You won the tender, and now the real work starts
A housing association awards you maintenance for their lifts across several dozen blocks. The start date is the first of next month. What arrives is a spreadsheet listing addresses and a lift count per block, a PDF of the previous maintainer's last service schedule, and a note that keys can be collected from the area office. There are no controller details, no emergency line information and no record of open defects.
The previous maintainer is not in a hurry to help. The customer assumes you have everything. On day three, a breakdown comes in at a block where your engineer has never been, cannot find the motor room, and does not know which lift is which.
Why takeovers are always messy
Contract handovers between lift companies rarely include good data. The outgoing firm has little reason to spend time on it, and the customer's own records are usually less detailed than a maintainer needs.
- Customer asset lists record sites and lift counts, not lift types, controllers or access details.
- Open defects and recent examination reports are not passed on.
- Keys, access codes and motor room locations are handed over informally.
- Emergency communication units and lines are unrecorded.
- Nobody plans the first visits, so they happen when a breakdown forces them.
A poor start sets the tone
The first few months of a new contract decide how the customer sees you for its whole length. Breakdowns handled without basic site information take longer, and early complaints stick. Meanwhile your office spends hours building lift records by hand from scattered sources, and planners cannot schedule routine visits until each lift has proper frequencies and details.
A takeover workflow from spreadsheet to proper records
We build a contract takeover process inside, or alongside, your job management system, so every new contract is loaded the same way.
- The customer's asset list is imported and turned into draft lift records, one per lift, with addresses cleaned up and matched to map locations.
- Any documents received, such as service schedules or examination reports, are read and linked to the right draft record where they can be matched.
- A first-visit survey is scheduled for every lift, grouped into sensible routes, and prioritised by what the customer tells you about lift condition and usage.
- The survey on the engineer's phone captures lift type, controller and drive, access details, motor room location, key arrangements, emergency line details and visible defects, with photos.
- A completeness score on each lift shows what is still missing, and the office sees a list of lifts not yet surveyed or with gaps.
- Once complete, the draft record becomes a live lift on your planner with the right visit frequency.
| Information | Usually received | After the takeover workflow |
|---|---|---|
| Lift list | Addresses and counts | One record per lift |
| Lift details | Rarely | Captured on first visit |
| Access and keys | Informal notes | On the lift record with photos |
| Open defects | Seldom passed on | Recorded at survey, linked to reports |
| Visit schedule | Not planned | Set once the lift is surveyed |
The first months of the contract, under control
Your office has a clear picture of how far the takeover has got, lift by lift, and can answer the customer's first progress question with a list rather than a guess. Breakdown engineers attending before a survey at least have the draft record and whatever is known. Customers see an organised start, with surveys planned and an early report on what you found, which is often the first time they have seen their lifts described in one place.
Next time you win a contract, the same workflow runs again, and it gets faster each time because the survey form and import steps are already tuned to how you work.
Signs your takeovers could go better
- New contracts start with a spreadsheet and not much else.
- Engineers attend breakdowns at sites nobody has surveyed.
- Lift records for new contracts are built by hand.
- You find open defects months after taking over.
- Routine visits start late on new contracts.