likely downtime of a lift for major refurbishment or replacement is to use the following formula: The number of floors + 4 = the approximate number of weeks the lift will be unavailable.
2. Contractor procurement, and design and equipment’s long lead times
n Each lift is generally different from another, meaning that a refurbishment or replacement project will need to be designed and developed specifically for that individual lift. There are a number of steps or stages in progress, through:
n Development of the works specification (due to the specialist nature of lifts this would generally be undertaken by a lift consultant on behalf of the Trust).
n Procurement of a lift contractor. n Lift contractor’s detailed design development.
n Equipment procurement (many lift components will have lead times of 3-4 months from order).
The upshot of having to navigate one’s way through the aforementioned steps is that the time period from initiation to lift works starting will typically be around 9 months.
3. ‘Often manual’ Annual Trust budget planning and approval processes
In my experience, Trusts plan capital expenditure on an annual basis, with their budget year running from April to March. However, it not unusual for it to be June or July by the time budgets are formally approved, leaving the remaining 8-9
66 Health Estate Journal May 2024
months to undertake the works before the end of the budget year.
4. Lifts are provided in groups Lifts are often provided (as recommended by HTM 08-02) in groups for purposes of resilience. Additionally, these lifts should operate together as a group (there are some specific cases where groups of lifts would not be grouped, such as clean/ dirty refuse lifts), as this reduces wear and energy costs due to lift users calling multiple adjacent lifts to accelerate their journey. Where lifts are grouped to operate together, placing a call on one lift also places a call on the others in the group, and the control system determines which one lift will arrive for you. These group arrangements mean that typically when upgrading one lift in a group it will also be necessary to upgrade the others simultaneously. This will lead to an increase in capital cost (two lifts cost more to replace than one), but on the positive side the cost increase is likely to be less than 200% of the cost of one lift, and result in a capital cost saving. When undertaking upgrades of groups of lifts, it is usual for the works to be carried out one lift at a time (e.g. lift 1 upgraded while lift 2 remains in operation; then on completion of lift 1, lift 2 is upgraded with lift 1 in operation). This has a knock-on effect of increasing the overall project installation time (if one lift takes two months to install, the overall duration of two lifts being upgraded sequentially would be four months). The compound effect of the issues identified in (1)-(4) is that from gestation to completion a lift upgrade project will often span multiple budget years, with contractual commitments for the works being made in the first budget year, and typically circa 30-50% of the project spend made, then the remainder of the project being completed in the following year, along with the associated spend. In my experience these multiple year
projects can be challenging for Estates teams, who typically plan works around a single year budget. Trust capital projects teams are often better placed to manage multiple year projects, but due to the relatively low complexity of the lift
project (compared with constructing a new A&E department), it is usual for the lift consultant engaged to develop the works specification to also be retained to manage the project, monitor the works, and act on behalf of the Trust to ensure a successful project completion.
Graham Barker
Graham Barker BEng, CEng, FIMechE, FCIBSE, ImaPS, is a Partner at Cundall, a multidisciplinary engineering consultancy, and head of Vertical Transportation. He started working in the lift and escalator industry in 1998, after studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Newcastle. Having worked for two of the world’s largest lift and escalator companies, in roles covering design, project and operational management, quality improvement, and business management on all sizes of project, he moved into consultancy in 2016, with a desire to share his knowledge and experience.
A ‘serial blogger’ and lifelong learner, a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Fellow of CIBSE, and an Incorporated member of the Association of Project Safety, he is an Authorised Engineer for lifts for several NHS Trusts, and has been involved in the delivery of capital projects in a wide range of healthcare environments.
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