What Building Managers Need to Know About Lift Safety Inspections
For a building manager, arranging regular lift maintenance is only part of the responsibility for keeping lifting equipment safe. Lifts may also require a thorough examination under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, usually referred to as LOLER.
A thorough examination is not the same as a service. It serves a different purpose and must be treated separately within lift management.
Understanding when examinations are required, what they cover, and what happens when defects are identified helps prevent important safety issues from being overlooked.
Maintenance and Thorough Examination Are Different
Routine maintenance focuses on keeping the lift in suitable working condition. During maintenance visits, engineers may inspect components, make adjustments, lubricate equipment where required and identify wear or developing faults.
A thorough examination under LOLER is a systematic, detailed inspection of the lift and its safety-critical parts. Its purpose is to determine whether the equipment is safe to continue in use and identify defects that are, or could become, dangerous.
Regular servicing does not remove the need for a thorough examination where LOLER applies.
The two activities can identify some of the same problems, but they should not be treated as interchangeable.
How Often Does a Lift Need to Be Examined?
Where lifting equipment is used to lift people, LOLER generally requires a thorough examination at least every six months.
For other lifting equipment, the usual interval is at least every twelve months.
There is another option. Examinations can be carried out in accordance with a written examination scheme drawn up by a competent person. The intervals in that scheme may differ where appropriate for the particular equipment and its use.
A thorough examination may also be required after certain circumstances that could affect the equipment’s safety, rather than simply waiting for the next scheduled examination.
Building managers should therefore know when the next examination is due rather than relying on the maintenance company to identify it automatically.
Who Carries Out the Thorough Examination?
LOLER requires a competent person to undertake the examination.
In practical terms, this means someone with sufficient technical knowledge and experience to assess the lift, identify defects, and judge their significance.
The competent person must also be sufficiently independent and impartial to make an objective assessment.
That does not necessarily mean the examiner has to work for an entirely separate organisation from the maintenance provider. What matters is that the person carrying out the examination can make an independent judgement without their decision being influenced by responsibility for the maintenance work.
Building managers should be clear about who is carrying out the examination and in what capacity.
What Does a Thorough Examination Cover?
A thorough examination covers parts of the lift that could affect its safe operation.
What needs to be examined depends on the lift’s type and design, its use, condition, and any existing examination scheme.
The competent person will determine the extent of the examination and whether additional testing is required to reach a reliable conclusion about the equipment’s condition.
This is another reason why a thorough examination should not be viewed as a standard maintenance checklist. The examiner is making a professional assessment of whether defects exist that could present a danger.
Preparing for an Examination
Building managers can make the process easier by ensuring that the examiner has appropriate access to the lift and the areas required for the examination.
Where relevant, keep previous examination reports available, particularly where earlier defects or recommendations need to be reviewed.
Maintenance and repair records can provide useful background information about recent work, recurring faults and components that have already been replaced.
Where access to plant areas, lift shafts or other restricted parts of the building needs to be arranged, this should be dealt with beforehand. A competent person cannot complete an examination if they cannot access the equipment that needs to be assessed.
Understanding the Examination Report
The report produced following a thorough examination is an important document and should be reviewed rather than simply filed.
Where no significant defects are identified, the report records the examination and the equipment’s condition at that time.
Where defects are found, the report should provide sufficient information for the duty holder to understand what has been identified and what action is required.
The significance of a defect matters. Some findings may require action before the lift continues to be used. Others may need to be corrected within a specified period because they could become dangerous if left unresolved.
Building managers need to distinguish between these situations and make sure the required action is followed through.
What Happens When a Serious Defect Is Identified?
Where a defect presents an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, it should not be treated as a routine maintenance recommendation.
The competent person has specific reporting duties in these circumstances, and the lift may need to be taken out of service until the problem has been addressed.
The maintenance provider may then be asked to investigate the defect and complete the necessary remedial work.
Once repairs are complete, records of the work should be retained. Depending on the nature of the defect and the competent person’s requirements, further examination or testing may also be necessary before returning the equipment to normal use.
Reports Need to Lead to Action
One practical risk for building managers is letting examination reports become paperwork rather than part of the maintenance process.
A report may identify work that is not immediately dangerous but still requires attention within a stated period. If no one is responsible for following up on the recommendation, the same defect can remain outstanding until the next examination.
A simple process for reviewing reports, obtaining quotations where required, authorising work and recording its completion can prevent this.
This becomes particularly important for organisations managing several buildings or multiple lifts, where recommendations from different examinations can easily become difficult to track.
Keep Maintenance and Examination Records Together
Although maintenance and thorough examination are separate activities, the records from both provide a much clearer picture when considered together.
A maintenance history may show repeated repairs to a particular component. A subsequent examination may identify deterioration in the same area. Conversely, remedial work following an earlier examination should appear within the repair history.
Keeping these records organised makes it easier for building managers, maintenance engineers and competent persons to understand what has happened to the lift over time.
It also becomes increasingly valuable as equipment ages and decisions about major repairs or modernisation are made.
Do Not Wait for the Examination to Find Maintenance Problems
A thorough examination should not replace identifying faults between examination dates.
If a lift develops a problem, shows signs of deterioration, or is damaged, report and investigate the issue when it occurs.
Waiting for the next LOLER inspection can allow a developing problem to become more serious and misunderstands the purpose of the examination.
Maintenance, fault reporting and statutory examination should work alongside one another, with each serving a different role in keeping the lift properly managed.
Know Who Is Responsible
Problems can arise when responsibility for arranging examinations is assumed rather than clearly agreed.
In buildings involving owners, tenants, managing agents, facilities companies, and maintenance contractors, several organisations may be involved in the lift.
The contractual arrangements should make it clear who is responsible for ensuring thorough examinations are arranged at the required intervals and who deals with any defects identified.
The same applies when changing maintenance providers or taking responsibility for a new building. Examination dates, previous reports and outstanding remedial work should form part of the information handed over.
Treat the Examination as Part of Lift Management
For building managers, the most useful approach is to treat thorough examinations as part of wider lift management rather than an isolated compliance exercise.
Know when examinations are due, retain the reports, understand the findings and make sure required work is completed.
Combined with appropriate maintenance and accurate repair records, this provides a much clearer view of the equipment’s condition and helps ensure safety issues are dealt with when they arise.
A completed examination report is not the end of the process. What matters is understanding what it says and acting on it where necessary.
