"They keep sending different guys and none of them know the equipment."
Property manager · industry forum, 2024Houston · Commercial · Maintenance contracts
Maintenance that shows up — and shows you what we did.
Published pricing. Line-item proposals. A 15-minute callback SLA in writing. Same six-module scope every visit, aligned to ASME A17.1 / Section 8.6 Maintenance Control Program — the standard Texas state inspectors look for. Already under contract? Send us yours and we'll find your exit date in writing within 24 hours. No switch required to get the review.
$150+/mo
Standard plan, per elevator (quarterly visits)
$220+/mo
Premium · 15-min callback SLA, free TDLR re-cert
24/7
Real human dispatch, year-round, holidays included
Why this matters
Most property managers realize their contract is failing them at the worst possible moment.
When an elevator goes down, the contract is what decides whether the problem is over in two hours or two weeks. Most contracts — especially the multi-year ones from national providers — are written to protect the provider, not the building. Here's what we hear from PMs who are mid-switch:
"If they show up they claim it's not covered under the maintenance contract — even in a new property. Then you get a $2k bill for the pleasure of a bid."
Jennifer K. on Otis · MultifamilyInsiders"Hard to get service? Long delays on repairs? Hard to get the account manager to return your call? — All of the above."
Kim H. · property manager · MultifamilyInsidersThe four dynamics we see most often: no callbacks, apprentices sent on every visit, parts-not-covered surprise invoices, and a 5-year evergreen contract you can't exit without a 120-day notice window you've already missed. The rest of this page is how we handle each one differently.
The fastest way to find out where you stand
Already under contract? Send it to us.
Most property managers find out they're locked into a 5-year agreement with a 120-day cancellation window only when they try to leave. We'll read your current contract line-by-line, find your exact exit date, tell you whether any clause lets you leave earlier (failure to perform, ownership change, scope default), and put the whole review in writing within 24 hours. No switch required.
What you get back, in writing, within 24 hours:
- Your exact auto-renewal date and cancellation window
- Any early-termination clauses that currently apply (failure to perform, ownership change, scope default)
- A line-by-line scope comparison against our Standard and Premium tiers
- A same-scope price-match proposal, written in our format
Send my current contract
Or email it directly: [email protected]
We don't publish what's in other companies' contracts — we just read yours and tell you what's in it. If everything looks fair and the price is right, we'll tell you that too.
What gets done every visit
Six modules. Every visit. Documented.
The scope is the scope. We don't unbundle it to compete on price and we don't skip modules to hit a route quota. Every visit covers all six.
01 · Mechanical
Sheaves, bearings, doors, leveling
Door operators, interlocks, gate switches, sheave wear, bearing condition, ride-quality leveling. Hydraulic seals, packing, and oil condition on hydro units. Traction rope inspection on traction units.
02 · Electrical
Controller logic, power continuity, diagnostics
Relay panel, contactors, drive parameters, fault history pulled and reviewed every visit, then logged. Voltage and current readings spot-checked against baselines. Battery test on emergency lowering.
03 · Safety
Governor, buffers, brakes, interlocks
Overspeed governor, safety jaws, buffer condition, brake adjustment, hoistway interlock continuity, emergency stop, top-of-car lighting and run-stop. Anything code-required to be tested at our cadence.
04 · Fire / ADA
Phase I & II recall, ADA accessibility checks
Fire-service recall validated, smoke detector recall integration confirmed, in-car emergency communication tested, ADA-compliant fixture function (cab buttons, hall fixtures, audible signals, leveling tolerance for accessibility).
05 · Housekeeping
Machine room, pit, hoistway lubrication
Pit pumped and cleaned. Machine room swept, MR lighting verified. Rails and door tracks lubricated. Anything we find broken or out of place that's not in scope, we flag — we don't quietly leave it.
06 · Documentation
Written report, MCP record-keeping, inspection prep
After every visit you get a written report — what we did, what we found, what we recommend, with photos where it helps. That's also your A17.1 Section 8.6 MCP record, ready for state inspection.
Two plans
Standard or Premium. Same scope every visit. Different perks.
Both plans run the same six-module scope. Premium adds a 15-minute callback SLA, a free annual TDLR re-certification inspection, and priority parts ordering. Pricing scales with elevator count.
Standard plan
$150+/elevator/mo
Quarterly preventative visits · monthly available for high-traffic buildings
- ✓ Full six-module scope every visit
- ✓ Written report after every visit
- ✓ A17.1 Section 8.6 MCP records maintained
- ✓ 24/7 emergency dispatch — real human
- ✓ Avg arrival under 60 min inside the Beltway
- ✓ Honest line-item invoices on extra-scope work
Premium plan
Recommended
$220+/elevator/mo
Quarterly preventative visits · monthly available · everything in Standard plus:
- ✓ 15-minute callback SLA, 24/7
- ✓ FREE annual TDLR re-cert inspection
- ✓ Priority parts ordering on emergency repairs
- ✓ Annual capital-planning walkthrough — what's coming due
- ✓ Fares or Kayed personally on file as your escalation contact
- ✓ Price-match any written competitor proposal for comparable scope
Pricing scales with elevator count and equipment type. Hydraulic, traction, and MRL all covered — no upcharge for "complex" units.
TDLR compliance
TDLR compliance — tracked, not crossed-fingered.
In Texas, your elevator inspection is public record. When it expires, daily fines begin immediately — per TDLR's published enforcement schedule — and your building's lapse goes into the public enforcement file.
We track every inspection date for every building we service through the same TDLR public records that inspectors use. You get a 90-day advance reminder — automatic, in writing. Premium contracts include mechanic attendance and full inspection coordination at no additional charge. Standard contracts get the reminder and same-day scheduling at a preferred rate.
