Are your lifts compliant?

Those responsible for buildings – whether landlords, councils, facilities management companies or hospital engineers – have a legal duty to ensure the spaces they oversee are safe and compliant. But what does that really mean?

Having dedicated my entire career to the lift and escalator industry, I have complete confidence in my knowledge of the vertical transportation field. Therefore I understand the immense challenge faced by building owners and managers. They have the unenviable challenge of being knowledgeable in the whole range of regulations and requirements concerning a building, not just for lifts, but for every system within a building. From maintenance to inspection and testing, each system comes with its own regulatory requirements that may change as legislation evolves. It is a Herculean task, demanding both breadth and depth of knowledge across multiple disciplines.

This blog aims to provide building managers with the essential knowledge to assist in managing their lift and escalator portfolio. Given the complexity and evolving nature of compliance requirements, Cundall can bring deep technical expertise and up-to-date regulatory insight, helping to ease the compliance burden and ensure that vertical transportation systems remain safe, efficient, and legally compliant.

Although this article is focused on UK requirements, it is likely to be applicable across the globe. Where formal regulations do not exist, applying this guidance as best practice will help ensure the safety lift and escalator users.

Maintenance

Lifts and escalators are complex pieces of electro-mechanical equipment with key elements that must be regularly adjusted and lubricated to ensure continued safe operation. The frequency of maintenance is dependent upon the usage load and the environment. Little-used equipment will need less frequent maintenance than that which operates in locations with high footfall or adverse environmental conditions, such as exposed external locations or in areas where vandalism and misuse is common.

It can be attractive for cost reduction reasons to reduce the frequency of maintenance visits. However, if not balanced correctly, this will likely lead to greater frequency of equipment breakdowns, as well as higher cost repairs when components fail, as they will often damage other associated components. There may also be a possible increase in delays to building users as repair times cannot be optimised to take place at a minimally obstructive time.

Your lift maintenance contractor or lift consultant will be able to assess the specific requirements of your lifts or escalators and recommend appropriate maintenance frequency.

Maintenance contracts

While a maintenance contract for lifts and escalators is not required, it is more practical. Without one, building managers must arrange each visit individually, adding to their workload. A contract streamlines scheduling and ensures a provider is ready to respond quickly in the event of a breakdown.

Maintenance contracts vary from basic agreements that only cover maintenance, to more comprehensive packages that include the cost of parts, consumables, and remote monitoring. Low-cost contracts may seem appealing, but they often shift the risk of extra costs onto the building owner. In some cases, poor maintenance under a basic contract can lead to higher long-term expenses.

Statutory inspections - LOLER

The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) place a legal requirement for lifting equipment to be inspected by a competent person. Typically, passenger carrying equipment require a LOLER inspection every six months, and non-passenger carry equipment need a LOLER inspection every 12 months.

Note that escalators are not considered lifting equipment and therefore not strictly covered under LOLER. However, six monthly inspections are recommended by the Health and Safety Executive.

This link provides some useful additional information from the HSE Government page.

LOLER defects and supplementary tests

It’s important to understand that a LOLER inspection isn’t the end of your legal responsibilities. If any defects or further tests are identified, they must be addressed within a certain time frame.

Typically, the LOLER inspector will require defects to be corrected or supplementary tests to be completed before the next inspection takes place (so 6-12 months’ time). However, if more urgent attention is needed then a shorter time frame may be stated. In very serious cases, they will ask for immediate rectification and for the equipment not to be used until the defect has been corrected.

All defect work must be documented, and provided it’s completed and recorded appropriately, no additional LOLER inspection is required until the next due date.

The responsibility for arranging LOLER compliant work lies with the equipment owner so its important to manage the process and ensure the maintenance contractor undertakes the required work within the identified timescales.

Top tips for building managers about lift LOLER inspections

• LOLER provided reports must be forwarded to the lift maintenance company by the building manager.
• A common misconception is that the LOLER inspector sends a copy of the LOLER to the lift maintenance company directly. This is generally incorrect, unless a building owner has specifically arranged this ahead of time.
• Even if a LOLER inspection doesn’t identify any defects, the report should be forwarded to the lift maintenance company.
• It’s the owner's responsibility to ensure LOLER inspections are completed when due, and that defects and / or tests are completed.
• LOLER defects or supplementary tests should be completed prior to the next inspection, or according to the time period stated by the inspector.
• A lift shouldn’t be used if the LOLER inspection, defect, or supplementary test is overdue.

Lifts used for evacuation or fire circumstances

Lifts used for evacuation or fire service access are critical in emergencies, which is why stricter rules apply to their maintenance and reporting. In high-rise residential buildings (defined as those over 18 metres or seven storeys), if a lift becomes non-operational and cannot be repaired within 24 hours, the responsible person must notify the local fire and rescue service without delay.

Lifts have been provided to assist the fire service in fighting a fire for many years, and the design standards for these pieces of equipment have changed over time. Therefore, when thinking about such lifts, we need to not only consider the current standard for compliant firefighter's lifts, but also all the various fire lift designs which have gone before.

Top tip: Engage an independent specialist lift consultant to assess the features of your lifts to ensure they meet the necessary standards. Further information can also be found in BS8899 and in this useful UK Government factsheet.

Regular maintenance and inspection of evacuation and firefighter lifts

Evacuation and firefighter lifts should be maintained and undergo periodic testing for correct function:

• Weekly tests of firefighter response protocol and relevant equipment.
• Failure of the primary power supply should be simulated once a month, and where a generator provides the standby power, it must energise the lift for at least 60 minutes.
• Firefighting and evacuation lifts should be inspected and tested every six months by a competent person.
• Annual performance tests should coordinate tests of the interconnected and interrelated systems, ie the lift, the fire alarm, and the secondary power system.

Seven actions for building managers to take for their lifts

• Engage a lift maintenance company to undertake regular maintenance
• Engage a LOLER inspector to undertake statutory LOLER inspections
• Pass LOLER examination certificates to your lift maintenance company after inspection
• Action all LOLER defects and requests for additional tests within the defined timescale
• Arrange the additional inspections for evacuation lifts and lifts for fire service use
• Notify the fire service if an evacuation of fire service lift in a high-risk building is unavailable for more than 24 hours
• If you’re not sure or need more support, contact an independent professional lift consultant like Cundall