Lifts Regulations 2016
What this means for your business
- Enforced by
- OPSS
- Applies to
- United Kingdom
- On this page
- 43 compliance obligations, 1 practical guide
What you must do
43 compliance obligations under this legislation — 6 can result in imprisonment.
Appointments 1
Appoint a UK authorised representative for lift duties (if needed)
If your business installs lifts or manufactures lifts (or their safety components), you can delegate certain paperwork and information duties to a UK‑based authorised representative. You must do this with a written mandate that sets out exactly which tasks they may perform, and you remain ultimately responsible for those obligations.
Risk assessment 3
Carry out a conformity assessment for safety components for lifts
If your business manufactures safety components used in lifts, you must assess that each component meets the required safety standards. You can do this by either a type‑examination plus random checks, type‑examination plus product‑quality‑assurance, or a full quality‑assurance system. Choose one route and keep the supporting records.
Carry out approved conformity assessment and keep required lift documents
When you install a lift you must follow one of the approved conformity‑assessment methods set out in the Regulations (final inspection, product or production quality assurance, unit verification or full QA plus design exam). If you did not design or make the lift yourself, you must obtain all the technical documents from the designer/manufacturer so you can install and test the lift safely. You also need to record any allowed variations and may show conformity by calculations or design plans.
Carry out approved conformity assessments and provide manufacturer appeal route
If your company is an approved (or notified) body under the Lifts Regulations, you must perform the conformity assessment activities you were approved for, following the detailed procedures set out in Schedule 6. You also need to have a clear process that lets lift manufacturers appeal if you refuse to issue a Type‑examination certificate or to assign your identification number.
Equipment and safety 2
Affix UK(NI) indication to lifts and safety components
If you manufacture a lift or safety component and the CE mark comes from a UK‑based notified body, you must put a UK(NI) indication on the product before it is sold in Northern Ireland. The marking has to be visible, legible and permanent and must sit alongside the CE mark. Importers also need to check that the manufacturer has done this.
Label lifts safety components and provide instructions
If you manufacture safety components for lifts, you must put a label on each item that shows your name or trade mark, a single contact address, and the type/batch/serial number so the part can be identified. You also have to supply the required instruction booklet, and all information must be clear, legible English. If the part is too small to carry the label, the same details must be on a separate label as set out in regulation 50(2).
Management duties 26
Correct non‑conforming lift safety components and report risks
If you supply a safety component for lifts and you discover (or have reason to suspect) that it does not meet the required safety standards, you must either fix it, withdraw it from sale, or recall it. If the component also poses a safety risk, you must promptly tell the market‑surveillance authority and explain what is wrong and what you have done about it.
Correct non‑conforming lifts and report risks
If you install a lift and become aware that it does not meet the required safety standards, you must fix the problem straight away. If the lift could pose a safety risk, you also have to tell the market‑surveillance authority about the issue and what you have done to correct it.
Correct non‑conforming lifts or safety components and notify authorities
If an inspector finds that a lift or one of its safety parts does not meet the required standards and poses a risk, you must fix the problem (or withdraw/recall the part) within the time limit set by the authority. You also have to inform the approved body and, where required, the Secretary of State of what was wrong and what action you are taking.
Do not sell lift safety components that don’t meet required safety standards
If you import safety parts for lifts, you must only put them on the market if they meet the essential health and safety requirements. In other words, you cannot sell or supply a component that has not been shown to be compliant.
Do not sell non‑conforming lift safety components and report any risk
If you import safety parts for lifts and think they do not meet the required safety standards, you must not put them on the market. If you discover that a part could be dangerous, you also have to tell the manufacturer and the market‑surveillance authority straight away.
Ensure lift conformity and retain certification records
When you install a lift you must make sure the lift is built and monitored so it meets the health and safety requirements in Schedule 1, apply to an approved body for unit verification, provide full technical documentation, display the UK marking and the approved body’s number, and keep a written declaration of conformity, the certificate and the technical files for ten years. In short, you need to prove the lift is safe and keep the paperwork for a decade.
Ensure lift safety components are correctly marked and documented before distribution
Before you sell or supply a lift safety component, you must make sure it carries the UK marking, includes a declaration of conformity, all required labels and documents, and clear English instructions. You also need to confirm that the manufacturer has followed the labelling rules and the importer has provided the required importer information.
