Elevator AMC vs CMC: What's the Difference and Which Do You Need?

AMC, CMC... if you're a building manager, you've probably heard both terms thrown around like they mean the same thing. They don't, and mixing them up can genuinely cost you money when your contract comes up for renewal, or worse, when something big finally breaks and you find out too late what your contract actually covers.

What's actually different

Here's the simple version: an AMC covers the basics. Your technician shows up on schedule, checks the usual things, lubricates whatever needs it, and handles routine call-outs when something small goes wrong. That's it. If something big fails, say the motor burns out or a control board dies, you're paying for that part separately, on top of whatever you already paid for the annual contract.

A CMC covers all of that too, but it also throws in the parts. Yes, it costs more upfront than a plain AMC. But think about what you're actually buying: predictability. You won't get blindsided by a five-figure bill the one year something major decides to fail, because you already paid for that risk when you signed the CMC. It's essentially insurance against the one expensive year every lift eventually has, and every lift does eventually have one.

A concrete example to make this less abstract

Say a lift's main control board fails in year seven. Under a plain AMC, that's a separate bill on top of your annual fee, and depending on the board, it can be a genuinely significant one. Under a CMC, that same failure is already covered, and you've essentially been paying a small premium every year specifically so that this one expensive event doesn't blindside your budget when it happens.

So which one should you actually pick?

Honestly, it depends on the lift. If it's newer, still within a few years of installation, an AMC is usually fine. The odds of a major component failing that early are genuinely low, so paying extra to cover a risk that probably won't happen doesn't make much sense yet, and you can always upgrade to a CMC later as the lift ages.

But if the lift is older, or it's running hard in a busy commercial building day after day, a CMC starts making a lot more sense. You're trading a bit more money now for a lot less uncertainty later, and for most building managers we talk to, once they've been through one unplanned major repair bill, that trade suddenly looks a lot more attractive than it did before.

What to actually get in writing

Whichever one you go with, get the split written into the contract in plain language, not vague terms. You want to know exactly which components are covered under CMC, and just as importantly, what falls outside even a CMC. Things like cosmetic cabin damage, misuse, or force majeure are common exclusions that catch people off guard later if nobody mentioned them upfront, so ask directly rather than assuming everything is included.

See our AMC contracts page for what we include in each tier, or if you want the fuller list of things to ask before signing anything, our related piece on questions to ask before signing an AMC contract is worth a few minutes of your time before your next renewal.

What we see most often in practice

In our own portfolio, the split leans roughly toward AMC for home elevators and smaller residential installations, and toward CMC for commercial buildings and older lifts nearing the age where major components start failing. That's not a rule, just a pattern, and your own building's specifics should decide it rather than what's typical elsewhere.