Most building owners engage a lift consultant once or twice in a decade, usually at the point where a large amount of money is about to be spent. This is a plain guide to what a consultant should do, what to ask before you engage one, and how to tell genuine independence from the word on a website. It applies whoever you end up appointing, including if that is not us.
What a lift consultant actually does
A lift consultant advises the owner of the building. They do not supply, install or maintain equipment. In practice the work falls into a few recognisable jobs: establishing the condition of equipment and what it needs, writing a scope so that competing quotations can be compared like for like, reviewing prices and agreements before they are signed, overseeing work while it is carried out, and giving an independent account of what happened when something goes wrong.
What a consultant should not be is a second sales channel. If the advice you receive consistently points towards one supplier, one product or the most expensive option available, that is worth asking about.
The independence test
Almost every firm in this field describes itself as independent. The word has been used loosely enough that it no longer distinguishes anyone, so the only way to know is to ask specific questions and get specific answers. These three do most of the work:
- Do you sell, install or maintain lift equipment? Any yes here means the firm is on both sides of the transaction.
- Do you hold any agency, distributorship or referral arrangement with a manufacturer or maintenance contractor? This is where arrangements usually sit if they exist at all.
- Do you receive any commission, rebate or fee from anyone whose work you might recommend? Ask for the answer in writing. A firm with nothing to disclose will not hesitate.
You are not being difficult by asking. A consultant who is genuinely independent has been asked before and will have a straight answer ready.
Credentials worth checking
There is no single licence that makes someone a lift consultant, which means the title alone tells you very little. What is worth establishing:
- Engineering qualifications relevant to the equipment. Vertical transportation is both mechanical and electrical, and a firm that only holds one side of that will have blind spots.
- Registered or chartered status where it applies — for example RPEQ in Queensland, or chartered engineering status more broadly.
- Licensed trade background. Someone who has worked on the equipment reads a machine room differently from someone who has only read about it.
- Professional memberships. Bodies such as Engineers Australia, the Australian Elevator Association or the Lift Engineering Society of Australia are not guarantees, but absence across the board is worth noticing.
- Prequalification and insurance. Ask about professional indemnity cover and its level, and about site prequalification such as CM3 if the consultant will be attending your building.
- Who is actually attending. Firms sell on collective credentials and deliver with individuals. Ask which person will be at your building and what they hold.
What a good scope of works looks like
The scope is the document that decides whether the quotations you receive can be compared at all. A good one states what equipment is covered and what is excluded, describes the work in enough detail that two contractors would price the same thing, sets out what is to be handed over at completion including documentation and access credentials, and defines how the work will be verified before final payment.
If your scope is a page long and written by the contractor who is going to quote it, you do not really have a competitive process. You have one price and some company.
Signals worth pausing on
- A fee that rises with the value of the work recommended.
- Reluctance to put the independence questions in writing.
- A recommendation to replace before anyone has established what is actually wrong.
- A report you cannot follow, or one that avoids saying what it concludes.
- No named individual attached to the site attendance.
- Pressure to decide quickly on a piece of infrastructure with a thirty-year life.
Questions to ask before you engage anyone
- What exactly will I receive, and by when?
- Who will attend the building, and what do they hold?
- Is the fee fixed for this scope, and what would change it?
- What is your professional indemnity cover?
- Will you present the findings to our committee or board if we ask?
- Do you sell, install or maintain lifts, hold any supplier arrangement, or receive any commission?
Common questions
Do I need a lift consultant at all?
Not always. For a single lift in good order with a contractor you trust, you may not. It becomes worth it when real money is involved — a modernisation, a replacement, a long maintenance agreement, an insurance claim, or a dispute. A rough test: if the decision in front of you is worth more than a consultant’s fee several times over, get the second opinion.
What is the difference between a lift consultant and a lift company?
A lift company sells, installs and maintains equipment. A consultant advises the building owner and supplies nothing. The distinction matters because a company recommending its own work has an interest in the outcome, however good its intentions. A consultant should have none.
How do I know a consultant is genuinely independent?
Ask directly, in writing: do you sell, install or maintain lifts; do you hold any agency, distributorship or referral arrangement with a manufacturer or contractor; and do you receive any commission, rebate or fee from anyone whose work you might recommend. A firm that is genuinely independent will answer all three plainly and quickly.
What qualifications should a lift consultant hold?
There is no single licence that covers it. Look for engineering qualifications relevant to the work — mechanical or electrical, and ideally chartered or registered status such as RPEQ or CPEng — alongside licensed trade experience in vertical transportation. Ask who specifically will attend your building, not just what the firm holds collectively.
How should a consultant charge?
A fixed fee for a defined scope is the norm and is what you want. Be cautious of any fee that varies with the value of the work recommended, because that reintroduces exactly the incentive you engaged a consultant to remove.
Can a consultant help if we have already signed a contract?
Yes, though the options narrow. A review can still tell you what you have committed to, what the exit provisions really allow, and where the contract is not being performed. Before signing is far better, but after signing is not too late to know where you stand.
Talk to us
Tell us what is happening with your lifts and we will point you at the right consultant. There is no charge for the initial conversation, and if you do not need us we will say so.
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