Ensure lift safety components conform, obtain random‑checking approval and keep UK marking & declaration
If you make safety components for lifts you must run a manufacturing process that guarantees they match the approved type, apply to a single approved body for random‑checking, allow the body to test samples and issue a certificate, affix the UK marking and the approved body’s ID number to every component that passes, and keep a written declaration of conformity for ten years after the component is placed on the market.
Ensure lift safety components meet Part 2 requirements before sale
If your business supplies safety components for lifts, you must take reasonable steps to confirm that each component complies with the essential safety rules set out in Part 2 of the Lifts Regulations. In practice this means checking conformity before the product is placed on the market and keeping evidence of that check.
Ensure lifts meet essential health & safety before market
3 months imprisonmentIf you install lifts you must make sure the lift has been designed, built, installed and tested to meet the essential health and safety standards before you sell or put it into use. This means checking that every stage of the lift’s life‑cycle complies with the regulations and keeping the necessary evidence. Failing to do so could lead to prosecution.
Ensure safe storage and transport of lift safety components
If you import safety components for lifts, you must make sure that the way you store or move them never harms their safety performance. This means using suitable storage facilities, proper handling, and transport methods that keep the components compliant with health and safety standards.
Ensure safe storage and transport of lift safety components
If your business supplies safety components for lifts, you must keep them in storage and during transport under conditions that do not damage their safety performance. In practice this means having suitable packaging, temperature and handling controls and checking that these conditions preserve the component’s conformity with health and safety standards.
Maintain an approved quality system for lift installation
If you install lifts you must set up and keep an approved quality system. This includes applying to an approved body, documenting policies and test procedures, letting the body audit your work, keeping all records for 10 years, fitting the UK mark with the body’s ID and issuing a Declaration of Conformity for each lift.
Maintain an approved quality system for lift safety components
If you make safety components for lifts you must set up and keep an approved quality system that covers final inspection, testing and documentation. You must apply to an approved body for assessment, let them audit you regularly (including surprise visits), affix the UK marking and the body’s ID to each component, issue a declaration of conformity and retain all technical and quality records for ten years.
Monitor and record safety components for lifts on the market
3 months imprisonmentIf you manufacture safety components for lifts, you must regularly test samples, investigate any complaints about non‑conforming parts and keep distributors and installers up‑to‑date on what you have done. You also need to maintain a register of all complaints, non‑conforming components and recalls, and keep each record for at least ten years.
Monitor lift safety components and keep a 10‑year register
If your business imports lifts or lift safety parts, you must regularly test samples, investigate any complaints and tell your distributors or installers what you have done. You also have to keep a register of all complaints, non‑conforming parts and recalls, and retain each entry for at least ten years.
Obtain and maintain type‑examination certification for lifts and safety components
If you manufacture a lift or any of its safety components (or install a lift), you must have the design examined by an approved body and obtain a type‑examination certificate. You need to supply the required technical documentation, specimen and test evidence, keep the certificate and supporting documents for ten years after the product is placed on the market, and promptly tell the approved body of any design changes that could affect safety.
Only supply lift safety components that meet legal standards
If you distribute safety components for lifts and you suspect they don’t meet the required health‑and‑safety standards, you must not sell or otherwise make them available. If you think a component could pose a risk, you must tell the manufacturer (or importer) and the market surveillance authority about the danger.
Provide clear English instructions with lift safety components
If you import safety parts for lifts and put them on the UK market, you must include the required instruction booklet with each product. The instructions have to be clear, easy to read and written in plain English so that anyone using the component can understand them.
Put in place compliance procedures for series‑produced lift safety components
If your business makes safety parts for lifts using series production, you must have documented procedures that guarantee each part meets the required safety standards before you sell it. Those procedures must also cover any changes to the part’s design or to the standards it must meet.
Share information and keep lift shafts clear during lift installation
If you are responsible for work on a building where a lift is being installed, you and the lift installer must exchange all necessary information and take steps to make sure the lift works safely. In particular, you must ensure that the lift shaft contains only the services needed for the lift – no other pipes, cables or fittings.
Take corrective action for non‑conforming lift safety components
If you import a safety component for lifts and discover (or have reason to suspect) it doesn’t meet the required standards, you must quickly fix it, withdraw it from sale, or recall it. If the component could be dangerous, you also have to notify the market‑surveillance authority and any other member states where it was sold.
Take corrective action on lifts or safety components that pose a risk
If the regulator decides that a lift or a lift safety component, even though it meets the official standards, still presents a safety risk, you must act to remove that risk. This could mean fixing the product before it’s sold, recalling it, or stopping it being used – all within the timeframe set by the regulator.
