Safety Parts for Elevators Over 21 Years: Replacement Planning

As ageing elevators accumulate operating cycles and exposure to their operating environments, variations in the performance of their safety parts may increase. In particular, if stricter replacement deadlines for safety parts in elevators that have been in use for 21 years or more are discussed, maintenance planning must shift from simply responding to failures to focusing on preventive replacement and evidence management.

Why Elevators Over 21 Years Old Require Separate Management

As time passes after an elevator is installed, mechanical component wear, changes in lubrication conditions, corrosion, accumulated vibration, and discontinued parts may arise together.

In addition to faults that are immediately identified during periodic inspections, the reliability of safety devices that must perform their intended functions in an accident becomes important.

The Overspeed Governor, Safety Gear, and Buffer are not usually noticeable during normal operation, but they determine passenger safety in cases of overspeed, fall hazards, and final stopping conditions.

Therefore, when managing ageing elevators, it is not enough to determine only that “the elevator is currently operational.” Manufacturer documentation, inspection history, component condition, and the feasibility of replacement must also be reviewed.

Inspection Considerations for Each Key Safety Part

Because safety parts serve different functions, it is difficult to assess them according to the same criteria. Maintenance companies should manage them separately according to each component’s operating principle and deterioration factors.

Because an Overspeed Governor detects overspeed, the condition of its rope groove, rotating components, and trip mechanism is important. When applying Overspeed Governors such as DND-GV-002 and DND-GV-003, the certificate, installation requirements, and operating conditions for the relevant model must be checked against site conditions.

The Safety Gear performs the actual stopping action after receiving the signal from the Overspeed Governor. For models such as DD-SG6000B, DD-SG8000B, and DD-SG12000B, the applicable load and site conditions are important, so they must not be selected merely by matching dimensions.

Oil Buffers and PU Buffers have different characteristics. Oil Buffers must be carefully checked for oil leakage and return condition, while PU Buffers must be checked for compression deformation, cracks, and hardening.

Impact of Replacement Deadline Discussions on Maintenance Budgets

If discussions move towards stricter replacement deadlines, building managers must establish medium- and long-term replacement budgets rather than treating the work as a one-off repair expense.

This is because the Overspeed Governor, Safety Gear, Buffer, Electronic Interlock, Sheave, and rope-related components in a single ageing elevator may all need to be reviewed at the same time.

In particular, buildings with multiple elevators may face greater scheduling and budgetary burdens if their inspection dates overlap. A practical approach is to divide priorities by year.

Priorities may be reviewed in the following order.

• Elevators with a history of inspection findings or conditional assessments
• Elevators that have been in use for a long time and operate frequently
• Elevators with discontinued parts or for which certificates are difficult to obtain
• Components that repeatedly show visible abnormalities such as oil leakage, wear, or deformation
• Sites with high passenger volumes where shutdowns generate significant complaints

In such cases, maintenance companies should explain which risk factors make replacement necessary, rather than merely communicating the conclusion that “replacement is required.” Based on that explanation, managers can prepare for budget approval and notifications to occupants.

Document Preparation Becomes Key to Inspection Readiness