An elevator maintenance contract is the legal foundation of your service relationship — and the document you'll rely on when disputes arise over what was included, what was excluded, who is responsible, and what happens when response times are missed.
This guide covers what every elevator maintenance contract must include, how to structure it for different client types, and how to manage the contract lifecycle without relying on manual tracking.
Why Contracts Fail
Most contract disputes in elevator services come from three gaps:
Undefined scope. The building manager assumed parts were included. The technician assumed emergency calls were extra. Neither assumption was written down. Result: dispute at the first emergency.
Vague SLA language. "We will respond promptly" means nothing when a hospital's elevator is stopped for six hours. Response time commitments must be specific: a maximum number of hours from fault report to technician on-site.
No renewal process. The contract expired six months ago. Nobody noticed. The building management signed with a competitor. You lost a client you didn't know was at risk.
Core Contract Sections
1. Parties and Elevator Identification
Identify both parties precisely:
- Service company: Legal name, address, authorized service certificate number, and responsible technician (if applicable)
- Client: Legal name, address, and VAT number (for commercial clients)
- Elevator specification: Building address, elevator brand, model, serial number, floor count, elevator number (if multiple in the same building)
Without elevator identification, you cannot link the contract to a specific asset — which creates problems for certificate tracking and liability.
2. Scope of Work
Define exactly what the contract covers — and what it excludes. Ambiguity here is the source of most billing disputes.
Standard inclusions:
- Monthly scheduled maintenance per TS EN 13015
- Maintenance logbook completion and record keeping
- Minor adjustments (door timing, leveling) during scheduled visits
- Emergency call-out labor (specify: included or excluded)
- Certificate coordination (specify which certificates and who files)
Standard exclusions:
- Replacement parts (specify: billed separately at cost, or included up to a limit)
- Damage caused by vandalism or improper use
- Work required due to elevator age or manufacturer defect
- Major component replacement (motor, gearbox, control panel)
- Changes required by new regulations enacted after contract start
Be specific about parts. "Wear parts" is ambiguous — list them: brake pads, door belts, guide shoes. Anything not on the list is billed separately.
3. Maintenance Frequency
State the minimum maintenance frequency explicitly:
- Monthly — required minimum under TS EN 13015 and the Elevator Regulation
- Additional visits — if the building requires more frequent service (high-traffic commercial, hospital, construction adjacent) specify the frequency and whether additional visits are included or billed separately
Do not allow this section to be vague. If a municipality inspector reviews the contract and maintenance log, they need to see that the agreed frequency matches the required frequency.
4. Service Level Agreement (SLA)
The SLA section defines your emergency response commitments. This is the section that protects — or exposes — you when something goes wrong.
| Client Type | Response Time (Recommended) | |---|---| | Residential | 4–8 hours | | Commercial / Office | 2–4 hours | | Hospital / Healthcare | 1–2 hours | | Government / Embassy | 2–4 hours | | AVM / High-Traffic | 1–2 hours |
SLA definition best practice:
State the clock start: "Response time is measured from the moment the fault is reported to the emergency line, not from the end of business hours."
State what "response" means: technician on-site, or first phone contact? On-site is the defensible standard.
State what happens if the SLA is missed: reduced invoice, credit on next period, or no penalty clause. A contract with no SLA breach consequence is not an SLA — it's a wish.
5. Pricing and Payment Terms
State the monthly or annual fee and what it covers. Common structures:
Fixed fee (maintenance only) Monthly fee covers scheduled visits and labor. Emergency call-out labor and all parts billed separately at agreed rates.
Best for: Residential buildings, budget-conscious clients, new contracts where parts history is unknown.
Semi-inclusive Monthly fee covers scheduled visits, labor during maintenance, and emergency call-out labor. Parts billed separately.
Best for: Commercial clients who want predictable labor costs but accept parts variability.
All-inclusive Monthly fee covers scheduled visits, emergency labor, and parts. Typically carries a higher price and annual adjustment clause.
Best for: High-traffic or older elevators where parts consumption is predictable from history; enterprise clients who require fixed-cost budgeting.
Payment terms:
- Invoice frequency: monthly, quarterly, or annual (annual with early payment discount is cash-flow positive for the service company)
- Payment due date: 15 or 30 days after invoice date
- Late payment: interest clause (reference the Turkish Commercial Code rate, or agree a specific rate)
6. Liability and Insurance
Define the limits of your liability explicitly:
- Service company liability: Covers damage caused by negligent maintenance. Excludes damage from pre-existing equipment defects, misuse, or force majeure.
- Insurance requirement: State that the service company maintains professional liability insurance (specify minimum coverage amount). Building managers at enterprise clients may require a copy of the certificate.
- Client liability: The building owner or manager is responsible for ensuring elevator access for maintenance visits, reporting faults promptly, and not permitting unauthorized access to the machine room.
7. Certificate Coordination
Specify who is responsible for each certificate:
| Certificate | Who Coordinates | Who Pays | |---|---|---| | Annual Type-A periodic inspection | Service company (arranges Type-A body) | Client (typically) | | Authorized service certificate (5-year) | Service company | Service company | | Post-incident inspection | Service company | Client (if incident-related) |
Coordinate — not just "support" — is the correct word. If the service company commits to coordinating the annual inspection, they are responsible for scheduling, not just advising.
8. Term and Renewal
- Initial term: 12 months is standard. Some clients request 24 or 36 months for price stability.
- Renewal: Automatic renewal for 12 months unless either party gives written notice 30–60 days before expiry. This is the single most important clause for retention.
- Price adjustment: Annual price adjustment tied to the PPI (Üretici Fiyat Endeksi) or a fixed percentage (e.g., "prices adjusted annually by no more than 25% or the prior 12-month PPI, whichever is lower").
- Termination: Either party may terminate with 30 days' written notice for material breach. Define "material breach" — repeated missed SLAs, failure to perform scheduled maintenance, non-payment.
Contract Management in Practice
Tracking Renewal Dates
A contract that auto-renews silently is revenue you keep. A contract that expires unnoticed is revenue you lose.
Track every contract renewal date in your management system. Set alerts at 90 and 60 days before expiry — both for your own action (prepare renewal proposal or price adjustment letter) and optionally for the client (advance notice builds trust).
Digital Contracts
Paper contracts create administrative overhead: printing, signing, scanning, filing, retrieving. Digital contracts signed via e-signature:
- Are legally valid under Turkish Electronic Signature Law (No. 5070)
- Create a timestamped, tamper-evident audit trail
- Are immediately retrievable when a client or inspector requests a copy
- Allow remote signing without an in-person meeting
LiftGrid's contract module generates contracts from templates, collects digital signatures from the building representative, and stores the signed version linked to the building's digital card.
Multiple Buildings, One Client
For property management companies or building groups managing multiple buildings, a master service agreement with per-building schedules is cleaner than individual contracts per building. The master agreement sets terms, pricing structure, and SLA; each building's schedule specifies the elevator list, monthly fee, and specific visit frequency.
LiftGrid Contract Module
LiftGrid manages the full contract lifecycle:
- Contract templates per elevator type and pricing model
- Digital signing — send to building representative for signature; no printing required
- Renewal alerts at 90 and 60 days before expiry
- Price adjustment — update monthly fee at renewal with automatic new-period contract generation
- Linked records — contract linked to building → elevator → maintenance history → certificate status
Turkey Elevator Maintenance Regulations Guide →