Take immediate action on non‑conformant lift components
3 months imprisonmentIf you make lift safety parts and think a part isn’t compliant or could be dangerous, you must act straight away. You have to fix the part, pull it from the market, or ask customers to pull it back. If you see a risk, you also need to tell the market‑surveillance authority right away and give all the details.
Translate lift conformity declaration into required language
If you sell or supply a lift or any safety component for lifts in the UK (specifically Northern Ireland), you must have the EU declaration of conformity written in English before the product can be placed on the market. This means you need to either produce the declaration in English from the start or get a reliable translation and keep it with your product documentation.
Verify conformity and documentation before importing lift safety components
If you import safety components for lifts, you must check that the manufacturer has carried out a conformity assessment, produced the technical files, applied the UK marking, supplied a declaration of conformity and any required labels, and complied with the labelling and instruction rules. You can only place the component on the UK market once all these items are in place.
Other requirements 2
Do not affix UK or false markings to lifts or safety components
When you place the UK‑type conformity marking on a lift or any safety part for lifts, you may only do so if you are the installer or the manufacturer and you have already shown that the product meets the required health and safety standards. You must also avoid using any other markings that could mislead people or obscure the UK marking.
Issue a declaration of conformity for each lift or safety component
If your business makes, imports or puts a lift or any of its safety components onto the UK market, you must produce a written declaration confirming it meets all essential health and safety requirements. The declaration has to contain the specific items listed in Schedules 12‑19 and follow the template set out in Schedule 5. You need to keep this declaration as proof of compliance.
Offences and prohibitions 3
Be liable where your actions cause a lift offence
3 months imprisonmentIf someone else commits an offence under regulation 70 of the Lifts Regulations because of something you did or failed to do while carrying out your business, you can be prosecuted as well, even if you are not the main offender. The same applies to directors, managers or other officers of a company if the company commits the offence and they consented, were negligent or connived. Conviction can lead to an unlimited fine and, where appropriate, a term of imprisonment.
Breach of Regulation 70 – lift safety offence
3 months imprisonmentIf a business or individual fails to comply with the requirements set out in Regulation 70 of the Lifts Regulations 2016, they commit a criminal offence. On summary conviction in the Magistrates’ Court they face an unlimited fine, up to three months’ imprisonment, or both.
Fail to comply with lift safety regulations (regs 6‑45)
3 months imprisonmentIf you are responsible for a lift – as owner, operator, maintainer or manager – and you ignore any requirement set out in regulations 6 to 45 of the Lifts Regulations 2016, or you do not act on a withdrawal or recall notice issued by the enforcement authority, you commit a criminal offence. Conviction can lead to a fine (which may be unlimited) and, in the most serious cases, imprisonment.
Record keeping 4
Keep lift documentation for 10 years
If your business installs lifts, you must retain all the technical paperwork, the declaration of conformity and any approval decisions for each lift for ten years from the day the lift is first placed on the market. This means you need a filing system that can store these records and keep them safe for the whole period.
Keep lift safety component documents for 10 years
If you manufacture a safety component for lifts, you must retain the technical file, the declaration of conformity and any approval decision for that component for a full 10 years from the day you put it on the market. This means you need a system to store these records safely and be able to produce them if asked.
Keep lift safety component paperwork for 10 years
If your business imports safety components for lifts, you must retain a copy of the component’s declaration of conformity (and any approval decision) and be able to show the full technical documentation to inspectors. You have to keep these records for ten years from the day the component is first placed on the UK market and make them available on request.
Provide declaration of conformity and UK marking for lifts
If you install lifts, you must produce a declaration confirming the lift meets the essential health and safety requirements, keep that declaration with the lift, and attach the UK CE‑type marking. The declaration must be kept up‑to‑date, and if other laws also require a declaration you can use a single document that lists each law.
Reporting and filing 2
Provide information and cooperate with authorities on lift safety components
If the enforcing authority asks you for details about a lift safety component you have placed on the market, you must give them all the relevant information and documents, in a format and language they can understand, and within the time‑frame they set. You also have to help the authority if they need to evaluate the component or to remove any risk it poses.
Provide information and cooperate with authorities on lift safety components
If the regulator asks you for details about a lift safety component you have imported, you must give them all the necessary paperwork – on paper or electronically – in a language they can understand, and do so within the time‑frame they set. You also have to help them with any investigations or actions to assess the component or remove any risk it poses.
