Lerch Bates Inc.

Founded in 1947, Lerch Bates is an internationally acclaimed elevator and escalator consulting firm with 35 offices throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and India.

Our suite of services—which we call “Ownership Asset Solutions”—is designed to support all of your elevator and escalator consulting needs. A team of architects, developers, building investors, owners and managers on the design, sustainability and continuous use of a wide spectrum of building systems for any size or type of building.

Lerch Bates Ownership Asset Solutions will help you:

• Design projects that deliver maximum results—on time and on budget
• Get more out of the services you pay for from your elevator maintenance company
• Reduce unplanned shutdowns, performance issues, and unexpected costs
• Modernize your elevator and escalator systems, when appropriate

About our Work

We work in a wide range of sectors, including Commercial, Hotel, Residential, Healthcare, Retail, Education, Government, Transportation, Stadium, and Entertainment venues, among others.
From the elevators ascending to the top of the tallest buildings in the world to the materials moving through the hidden corridors of major hospital systems, Lerch Bates provides our clients with true building insight – a history of delivering results with imagination and integrity.

Thorough, systematic, meticulous. These are words that take on significant importance to property investors as they evaluate a property for potential acquisition and Lerch Bates provides the most comprehensive Due Diligence services available to building owners and buyers. With an enviable reputation in building systems design, consulting and project management for vertical and horizontal transportation, logistics and façade access, Lerch Bates understands buildings from the inside out – bottom to top. We provide realistic cost analysis and recommendations for modernization or modification that reflect the latest technological advances as well as code and aesthetic considerations.

Every building owner knows its existing elevator and escalator system will eventually have performance issues or reach the end of its useful life. You need to plan for this moment and prepare for an elevator modernization project. Lerch Bates Modernization Services will ensure that you minimize that impact and get a solution that is cost effective, delivered on time and on budget, and fits your long-term plan for the building.

In fact, including Lerch Bates in your modernization project will typically save you 10% - 15% in total project cost, and you can fully expect to get a 100% return on your investment in engaging Lerch Bates to manage your modernization project. The industry average costs for unplanned change orders on a 10-elevator modernization project is $200K - $400K!

Modernize on time, on budget and with minimal impact on your building

Lerch Bates Modernization Services ensure that you will complete the modernization of your elevators with the best possible, most cost-effective solution via a project that completes on time, and on budget, while minimizing the impact on yourself and your building occupants. We will help you “future proof” the building so you can easily adjust to an evolving and competitive market for building occupants, and get cost certainty so you can conduct capital and operating planning with confidence.

Finally, to the extent possible, we will help you minimize the impact and disruption on you and your building occupants. We do this using three components: Requirements Capture and Design Services, Bid/Negotiation/Award Services, and Construction Administration Services.

Requirements Capture and Design Services

Construction Documents are the basis from which the potential modernization contractors will create and deliver their bids, and our Requirements Capture and Design Services ensure that those documents incorporate your goals for the building (performance, tenant experience, VIP services, competitive and market considerations, etc), while also integrating key building impact indicators (elevator use during modernization, noise levels, equipment storage, overtime requirements, etc). We deliver this solution through a group of services that include client discovery, technical surveys, “related work” scope, design report, construction document set delivery, and maintenance service agreement.

Bid/Negotiation/Award Services

Having engaged our team to complete the Requirements Capture and Design Services phase, you can now enter the Bid, Negotiations, and Award phase prepared for success. Leverage our expertise, scope, and industry knowledge to select the best service provider for your needs at a price that is optimized for those needs. We deliver these solutions through a group of services that include bid management, award recommendation, and contract support.

Construction Administration Services

Finally, we collectively will have identified and captured everything you want from a performance and impact perspective from the project. From here, you are ready to move forward with the construction phase of the project. Our Construction Administration Services include system performance review, schedule development/review/approval, submittal review/approval, payment schedule review/approval, job reports and progress meetings, change order review/approval, final project review and punch list, and communication planning.

