What has changed
In Spain, Royal Decree 355/2024 approved a new supplementary technical instruction for elevators, the ITC AEM 1, which replaces the previous one from 2013.
It came into force on July 1, 2024.
The idea behind it has two parts. Existing elevators have to get closer to the safety of new ones. And maintenance and inspection have to be provable.
This article sums up the ideas you need to organize the work. It does not replace the official text or your inspection body: check the intervals, deadlines and exceptions for each unit there.
Why now
Spain has a very large elevator base, and much of it was installed long before current standards.
An elevator that is decades old can work well and still lack things we now take for granted. For example, a door that detects a person along its full height, or a car that stops flush with the floor.
The technical measures that come up most
- Doors that detect along their full height. The door must detect a person or object from the floor to the top, not just at the height of a single beam. It prevents people from being hit as it closes.
- Stopping accuracy. The car must stop level with the floor, within the margin the standard sets. A step at the entrance is a classic cause of falls.
- Two-way communication. Anyone trapped must be able to talk to a service that answers at any hour and sends the rescue.
- Safety and accessibility upgrades depending on the type of unit, its age and what the inspection finds.
Which measures apply to each elevator, and by when, is not the same for every unit. Ask your maintenance company or your inspection body about your specific elevator.
Who is responsible for what
| Role | What they have to do |
|---|---|
| Owner: the property owner or the homeowners’ association | Hire a licensed maintenance company, order the inspections, make the upgrades and keep the records |
| Maintenance company | Service the unit at the interval the ITC sets, handle breakdowns and rescues, log every visit and tell the owner what needs fixing |
| Authorized inspection body (OCA) | Run the periodic inspection, record defects with their severity and check that they are fixed |
Maintenance: you do not choose the interval
The ITC sets a minimum service interval for each type of elevator. It depends on things such as how the building is used, the number of stops and the speed.
For a maintenance company, that has three consequences:
- Each unit has its own interval. A portfolio mixes different frequencies, so preventive maintenance cannot run on a single calendar.
- The date matters as much as the visit. A late visit shows up in the log, and it is the first thing anyone reviewing the file looks at.
- The interval is set by someone who knows the rules. The software triggers the work orders. The right frequency is set by a technician with the ITC at hand.
Periodic inspection and defects with deadlines
On top of maintenance, each elevator goes through periodic inspections by an authorized inspection body (OCA), independent of the maintenance company.
The inspection grades defects by severity, and each grade has a deadline for fixing it. A serious defect left unfixed can end with the unit shut down.
For the owner, each inspection report opens a to-do list. For the maintenance company, each defect is a job with a deadline, a quote and, at the end, proof that it was fixed.
The records for each unit
For each elevator, keep these at hand:
- Identification and commissioning: the unit’s registration and the documents it was approved with.
- Technical documents: declaration of conformity, specifications and the operation and maintenance manual.
- The current maintenance contract with the maintenance company.
- The service history: visits, breakdowns, rescues and parts replaced, with date and technician.
- Inspection reports and proof that each defect was fixed.
A document is rarely missing. More often it is scattered between the office, the van and the inbox of a technician who has left.
How to organize it in a maintenance company
- A reliable inventory of units. Each elevator with its address, owner, technical data and interval. If you do not know where to start, see how to build an asset inventory.
- A service plan per unit that creates work orders on their own, on schedule, split by technician and area.
- A checklist per type of visit, with the points in your procedure, photos and readings.
- Each inspection defect as a work order with a deadline, not a note in the report.
- A signed work report at the end, with arrival and departure times, saved in the unit’s history.
- Rescues with their own priority and measured times, from the call until the person is out. For the night shift, see how to organize on-call shifts.
Common mistakes
- One calendar for the whole portfolio, when each unit has its own interval.
- Defects that live in the report PDF. Nobody turns them into work until the next inspection is near.
- Paper reports that arrive days later, with no times and an unreadable signature.
- The history in the technician’s head. When the route changes, what they knew about each unit is lost.
How to tell if it is under control
- Visits done on schedule, out of those planned for the month. It is PM compliance applied to elevators.
- Open inspection defects, and how many fall due in the next thirty days.
- Arrival time at rescues, against what each contract commits to.
- Units with incomplete records on their file.
To see it with your own portfolio, look at how an elevator maintenance company works in attendo or request a demo with your units.
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