Chicago Elevator Modernization Company

Does your building measure up to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act? Our sales team will evaluate your building’s compliance with today’s ADA requirements as defined by both State and Federal code.

Beyond giving people with disabilities a safer, more convenient way into your facility, ADA updates can enhance the overall look of your equipment. Most ADA requirements involve replacing or relocating elevator fixture controls, a great opportunity to consider the newest fixtures on the market. From an aesthetic standpoint, this is what the public sees.

Ask us for our ADA Checklist for the detailed requirements of your vertical transportation equipment.

City of Chicago code now mandates that all elevators with single bottom cylinders be replaced completely or retrofit with a piston gripper.

Most hydraulic cylinders built before 1970 used a single bottom design, which is more susceptible to rust at its welded flat bottom, where underground electrolysis concentrates. A cylinder’s life span varies with soil acidity and water table conditions, and protective coatings may have been damaged during installation. Because a buried cylinder can’t be inspected, it is difficult if not impossible to accurately assess its remaining life.

Catastrophic failures of single bottom cylinders have occurred with little to no warning, in some cases causing severe injury and fatalities. Where single bottom cylinders are a concern, we recommend immediate replacement, and an oil monitoring program to proactively reduce exposure.

Today’s double bulkhead cylinders add an encapsulated reservoir head at the bottom, with a slow leak port that lets the car descend at a controlled rate if the primary bulkhead fails. Most cylinders installed today are also encapsulated in PVC or a flex-liner, and PVC allows any oil loss to be monitored. A piston gripper monitors piston speed and clamps down to bring the car to a controlled stop in an overspeed. It reduces the impact of a failure rather than eliminating it.

Outside Chicago city limits, the State of Illinois currently requires this change only for equipment that (1) is already undergoing a permit-required alteration, (2) has failed, or (3) jeopardizes public safety as determined by the Local Administrator or the Elevator Safety Review Board. We recommend making these modifications before a failure, while you still control costs, timelines and liability.

Code requires that any elevator with more than 25′ of travel have firefighter’s service operation. Older systems can be retrofit with an overlay add-on panel, but that can prove time consuming and costly in the long run, and still leaves you with an older, less reliable base system.

Converting to a newer microprocessor control system often costs only modestly more than retrofitting, maximizing your investment and the return on your capital expenditure.

Chicago code effective March 6, 2010 required all elevators with Phase II Emergency In-Car Operation to comply with ASME 2.27.3 through 2.27.8 (as modified) or the applicable Chicago Building Code requirements, including section 18-30-2610. Outside the city, the State of Illinois applies the same three conditions noted above. Enforcement has been delayed, but there is little doubt it will come.

As one of the most relied upon modes of public transportation, some elevators make over a million trips in just a few years. Elevators are extremely reliable, but nothing lasts forever.

Urban Elevator Service offers advanced microprocessor elevator control products. Every control system we install is universally maintainable by an independent elevator contractor or OEM alike. There is never a need for a proprietary tool, so building management is free to select any elevator service provider.

We handle projects from a single elevator to large multi-group installations, planned to minimize the impact on an occupied, functioning property, and delivered on time and within budget.

Second only to a controller, door equipment is the next most likely cause of repetitive elevator shutdowns. Unlike a controller replacement, which requires complete code compliance, a door equipment upgrade can be done as a repair, avoiding the additional costs of full code compliance.

Riders see and hear door operation and pass through the openings constantly, so the public judges an elevator’s condition by its doors. Newer equipment needs fewer adjustments and is less likely to fail.

Cab interiors give the riding public a very appealing image at a moderate cost to the building owner. ADA guidelines should be incorporated at the time of a cab interior installation for cost effectiveness and accessibility.

Interior renovations can be done without affecting the elevator’s operation, although new finishes can add weight and change the elevator’s capacity and structural load. See elevator cab renovation.