Lifts: safety, maintenance and technical control

Verified 02 October 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Would you like to know the safety features of the lifts and their maintenance conditions? We are taking stock of the regulations.

The safety of an elevator consists in ensuring the following measures:

  • Landing Door Closure
  • Safe access of persons to the cabin
  • Protection of users against shocks caused by the closing of doors
  • Prevention of risks of cabin fall and crash
  • Protection against cab speed disturbances
  • Providing users with means of alerting and communicating with an intervention service
  • Protection of the electrical circuits of the installation
  • Safe access for emergency personnel to machinery spaces, associated equipment and spaces covered by the cabin
  • No access by any person, other than intervention personnel, to the machinery spaces, associated equipment and spaces covered by the cabin

FYI  

If the lift was settled after 27 August 2000, it shall include the CE marking. This marking means that the lift meets the safety standards described above.

Interview

The owner of the elevator has to go through a maintenance contract with a professional of his choice to ensure its proper functioning and the safety of persons.

This contract must be concluded for a minimum of 1 year. It must contain certain mandatory minimum clauses (in particular, duration of the contract, penalties for non-compliance with maintenance, safety and control obligations, termination).

The references of the maintenance contract and its end date shall be entered in the maintenance book of the condominium building. This log must record all visits, operations and interventions carried out.

If the owner has the necessary technical capacity in order to maintain the lift, he is not obliged to use a professional and may carry out the maintenance himself. In this case, the owner must keep the maintenance log up to date and draw up an annual activity report.

The owner of the elevator must take the minimum provisions following:

  • Periodic operations and verifications
  • Occasional Operations

Operations and periodic checks are:

  • Visit every 6 weeks to monitor the operation of the installation and make the necessary adjustments
  • Verification every 6 weeks of the effectiveness of bearing door locks and devices preventing or limiting acts affecting the locking of bearing doors
  • Review every 6 months of the good condition of the cables and annual check of parachutes
  • Annual cleaning of the installation bowl, cabin roof and machinery space
  • Lubrication and cleaning of parts

The occasional operations are:

  • Repair or replacement, if it cannot be repaired, of small parts of the installation showing signs of excessive wear
  • Specific maintenance measures to eliminate or reduce defects identified by roadworthiness tests as endangering the safety of persons or affecting the proper functioning of the appliance
  • In the event of an incident, assistance in clearing persons stuck in the car and repair and return to normal operation of the lift
  • When major parts of the installation are worn out, the owner causes them to be repaired or replaced if they cannot be repaired

Technical inspection

A technical inspection must be carried out to check that the lift is equipped with safety features in good condition. It also makes it possible to identify any defect presenting a danger to the personal safety or affecting the proper functioning of the apparatus.

This technical inspection must be carried out every 5 years by a person qualified or competent in this field.

The activities of that person must be covered by insurance against the consequences of his professional liability for the control of lifts.

It must have no connection liable to impair its impartiality and independence, nor with the owner who calls upon it, nor with a company who may carry out work on an elevator or its maintenance.

When it is a legal person, its capital must not be held, even in part, by such a company.

The person responsible for roadworthiness tests must hand over to the owner a document attesting on his honor that he is in a legal situation with regard, in particular, to his qualification.

The person responsible for roadworthiness tests shall draw up a report indicating the operations carried out and the defects identified (if any). Within one month of the end of the intervention, it must submit this report to the owner.

The owner shall submit this report to the company or person responsible for the maintenance of the lift and, if work is necessary, to the persons responsible for its design and execution.

Please note

The owner must inform the inhabitants of the building that the elevator is not available for the duration of the roadworthiness test. This information must be provided by means of a display on the lift door.

In condominiums, the work to bring the elevators into conformity must be voted at the general meeting of the condominiums by a simple majority, called Article 24.

The simple majority (said majority of article 24) corresponds to a majority of the votes cast by the co-owners present or represented and those who voted by mail. Abstentions are therefore not taken into account.

Any owner who fails to comply with safety, control and maintenance obligations can be punished with a fine of €450 and be liable in the event of an accident involving persons. Similarly, any owner who calls on a professional who does not fulfill the qualification required for the performance of the maintenance contract may be punished by a fine of €450.

Any professional responsible for the maintenance of the lift may be fined €2,250 if he has not concluded a written maintenance contract or if he has concluded a maintenance contract which does not contain the mandatory minimum clauses.

Any professional responsible for the technical inspection of the lift who has not carried out the necessary checks or is not qualified to carry out those checks may be fined €2,250.

Any manufacturer or installer may be punished with a fine of €2,250 in particular if it does not make all parts of the installation accessible to the professional in charge of maintenance.

Anyone with an occupation title (tenant, co-owner...) can enter the judge hearing applications for interim measures of the court of justice of the location of the immovable to request, possibly under penalty payment, the upgrading of an elevator. It may also require compliance with maintenance and roadworthiness requirements.

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