Efficiently moving people throughout a building adds meaningful value to any project. Did you know that by improving core design efficiency by just 5%, a NYC commercial office property owner could generate $10M in additional rentable square footage*? In addition, ensuring design coordination and compliance can result in a 30% project cost savings during construction.

Lerch Bates Architectural Design Services help architects, engineers and building owners optimize core utilization, resolve implementation issues, and account for future considerations of a building.

*for a 1M sq ft NYC commercial office property over 10-year period

Optimize Your Architectural Design Needs

Lerch Bates Architectural Design services play an important role in creating a “successful building” for an architect, engineer or building owner. We have been helping our partners create successful projects for more than 70 years, serving the Design Phase of a building in five key areas:

Conceptual & Schematic Design

Lerch Bates will work side by side with you as the building design moves from concept to when it is first presented to the client in a schematic format. We will work with you to develop a building concept that is visually appealing, efficient, and achieves both the financial and use goals of your client, considering peak traffic patterns, average wait time, capacity, average time to destination, mixed use and priority services requirements, and projected population assumptions.

Design Development

The transition from concept to final design is an iterative process, and it is critical to have a partner who is responsive and capable. Delays impact project delivery and can reflect negatively on client perception. Fortunately, Lerch Bates is there for you throughout this effort. We update drawing changes that affect elevator and escalator operations, ensure they conform with the design information, provide written recommendations to support timely completion, and support the client throughout the entire process.

Construction Documents

The Construction Documents represent what will ultimately become the elevator and escalator solution, serving as the basis for the design and providing the guidelines that will be used by the contractors to bid on and implement the system. Our architect partners can expect, scaled final drawings, performance-based equipment specification, and a preventative maintenance agreement.

Bidding and Negotiation Assistance

After delivering foundational Construction Documents, Lerch Bates ensures your client enters the Bidding and Negotiation phase prepared for success. Leveraging our expertise, scope, and industry knowledge, we deliver the best elevator contractor for their needs at a price that is optimized for those needs. Our services include bid management, award recommendation, and contract support recommendations.

Construction Administration

Lerch Bates Construction Administration services are designed to provide support for this group as the elevator and escalator solution is implemented in the building. In short, this phase provides peace of mind to the client, delivering a group of services that include submittal review and approval, jobs reports and progress meetings, and final project review and punch list.

• Extensive knowledge of the existing building industry, in all market sectors.​​
• ​Lerch Bates' vast resources have experience and expertise in the design and functional capability of virtually every kind of elevator and escalator equipment that has been manufactured and installed over the past 70 years. With this expertise, we know full well how the equipment should perform and the maintenance activities that must be performed, to ensure high level performance.
• ​Leveraging 74 years of experience in professionally managing the ongoing performance of elevator industry service providers who are engaged in the day to day maintenance and repair of vertical transportation systems in existing buildings.
• Our global network of vertical transportation consultants focus on the support of the existing building environments through the following activities;
• Contractor oversight and problem resolution
• Performance of equipment audits and deficiency resolution
• Development of performance based maintenance specifications
• Review and approval of all contractor invoicing related to out of contract expenses
• Reporting on VT equipment Key Performance Indicators
• Complete administrative management of AHJ mandated equipment permitting and inspections
• Development of vertical transportation equipment Capital Planning requirements
• A key aspect of our success in managing ongoing VT maintenance programs comes from our deep local and national relationships with major manufacturers and independent contractors. When problems need to be escalated to be resolved, our communication channels are well established.
• The LB Solutions program is designed to ensure that our clients get the service they deserve….
• Ensure contractors perform in full accordance with maintenance specifications
• Regularly evaluate equipment performance to ensure optimum levels of service are being provided.
• Reduce operating expense by controlling out of contract spend and managing contractor proposal scope and fees.
• Extend the lifecycle of the equipment to eliminate the need for premature modernization
• Provide a road map and timetable for capital investment when the time comes to upgrade equipment.
•  LB Solutions allows ownership to gain back control of their elevator and escalator maintenance programs.