How do we hire an elevator maintenance contractor for our HOA building?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 27, 2026

How an HOA board hires an elevator maintenance contractor: full vs parts-and-oil contracts, state inspection rules in TX, FL and CO, callbacks, records and switching.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Start with what the state requires of the association as the elevator's owner, because the contract has to cover it. Then decide how much risk you want to hand the contractor: a full maintenance contract that includes most parts, or a cheaper parts, oil and grease contract that leaves big repairs to you. Write a scope that lists visits, code tests, callback hours and records, get at least three bids, and hire the annual inspector separately from the company that maintains the car. Most boards inherit an elevator contract signed years ago and never read it again. That contract probably renews on its own. Pull it out before you do anything else and find the end date and the cancellation notice window. Rules vary by state, by city and by your governing documents, and this guide is general education, not legal advice.

What the state expects from the association

In Texas, Health and Safety Code 754.019 puts five duties on the owner: have the equipment inspected every year by a registered elevator inspector, get the inspector's report, file it with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation within 30 days of the inspection with the fees, post the certificate of compliance where the public can see it, and keep the equipment up to the adopted codes. TDLR's instructions set the filing fee at $20 per unit and say the certificate runs one year from the inspection date. Violations have to be fixed, or put under contract to be fixed, before TDLR issues the certificate. Section 754.0171 bars anyone from maintaining equipment without registering as an elevator contractor with TDLR, and the statute allows civil penalties up to $5,000 a day. In Florida, Statutes 399.061 requires a yearly inspection by a certified elevator inspector and an annual statement to the state verifying each service maintenance contract. Cancelling that contract has to be reported to the state. The Bureau of Elevator Safety says every certificate of operation expires July 31 and cannot be renewed without a satisfactory inspection from a private inspector, and a new maintenance company has to be reported before renewal. Section 399.07 requires the certificate to be framed and posted on the elevator. In Colorado, C.R.S. 9-5.5-106 requires a licensed conveyance mechanic working under a certified conveyance contractor for any maintenance, and 9-5.5-114 bars operating without a certificate of operation. The state rules, 7 CCR 1101-8 as amended effective January 1, 2026, require an annual inspection by an inspector 'not Affiliated with the Conveyance Owner or Conveyance Contractor' and a $30 fee per conveyance. Some Colorado cities run their own programs under an agreement with the state, so check with your city first. Texas and Colorado exempt an elevator inside a single-family home. An elevator in a shared building is covered.

Choose the coverage level

Elevator service contracts come in two broad kinds. A full maintenance contract has the contractor pay for most repairs and replacement parts in exchange for a higher monthly fee. A parts, oil and grease contract, often called POG, covers routine lubrication, adjustment and small parts, and the association pays for the rest when it breaks. Full maintenance suits a building with no spare reserve money and an elevator in its middle years. POG can make sense for a newer car still under the installer's warranty, or an old one the reserve study has scheduled for modernization soon, where you would rather put the savings toward the upgrade. Either way, read the exclusion list line by line. Common exclusions include the hydraulic cylinder and underground piping, door panels, cab finishes, damage from misuse or vandalism, and work required by a future code change. Ask each bidder to price the exclusions they are willing to remove. For a small hydraulic elevator in a three-story building, the cylinder is the expensive surprise, and you want to know in writing who pays for it.

Write the scope

Put these lines in the request for proposal so every bidder prices the same job. Preventive visits: how often a mechanic comes, how long each visit lasts, and a written checklist. In Colorado the rules require a maintenance control program listing the maintenance tasks, test procedures and scheduled intervals, with records kept on site. Code tests: the annual safety test and the five-year full-load test your code requires. In Colorado a contractor's mechanic must perform the Category 1 test every year and the Category 5 test every five years, lined up with the inspection month. Hydraulic cars need the five-year test only if they have certain safety devices. Price the witnessing fee for the five-year test as its own line. Callbacks: response times for an entrapment, for a car out of service and for a minor problem, the hours covered at the base price, and the hourly rate outside them. Ask whether nights and weekends are included for entrapments. Records: a log of every visit, callback and repair, kept in the machine room and copied to the board. Colorado requires the program and records to be owned by the building owner, and a contractor that is replaced has to leave the program at the building. Write the same promise into your contract in any state. Phone line and inspections: who tests the emergency phone in the car, and who schedules and pays the state inspector. Colorado requires a monthly firefighter service check and a quarterly check of the car's two-way phone.

Bids, terms and the inspector

Invite at least three licensed or registered contractors, including one smaller local company. Walk each bidder through the machine room and pit, and ask whether your controller is proprietary to one manufacturer. If only that manufacturer's tools can read the controller, a competing bidder may not be able to service it, and you should know that before you pick them. Check the license before you sign. Texas registers elevator contractors and inspectors through TDLR, Florida's Bureau of Elevator Safety registers elevator companies, and Colorado licenses contractors, mechanics and inspectors through the Division of Oil and Public Safety. Colorado also requires every conveyance contractor to carry at least $1 million in general liability coverage per occurrence under 9-5.5-115. Keep the term short, with a renewal you have to act on and a cap on yearly price increases. Our guide on vendor contract red flags covers auto-renewal, notice windows and termination language in detail. Florida condominiums have two extra rules: 718.3025 requires a maintenance contract to be in writing and to state the services, how often each one happens and the minimum number of workers, and 718.3026 requires competitive bids once a contract exceeds 5 percent of the total annual budget including reserves. Hire the annual inspector yourself. Colorado requires an unaffiliated inspector, and even where the law allows the maintenance company to arrange the inspection, an inspector who answers to the board reports deficiencies to the board.

Switching contractors without a gap

Work back from the old contract's cancellation window. A workable order: month 1, find the notice deadline and pull a year of callback records; month 2, send the request for proposal and hold the site walk; month 3, compare bids and check licenses; month 4, sign and send written notice of cancellation by the method the old contract requires, certified mail if it says so. Ask the outgoing company for the maintenance log, the wiring diagrams, test reports and any special tools or software the controller needs. Schedule the new contractor's first visit for the day after the old contract ends and have it produce a condition report within 30 days. Anything it finds in that report that the old contract covered is a claim against the old company, so send it quickly. In Florida, report the new company to the state before the next renewal.

Wording to copy

Sample motion: 'Motion to approve a [full maintenance / parts, oil and grease] contract with [company], license number [number], for the elevator at [building], at $[amount] per month for [term], with yearly increases capped at [percent], and to authorize [director] to sign and to send notice of cancellation to [current company] by [date].' Sample RFP line: 'Contractor will perform all code-required periodic tests, keep the maintenance control program and all records on site, and on termination leave every record, diagram and procedure with the association at no charge.' Sample owner notice: 'The elevator at Building A will be out of service Tuesday, March 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for its annual state inspection and safety test. If you need help with groceries or mobility that day, call [contact] by March 6 and a volunteer will help.'

Mistakes boards make

Letting a five-year contract renew because nobody found the notice date. Signing POG without a reserve for the repairs it leaves out. Letting the maintenance company pick and pay the inspector. Never asking for the maintenance log, then learning at the inspection that visits stopped. And losing track of the certificate's expiration date, which in Texas can bring daily penalties and in every state can take the car out of service. Keep a one-page elevator sheet in the board's records: contractor, license number, contract end date, notice window, inspection month, certificate expiration and the emergency number. Update it every year when the new certificate arrives. Our guide on writing an HOA request for proposal covers the site walk and scoring the bids.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

More on living with an hoa

Or browse all living with an hoa guides.