- 90-day automated reminder on every contract building
- TDLR public-record monitoring — we see expirations before you do
- Free inspection coordination on Premium
- Written compliance report after every state inspection
- Post-inspection correction work prioritized over non-contract callouts
"Daily fines begin immediately, and the violation becomes public record." — TDLR Elevator Penalties & Sanctions, tdlr.texas.gov/enforcement/elevsanctions.htm
How onboarding works
From "we're thinking about switching" to signed, in three steps.
Step 01
Contract review (24 hours, free)
Send us your current contract. We read it line-by-line, find your cancellation window, and return a same-scope price-match proposal in writing. No switch required.
Step 02
Site walk (60–90 minutes, free)
Fares visits the building personally. Inspects the machine room, pit, and top-of-car on every elevator. Reviews your last 12 months of service tickets. Flags anything the previous provider missed.
Step 03
Proposal + signed contract
Fixed-scope, fixed-price proposal with every line spelled out. No evergreen clauses. Month-to-month after year one. First visit scheduled within 10 business days of signature.
If your current provider tries to delay the handoff — keys, records, or parts — call us. We've navigated every major's transition process and it takes a few days, not a few weeks.
Why Arise for maintenance
A family-run shop where the techs answer to the owners — and the owners answer to you.
Arise is co-owned and run by brothers Fares and Kayed Al-Salim. Fares spent 25+ years inside the machine rooms of the same major service companies Houston property managers complain about today — Schindler, Dover, Westinghouse, Thyssen, Otis, Kone, Fujitec, Mitsubishi. He knows what good maintenance looks like because he was the tech the majors sent. Kayed runs operations and accountability — when an account stops getting the service it signed up for, an owner sees it before you have to call to complain.
You get the technical depth of a major on the wrench, run like a local shop on the phone. Two brothers on the org chart. No call-center routing, no Tier-1 screening, no "your account manager is on PTO." Real people you can reach when something breaks.
Who we serve
Built for commercial buildings across greater Houston.
Class B / C office
Multi-tenant commercial; aging equipment; PM-heavy decision process. We handle the tenant-complaint layer so you don't have to.
Multifamily / apartment
5-story+ residential, senior living, mid-rise. TDLR-sensitive because outages = resident complaints = reviews.
Medical office & outpatient
Patient transport risk means zero tolerance for downtime. Our 15-minute callback is sized for this.
Hotels & hospitality
Guest-facing uptime. Dedicated-tech named on Premium accounts.
Industrial & mixed-use
Heavy-duty equipment, sometimes out-of-code older installs. Brand breadth matters here — we've seen it all.
Senior housing
Regulatory + ADA overlay; tight inspection compliance. Explicit ADA check in every monthly visit.
Not a fit: single-family residential. If you own a home elevator, we'll take the install but not the ongoing service — it's not where our unit economics work.
FAQ
Maintenance questions, answered straight.
Am I really locked into a 5-year contract?
Probably. Most national elevator maintenance contracts auto-renew for 5 years unless you cancel inside a 120-day window before renewal. If you've been under contract for more than a year without looking, odds are you've already missed one renewal opportunity. Send us your contract — we'll find the exact cancellation date and any clause that lets you leave early (failure to perform, ownership change, scope default).
Do you have multi-year evergreen lock-in?
No. Our contracts go month-to-month after year one. No 5-year evergreens, no 120-day cancellation windows you can miss, no escalator clauses that compound. If our service ever stops being worth the contract, you can walk.
How often do you visit?
Quarterly is standard for most buildings — that's what ASME A17.1 / Section 8.6 MCP supports for typical commercial duty cycles. Hospitals, hotels, busy high-rise residential, and other high-traffic buildings move to monthly. We size cadence to actual elevator usage, not to whatever maximizes our route density.
Are you locked in to one brand or proprietary parts?
No. We service every major equipment line we've worked on for 25+ years — Otis, Schindler, Kone, ThyssenKrupp, Dover, Westinghouse, Fujitec, Mitsubishi, and more. We don't refuse to service "another contractor's" controller, and we don't price-gouge access to it. If you ever leave Arise, the next contractor can pick up where we left off without paying a "transition fee."
What's actually included in the monthly cost?
The full six-module scope every visit, written reporting, MCP record-keeping, and 24/7 emergency dispatch — including the dispatch call, the diagnosis on site, and minor in-scope adjustments. Repair parts, code-driven retrofits, and out-of-scope component replacement are quoted separately, line-item, before we proceed. No "we found something while we were there" surprise invoices.
What about the annual TDLR inspection?
Texas requires annual elevator inspections by a TDLR-licensed inspector. Premium plans include the inspection at no additional cost — we coordinate scheduling, attend on your behalf, address any deficiencies, and you get the resulting cert delivered. Standard plan customers can add it as a flat-fee line item.
Can you take over from our current provider mid-contract?
In most cases, yes. We help you read your existing contract — auto-renewal trap clauses, cancellation notice windows, escalator clauses — and time the transition so you don't get hit with breakage fees. If your contract has a 90-day notice provision, we plan around it. We've taken over from every major in Houston.
What if I just want a one-time inspection or troubleshoot — no contract?
Available. We do hourly work and one-time site visits for buildings that aren't ready to commit to a contract. No pressure to sign up after — and if you do later, we credit a portion of that visit against your first quarterly invoice.
Get a written maintenance proposal. With actual prices.
The walk-through is free. You'll get a line-item proposal — Standard and Premium options, by elevator — within a week. We price-match any written competitor quote for comparable scope, and we'll tell you when the competing plan is actually a better fit (it sometimes is).