Lifts, hoists and platform lifts

• Directive 2014/33/EU — Lifts
• Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 — Machinery for lifting equipment outside the Lifts Directive
• Regulation (EU) 2019/1020

Who has to appoint one

Manufacturers of lift safety components outside the Union, and installers placing lifts on the market. The Lifts Directive splits responsibility: the installer of the lift carries the conformity obligation for the installed lift, while component manufacturers carry it for their safety components.

Thresholds and exemptions

The Directive covers lifts serving permanent levels of buildings with a carrier moving along rigid guides. Slower platform lifts below the speed threshold fall under the Machinery rules instead.

What must appear on the label

CE marking with the notified body number, the installer's or manufacturer's name and address, the EU representative's details, the year of installation, the type and serial number, and the rated load and speed on the car plate.

Marketplace fields

Not a marketplace category, but safety components are traded internationally and buyers require the EU type-examination certificate.

Documentation you must hold

EU declaration of conformity for the lift and for each safety component, technical documentation, the EU type-examination certificate, and the records of the final inspection or the quality assurance system.

Standards and testing

EN 81-20 and EN 81-50 for lift design and component testing, with type examination of safety components such as locking devices, overspeed governors, safety gear and buffers.

Language requirements

Instructions, maintenance manuals and the emergency instructions in the language of the member state where the lift is installed.

When it applies

Before placing on the market or putting into service. Periodic inspection in use is a national obligation on the building owner.

How long records are kept

Ten years for the technical documentation, and installation records for the life of the lift in practice.

What happens if you do not comply

Prohibition of use, which stops a building operating, and criminal liability where an accident occurs. National inspection bodies can take a lift out of service immediately.

Who enforces it

Market surveillance authorities, national lift inspection bodies, notified bodies and labour inspectorates.

Where the boundary lies

Slow platform lifts and stairlifts often fall under the Machinery rather than the Lifts Directive, and getting the classification wrong means the wrong conformity route and an invalid declaration. Goods-only hoists follow the Machinery regime.

Questions we are asked

Who is responsible, the manufacturer or the installer?

For the installed lift, the installer. For safety components, the component manufacturer. Both need documentation, and a non-EU component maker needs an EU representative.

Is a stairlift a lift?

Usually not under the Lifts Directive because of the speed and guide criteria; it is generally machinery, which changes the route entirely.