Penalties for non-compliance
6 penalties under this legislation. 6 can result in imprisonment. 6 carry an unlimited fine.
Ensure lifts meet essential health & safety before market
Unlimited fine and/or 3 months imprisonment
Monitor and record safety components for lifts on the market
Unlimited fine and/or 3 months imprisonment
Take immediate action on non‑conformant lift components
Unlimited fine and/or 3 months imprisonment
Be liable where your actions cause a lift offence
Unlimited fine and/or 3 months imprisonment
Breach of Regulation 70 – lift safety offence
Unlimited fine and/or 3 months imprisonment
Fail to comply with lift safety regulations (regs 6‑45)
Unlimited fine and/or 3 months imprisonment
Practical guidance
Our guides explain how to comply with the requirements above.
Sections and provisions
90 classified provisions from this legislation.
Duties 49
- s.6 Design, manufacture, installation and testing in accordance with essential health and safety requirements an installer
- s.8 Declaration of conformity and UK marking The installer
- s.9 Retention of technical documentation and ... declaration of conformity An installer
- Schedule 11 TYPE EXAMINATION FOR LIFTS AND SAFETY COMPONENTS FOR LIFTS (Annex IV to the Directive) The approved body
- s.12 Duty to take action in respect of lifts placed on the market which are considered not to be in conformity
- Schedule 13 CONFORMITY TO TYPE BASED ON PRODUCT QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR SAFETY COMPONENTS FOR LIFTS (Annex VI to the Directive) safety component for lifts
- s.14 Specific duties relating to buildings or constructions in which lifts are installed
- Schedule 15 CONFORMITY BASED ON UNIT VERIFICATION FOR LIFTS (Annex VIII to the Directive) The installer
- Schedule 16 CONFORMITY TO TYPE WITH RANDOM CHECKING FOR SAFETY COMPONENTS FOR LIFTS (Annex IX to the Directive) An authorised representative
- Schedule 17 CONFORMITY TO TYPE BASED ON PRODUCT QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR LIFTS (Annex X to the Directive) lift
- s.18 Retention of technical documentation and ... declaration of conformity A manufacturer
- s.19 Labelling and instructions
- s.20 Compliance procedures for series production
- s.21 Monitoring of safety components for lifts made available on the market A manufacturer
- s.22 Duty to take action in respect of safety components for lifts placed on the market which are considered not to be in conformity
- s.23 Provision of information and cooperation
- s.24 Appointment of authorised representatives An authorised representative
- s.25 Prohibition on placing on the market a safety component for lifts which is not in conformity with the essential health and safety requirements An importer
- s.26 Requirements which must be satisfied before an importer places a safety component for lifts on the market labels that are required
- s.27 Prohibition on placing on the market safety components for lifts considered not to be in conformity with the essential health and safety requirements the importer
- ... and 29 more duties
Offences and penalties 4
Powers 10
- Schedule 7 Enforcement powers of the Secretary of State and the Department under the 1987 Act
- s.41 Provision of information and cooperation
- s.44 Identification of economic operators
- s.52 Approval of conformity assessment bodies
- s.55 Restriction, suspension or withdrawal of approval
- s.59 UK national accreditation body
- s.62 Enforcement powers
- s.77 Action by enforcing authority
- s.78 Appeals against notices
- Designated standard Designated standard
Definitions 8
- Schedule 10 Compliance, withdrawal and recall notices Institute non-compliance
- s.35 Cases in which obligations of manufacturers apply to importers
- s.42 Cases in which obligations of manufacturers apply to distributors
- s.51 Approved bodies notified body approved body requirements
- s.57 Subsidiaries and contractors subsidiary
- s.60 Designation of market surveillance authority
- s.79 Appropriate court for appeals against notices
- Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods technical documentation CE marking qualifying Northern Ireland goods
Exemptions 10
- Schedule 2 Excluded lifts
- s.4 Exception for trade fairs, exhibitions or demonstrations
- s.5 Lifts where risks are wholly or partly covered by other enactments
- s.28 Information identifying importer
- s.50 UK marking
- s.68 Enforcement action in respect of formal non-compliance
- s.72 Defence of due diligence
- s.82 Transitional provisions
- Further use of the UK marking Further use of the UK marking
- Obligations which are met by complying with obliga Obligations which are met by complying with obligations in the Directive