Lifts Directive

Lifts have a big share in our civilization level. If there had been no lifts, the high buildings where we live in today and skyscrapers could not have been built, and most industries would not have been developed. Lifts provide us with increasingly comfortable and safe access in modern buildings, and we do not need an axe today to be assured of this safety.

“Lift” means an appliance serving specific levels, having a carrier moving along rails which are rigid and inclined at an angle of more than 15 degrees horizontally, intended for the transport of:

• people,
• people and goods, and
• goods alone if the carrier is accessible, that is to say a person may enter it without difficulty, and equipped with controls situated inside the carrier or within reach of a person inside the carrier.

The Directive does not actually give a definition for “safety component”. Most of the components of a lift contribute in one way or another to its safe operation. However, safety components for lifts are components that are fitted with the specific purpose of ensuring safety rather than simply for the normal operation of the lift. Safety components for lifts are listed in Annex IV of the Directive.

A visible CE marking symbol indicates that the lift and the safety components satisfy the essential health and safety requirements of the Directive and have been subject to the appropriate conformity assessment procedure. The best way for a presumption of conformity with the essential health and safety requirements is to apply the harmonized standards published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Most of the harmonized standards for lifts are developed by the CEN Technical Committee. CEN TC 10 has developed a particular numbering system for lift standards, and the family of lift standards bear a generic number EN 81.