Cover:Serum Institute Burj Khalifa - Elevator World India

Alignment of the various accessories,
installing the ropes, wiring the call
buttons, indicators, etc. are done at
the next stage. These activities involve
interacting with others working in
the building. Normal hurdles include:
◆ Plumb of the duct allotted for the
lift (lift shaft)
◆ Preventing the pit becoming a
debris receptacle
◆ Final decisions on floor levels
◆ Details on the decorative fascia
surrounding the lift entrances at
all floors
Avoiding major errors in the dimensional
plumb of the lift shaft will
go a long way in installation, saving
time and money spent on reworking
and alterations. The same holds for
the positioning of the openings in all
the floors without offset. “Out of
plumb” and “offset” are two terms
used or encountered only by elevator
engineers and technicians. Sometimes
it is taken for granted that
nothing could go wrong in the construction
of the lift shaft right from
the pit to the machine room. The
plumbness of walls from floor to floor
may not have an impact for other
activities in the building, but plumbness
within allowable limits is a must
for the lift shaft. Small errors from
floor to floor accumulate. Organizing
a checklist and periodical verifi -
cation will help avoid the waste of
time and money. There have been
instances where the lift shaft was
severely out of plumb – to the extent
of installing a lift cabin with a lesser
capacity, discarding the original
cabin and its accessories.
Commencement and completion
of the lift installation is another
issue. The commencement of the
installation requires some prerequisites.
The construction of the shaft,
machine room and pit as per the
general arrangement drawing (GAD)
(mutually agreed and approved) is a
major perquisite. Only in a completed
shaft and machine room will
the installers be able to decide on the
various location centers for guide
rails, machine position and rope
holes, entrance frame and its sills,
etc. Lift installation cannot be done
on a floor-to-floor basis as a parallel
activity along with the progress of
construction of the building. Again,
the logic of involving more people to
speed up the work does not yield the
desired result; on the other hand, it
may lead to quality and safety issues.
As an industry practice, the details
of the work connected with the lift
shaft, pit and machine room are
listed in the GAD. Often, the building
site engineers/supervisors are unaware
of the details leading to unwanted
disputes and delays. An initial coordination
meeting will help understand
the various scopes of work
and enable the elevator installation
team to get the necessary support to
execute the work.
Many small items may be left out,
like finishing the entrance opening
in the floor levels, making the pit
good, windows and ventilators in the
machine room, the door and steps
for the machine room, machineroom
flooring, etc. Though these are
very minor jobs, they are nevertheless
a big handicap for the lift installation
team in continuously progressing
with the work.
Another important issue is the
time taken to decide on the final finished
floor levels and details of decorative
fascia work. As an industry
practice, the installation of the lobby
door frames, sills, and call-button
and indicator boxes are located and
installed in the initial stage of the
installation work. This is mainly to
facilitate the completion of the fascia
work (including the wiring) to be com -
pleted by the time the lift installation
is finished. In most cases, fascia
work and floor levels put the brakes
on the progress of the lift installation
work. Any lapse or misfire spoils the
aesthetics of the lift entrance. Installation
completion commitments depend
largely on the decisions on
floor levels and the fascia.
For the elevator industry to be
customer friendly, allow us to enjoy
contractor-friendly ambience. �
• Issue 4, Volume 3 • elevatorworldindia.com
37