Evacuation lifts - design requirements of new standard BS EN81-76:2025 

For years, evacuation lifts have been described in limited forms in UK regulations, but on 24 July 2025 we welcomed the long-awaited new design standard. The standard has been published following its ratification by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the British Standards Institute (BSI).  

It’s a step change in how buildings are designed, as traditional approaches instructed people to avoid lifts in the event of an evacuation or emergency such as a fire. The new standard expands the possibilities in evacuation plans, increasing accessibility for individuals with reduced mobility. 

Catchily named, the standard is called “BS EN 81-76:2025 Safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts - Particular applications for passenger and goods passenger lifts. Part 76: Evacuation of persons with disabilities using lifts.” It supersedes the now withdrawn DD CEN/TS 81-76:2011, which was never adopted in the UK. 

This may be one of the most impactful changes in the design of buildings and lifts for many years, with the detailed design requirements for lifts able to assist in the evacuation of buildings now being defined. 

Since 2008, evacuation lifts were described in a very limited form in BS 9999: Code of practice for fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings. The London Plans’ publication in March 2021 was one of the pivotal documents which first mandated evacuation lifts in buildings. The recent publication of BS 9991: Code of practice for Fire safety in the design, management and use of residential buildings in November 2024 introduced greater definition and requirements for evacuation lifts and required them to be provided in all residential buildings where lifts were provided. It also contained extensive references to the now published EN81-76 standard. 

This article aims to give an overview of the new evacuation lift requirements and provide an introduction to the topic. Reference should be made to the detailed standard for full information.  

Application of the BS EN81-76 standard 

Several key elements of importance are covered in the National Forward of the standard: 

• The evacuation lifts described in BS EN81-76 are a significant improvement to those previously detailed in BS 9999.
• No hard-stop implementation date is defined, unlike other earlier standards, as it will take the market time to develop solutions.
• The definition of what an evacuation lift is, is only the first step.  The evacuation lift needs to collaborate with other building and design elements, including determination of the number, size, and location of such lifts within a building.This must be done on a case by case basis to integrate this new approach into future projects smoothly. 

Design collaboration is required for evacuation lifts 

The provision of an evacuation lift within a building will not solely be the responsibility of the vertical transportation designer or lift manufacturer, but a collaboration between multiple parties, including: 

Fire engineers – defining the number and location of evacuation lifts 

Electrical engineers – integrating the lift with the buildings secondary power systems and fire alarm systems 

Mechanical engineers – integrating the evacuation lift with the ventilation systems of safe spaces, or pressurisation systems 

Architects – situating the evacuation lift in relation to other lifts for other purposes, as well as providing the necessary safe space compartments and escape routes 

New terms and definitions 

As this is a new standard, it brings along with it new terminology which building designers will get used to over time. 

Evacuation lift – a lift designed to be used for the evacuation of persons with disabilities  

Evacuation exit landing (EEL) – a floor to exit the building during the evacuation  

Suspend service landing (SSL) – a landing at which the lift is taken out of service during suspension of the lift operation. It can be the same or different from the EEL, and is assumed to have a safe and accessible route out of the building. 

Note – SSL in construction also can mean structural slab level 

Safe area – a fire and smoke protected area at the landing in front of an evacuation lift 

Suspend service signal – a control signal to suspend the evacuation mode and make the lift automatically travel to the SSL where it will remain out of service. For example, detection of smoke in a safe area would initiate the suspend service signal. 

Driver assisted evacuation operation – the evacuation lift is manually controlled from within the lift car by a driver using the in car buttons to direct the lift to the required floors 

Remote assisted evacuation-operation – the evacuation lift is manually controlled from a remote location, only applicable for Class B evacuation lifts 

Automatic evacuation operation- an evacuation lift mode where the lift responds to calls from the landings, then transports the passenger directly to the EEL 

Evacuation recall – the recall of a lift to an EEL, initiated by a switch at the EEL or an external signal 

Evacuation lift attributes and definitions  

The below table summarises the two different types of evacuation lift according to BS EN81-76:2025 and particularly some of the key differences between them.  

Note – the roof trapdoor is for persons in the car to be helped by persons outside of the car in the event of emergency  

Note – horizontal sliding doors are required for all car and landing doors 

A Class A evacuation lift is intended to be used where: 

• The building height would not require a firefighting lift
• Only one evacuation exit level is required
• Secondary power is not available 

A Class B evacuation lift is intended for use where the Class A criteria are not fulfilled, or remote operation is required. 

Not all floors served by a lift need necessarily be provided with safe areas for evacuation, and in such cases the unused lift landing doors should be provided with fire shutters or fire doors in front of the lift landing doors as an alternative to a safe area. 

Water management shall be provided to prevent water ingress into the lift shaft. Suitable methods to do so include drainage channels in front of the lift doors, or ramping of floor into front of the lift entrances so that water drains away from the lift. 

Where the distance between consecutive lift landing entrances is greater than 7m, intermediate emergency evacuation doors shall be provided. 

Evacuation lift specific equipment requirements 

An evacuation lift needs to have specific equipment over and above chart which a standard lift may have: 

• Voice announcer to provide evacuation instructions
• In car buttons for driver assisted evacuation  
• Landing call buttons
• Car position indicator at each EEL landing
• Visual indicator of evacuation service capability at each EEL
• Where there are multiple EEL’s, an indicator at each EEL showing the active EEL
• An evacuation lift sign at each evacuation landing (minimum size 40mm x 40mm)
• Evacuation lift switch at each EEL (where driver assisted evacuation is implemented)
• Communication system for driver assisted and remote assisted evacuation modes, where implemented  
• Video monitoring system for remote assisted evacuation 

Power supplies and disruption 

If power is disrupted or changed from one supply to another, the lift must become available for service again within 60 seconds. 

Class A evacuation lifts do not have a secondary power supply system, but do require an automatic rescue operation to move the lift to the EEL and allow persons to exit the lift in the event of power failure.

Class B evacuation lifts require a secondary power supply.  

Instructions and maintenance of evacuation lifts 

Information concerning the evacuation lift provisions, modes, and operation must be provided with this lift. 

Training will be required for those commanding an evacuation, for example in the driver or remote-controlled operation modes. 

Training will be required for the evacuees who traditionally have been told not to use lifts in the event of an emergency. 

Periodic tests / simulated emergency drills should be conducted to support the training. 

Equipment needs to be maintained and its operation checked periodically. Not only of the lift, but also of all associated elements such as the power supply and communication systems. 

Summary 

The introduction of this standard brings state of the art improvements to the design and function of evacuation lifts. It will likely take some years for this to start to be realised in live buildings, but by providing accessible evacuation facilities for those who need them, the standard will further improve the safety of buildings for their users and residents.  

Perhaps the more significant challenge will be in determining the quantity and size of evacuation lifts a building needs. Whilst a capacity assessment could be based on the expected number of people in a building with accessibility needs, will persons without accessibility needs see the lift as an alternative route for them to use as well? This will be discovered as the industry catches up and tests the limits of the new designs.