The elevator industry may seem like a niche aspect of construction, but for Michael Walsh, Vice President at Elevator Construction Consultants, it is fundamental to modern building functionality. With 36 years in the field and a family legacy spanning three generations, Walsh has seen how proper vertical transportation planning can determine the success or failure of a construction project.
“Elevators are the most widely used mode of transportation in the world, more than cars,” Walsh notes, drawing attention to an often-overlooked reality. Despite their prevalence, elevators are among the most challenging aspects of construction, with industry-wide failure rates for initial inspections remaining high.
Walsh’s entry into vertical transportation was shaped by family tradition and circumstance. “I never thought I would go into the elevator industry, but when I was in high school, my father had me submit my application to the Union,” he recalls. After military service, he joined the elevator constructors’ union as an apprentice, worked through management roles, and eventually launched his own company, Allied Elevator, in Philadelphia in 2009.
A key turning point came with Superstorm Sandy in 2012. “I started getting calls for damage to elevators, mainly up in Manhattan, in the lower end of Manhattan,” Walsh explains. This led to several years of consulting on insurance damage reports, prompting him to sell his company in 2015 and focus exclusively on consulting work.
His expertise soon drew the attention of a leading construction management firm, where he was brought in to support a major $1.6 billion hospital expansion project involving 37 elevators. The challenge was significant: at the time, the company was failing roughly 40% of its elevator inspections across multiple projects.
The impact of failed elevator inspections is substantial. Walsh’s analysis revealed that each failed inspection can cost a project roughly $30,000 when factoring in extra labor, opening delays, re-inspection fees, and related complications.
“You need your elevators when you need them most, on opening day of your building. A lot of times you cannot open your doors if you don’t have operational elevators,” Walsh emphasizes. This reality led him to develop processes and procedures that improved the CM firm Michael worked with, pass rate from 60% to 98%.
The success at the CM firm led Structure Tone Building Group, its parent company, to promote Walsh to Vice President in March 2024 and establish Elevator Construction Consultants under his leadership. The growth has been rapid, with 47 active projects nationwide and six new external clients already secured.
Walsh’s consulting approach starts early in the schematic design phase. “The earlier we are engaged, the more successful the project is from start to finish, because we can influence the design,” he explains. This includes the elevators and all ancillary systems that must be integrated with vertical transportation.
“A lot of my focus in construction is more on the ancillary systems and making sure that they’re correctly captured and integrated with the elevators,” Walsh notes. These systems include sprinklers, lighting, flooring, and shaft walls, areas where coordination failures often occur.
The process covers specification building, bid leveling, contractor selection, and the critical inspection phase. Walsh’s background as a former installer provides practical insight: “I approach it as if I was an elevator company, and I write up what my findings are.”
Walsh identifies recurring issues that frequently cause inspection failures. Lighting is a consistent challenge, particularly with the transition to LED technology. “LED lighting is very directional, so getting your required foot candles without light disbursement becomes an issue,” he explains, noting he wrote an article on lighting challenges despite it being outside his core expertise.
Telecommunications is another common obstacle, involving coordination among multiple contractors for emergency phone systems. “The phone company brings the line to the pole, then there’s another division that brings it from the pole into the building. Then once it’s in the building, there is a third contractor that makes the connection, and then a fourth aspect, which is activation, four separate companies that all have to be aligned in time properly.”
Generator power issues also arise, often due to cost-cutting measures that reduce generator capacity. “We just had a situation where the architect originally designed the entire building to be on generator power, but then through cost cutting, they bought a smaller generator that was undersized and could not handle the load for the entire building.”
Code compliance adds another layer of complexity, with variations between jurisdictions. “When you go up into New York City, New York City has its own elevator code that is separate from the national standard. You go into Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania has not adopted a new code in 25 years,” Walsh explains.
This regulatory patchwork requires thorough research for each project. “It’s so imperative that when I go into different jurisdictions, the first thing that I always do is my code research to understand what building code we’re under and what year we’re under for the elevator code as well.”
Walsh also contributes to code development through his work on four industry committees that write elevator safety codes. “I’m sitting in a room with 40 other individuals, and if I’m having a problem, I can talk it out with them. We are the driving force on what is going to be accepted in the future.”
Looking ahead, Walsh sees technological advances reshaping the industry. Artificial intelligence, present in elevators since 2006 through destination dispatch systems, is becoming more efficient. “There’s an algorithm in the background that does the traffic analysis. We’ve been using AI for years in the elevator industry, but now the advances are becoming much more efficient.”
Predictive maintenance is a significant advancement, flagging needs before failures occur. However, Walsh raises concerns about remote testing: “I had a bolt shear on an elevator that was a three-quarter inch bolt, and remote testing would never have seen that. Somebody sitting 800 miles away making decisions on an elevator that they can’t see everything that’s going on.”
Internationally, innovations include magnetic levitation elevators capable of moving horizontally and vertically, wireless elevator systems that eliminate heavy cables, and robotic installation methods. In the United States, modular elevators are gaining traction, complete multi-stop systems delivered by truck and installed as finished units.
Walsh advises building owners and managers to understand their maintenance contracts. “Learn your elevator contract. So many building owners that I talk to don’t know how much maintenance they’re supposed to get monthly or when components were last changed.”
The maintenance landscape has shifted, with technicians now receiving 45 minutes per elevator each month, compared to four hours previously. “When you break down 45 minutes for maintenance, you’re not doing true maintenance,” Walsh warns.
He recommends: “Make sure that your contract is always written on your paper and not the elevator company’s paper, because an elevator contract put out by the elevator manufacturer is going to favor their needs and not yours.”
Walsh’s experience shows how specialized expertise can transform industry standards. Moving from a 40% failure rate to 98% success, his approach demonstrates that early engagement, careful planning, and technical knowledge can prevent costly delays and ensure smooth project completion.
As Elevator Construction Consultants continues to expand, with more consultants joining in the coming months, Walsh’s model provides an example for construction management firms seeking differentiation through specialized knowledge. The company’s rapid path to profitability within nine months of launch affirms the demand for this expertise.
For an industry where most people only see “four walls and a door,” Walsh’s work ensures the complex systems behind those walls function safely and reliably from the start. In a world increasingly reliant on vertical transportation, this expertise is more essential than ever.
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