Placing on the Market

The Lifts Directive sets essential health and safety requirements for the design and construction of lifts and safety components.

The Lifts Directive applied to permanently installed lifts in buildings and structures and relates specifically to personnel lifts and lifts that are used to carry personnel and goods. Not included in the Directive are: cable installations, lifts for military purposes, mine lifts, theatre hoists, lifts that are installed in means of transport, lifts that are connected to a machine, rack railways and construction lifts.

The Lifts Directive 95/16/EC will take effect on 1st July 1997 and has a transition period until 30th June 1999.

Inspection of Lifts

The Lifts Regulations, 2002 (L.N. 370 of 2002), transposing the Lifts Directive 95/16/EC apply to the placing on the market of new lifts and do not cover the “in-use” aspect of lift installations.  Periodic inspection of lifts is a non-harmonised area and is therefore subject to national legislation.

The regulations also reflect the European Commission’s Recommendation (95/216/EC) of 8^th June, 1995 to the Member States “concerning improvement of safety of existing lifts”.  The European Parliament had declared the Recommendation as an indispensable condition for the acceptance of the Lifts Directive 95/16/EC.

The Inspection of Lifts Regulations, 2007 has therefore introduced requirements for upgrading existing lifts to reasonable and practicable standards of safety and to carry out preventive inspections and maintenance on all lifts, installed in both domestic residences and at a workplace. 

Downloads

Further information on lifts can also be found on the Commission's enterprise website.