EM – Those are the words of apartment resident about the status of elevators in resettlement housing areas and some old commercial apartment buildings in Hanoi. Repairing elevators that are 10 years old or older faces many difficulties due to the lack of synchronous equipment components. As for the replacement of the elevator, there are no specific regulations on the replacement time and it is difficult to raise funds.
Long repair due to lack of synchronous parts!
According to the assessment of a group of technical experts from the Vietnam Institute of Lift Engineering Application (under the Vietnam Elevator Association), after more than 10 years of use, many equipment and components of the elevator need to be replaced to ensure safety, including many important details of the elevator.
However, what is the current situation in apartment buildings in Vietnam and in Hanoi in particular? The results are shown through a number of surveys and investigations by the reporter of Elevator Magazine in many housing areas such as Den Lu resettlement area, NO5 house, Phap Van urban area in Hoang Mai district, Dong Anh public housing area in Dong Anh district…
For example, house G, Den Lu resettlement apartment building, has been put into use since 2003 in Hoang Van Thu ward, Hoang Mai district, Hanoi. Since a few years now, 2 11-storey units have 4 elevators, 2 of which are completely broken, the other 2 are also constantly “down”. Up to date, these elevators have not been completely repaired or replaced, making it extremely difficult for people to travel.
Another example, the social housing area for workers in Bau village, Kim Chung commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi consists of 4 units of 15 floors, with 8 elevators but often broken. All the more, there was an occasion, 5/8 of the elevators were overdue for inspection due to ineligibility. After repair, the elevators when operating make loud noises and shake, but the workers and their family members still have to suppress their fear to use this potentially dangerous device.
And at NO5 building, Phap Van urban area, Hoang Mai district, Mr. Le Anh Duc, head of the building’s management board, said that since nearly 1 year, the 2 elevators of this building have been in constant trouble such as: cannot call, elevator cannot level up or leaves the floor without stopping. The building management has asked the elevator maintenance unit to have a definitive repair plan, but so far the elevator has not been able to operate normally…
The reason is that, in the past years, most of the elevators installed for the above-mentioned apartment buildings were imported complete units. The maintenance and repair of the following years depends a lot on the manufacturer of the elevator. Meanwhile, due to the long time, many types of equipment and components for repair were no longer produced. New types of elevators and associated equipment components have been integrated with many new technologies, in many cases equipment and components are no longer compatible and suitable for old elevators. Therefore, the repair of old elevators becomes more and more difficult. In some cases, manufacturers can still provide components and old technology equipment for repair, but the price is extremely expensive.
Elevator of NO5 building in Phap Van urban area has expired safety permit since July 2022. (Photo taken on January 14, 2023)
The representative of the NO5 building management board shared, more than 2 years ago, they signed a maintenance contract with a representative of the elevator manufacturer for 8 million VND/elevator/month. Notably, the contract only includes maintenance and minor troubleshooting, not including replacement of components. From the past two years, due to the lack of money for building maintenance, the building management board was forced to sign a maintenance contract with another unit. Although the price is cheaper, it may be due to the replacement of asynchronous equipment components, so since 2 years ago, the elevator has been broken down usually.
“Due to the constant failure of the elevator, even though the permit expired in July 2022, until today (February 1, 2023), we have not been able to accept the repair of the elevator to be eligible for inspection!”. The representative of the Management Board added, although the elevator is not qualified to operate, it must still be used by residents because the building has many elderly people and children, “cannot force them to climb the stair”. “Even if the elevator is degraded, we cannot stop the elevator. We will cross that bridge when we get to them, so that there are still elevator for residents to use “, a representative of the building shared.
It is even harder to replace elevator!
According to research by the European Lift Association (ELA), the average lifespan of the elevator is calculated to be between 20-25 years. At this point the elevator becomes less efficient and more expensive to maintain and operate. Along with that, the safety factor for users will no longer be guaranteed.
It is very difficult to find components to repair these 2 electrical cabinets that are over 20 years old. Photo of control cabinets of 2 elevators at Den Lu resettlement house – Hoang Mai District
In our country, due to the harsh climatic conditions and the high frequency of use of elevators, along with the maintenance, repair and replacement of components that are not synchronized, not uniform in quality, etc. lead to a more rapid deterioration of the elevator.
In commercial apartments with the age of 10 years or more, the maintenance fund has been exhausted. All costs are contributed by the resident, even raising money for elevator repair is also very difficult. Therefore, it is almost impossible to raise billions of vietnam dong to replace a new elevator. In the resettlement housing areas, many cases of elevator items are still under the management of the government, but the repair is very slow due to many reasons, such as damage appraisal procedures, administrative procedures, time disbursement time…
In fact, the current legal system does not have a regulation for the “retirement age” of elevators, so there is no basis to force elevator owners to replace them to ensure safety.
Any solution for the apartment elevator “out of date”?
Research shows that Hanoi currently has a lot of apartment buildings over 10 years old. Due to the difficult situation of repair and replacement, many elevators had to “stop operating and wait for a solution”, making it even more difficult for people to travel. (Elevator Magazine had an article: Elevator is still down, cried out for heaven’s sake!)
The elevators at NO5 building in Phap Van urban area – Hoang Mai district – Hanoi are operating with expired safety permit.
The story of repairing and replacing “out of date” elevators in apartment buildings and resettlement houses in Hanoi hasn’t ended yet. In the meantime, thousands of apartment residents still have to face dangers every day when they have to regularly use old elevators, in which, many elevators are not qualified to operate…
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