Ensuring lift safety

 

SUMMARY OF:

Directive 2014/33/EU on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to lifts and safety components for lifts

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE?

It has two key aims:

• to allow lifts and their safety components to be sold throughout the European Union (EU) market; and
• to ensure a high level of safety for lift users and maintenance staff.

KEY POINTS

The directive lays down uniform rules on the placing on the market and putting into service of lifts and safety components for lifts. It applies to lifts that permanently serve buildings and constructions and that are intended for the transport of people and goods. It does not apply to funicular railways, hoists, escalators or walkways. Slow-speed lifts (with a speed of no greater than 0.15 m/s) are also excluded from the scope.

The directive defines the essential health and safety requirements that each lift must fulfil. In addition, it defines the responsibilities of manufacturers, importers and distributors in the context of the placing on the market of lifts and safety components for lifts:

• all lifts and safety components placed on the EU market must bear the CE conformity marking to show that they meet all the essential safety requirements of EU legislation;
• before obtaining the CE marking, the manufacturer must conduct a conformity assessment to ensure the safety of and establish technical documentation for its lifts and components;
• manufacturers may use harmonised standards, the references of which have been cited in the Official Journal of the European Union, to benefit from a presumption of conformity and facilitated market access;
• importers must check whether safety component manufacturers have carried out conformity assessments correctly and inform the authority monitoring the safety if they consider that the safety components do not conform with the essential health and safety requirements;
• all necessary documentation must be recorded and kept for 10 years;
• documentation and safety information must be written in a language easily understood by end users;
• manufacturers and importers must indicate their postal address on their safety components and lifts;
• upon a request from relevant national authorities, manufacturers may use electronic means to demonstrate conformity.

In addition, the directive specifies how national authorities who monitor safety must identify and prevent the import of dangerous safety components or lifts from non-EU countries.

FROM WHEN DO THE RULES APPLY?

The directive revised and replaced Directive 95/16/EC.

It had to be transposed into national law by 19 April 2016. These rules have applied since 20 April 2016.

BACKGROUND

The directive updates EU rules for the placing on the market and putting into service of lifts and safety components for lifts. This is part of the effort to modernise EU law in a wide variety of industrial sectors, which aims to simplify the rules, reduce administrative burdens and establish clearer and more consistent rules.

For further information, see:

• Lifts (European Commission)

MAIN DOCUMENT

Directive 2014/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to lifts and safety components for lifts (recast) (OJ L 96, 29.3.2014, pp. 251–308).

last update 30.08.2022