How they Work - In Theory

Before a 'new' lift may be placed into service and therefore used, the lift, together with the safety components installed within it, must be marked with a CE mark.

In order for the safety component requirements to be satisfied, they must be designed, tested, certified and issued with the correct documentation as specified within the Regulations. A list of safety components is given within Schedule 4 of the Regulations.

The lift CE mark cannot be applied unless the design and construction of the lift as a whole is fully in accordance with the Regulations and EN81. A Declaration of Conformity must be issued stating that the above items are satisfactory.

The Declaration may be issued by a Notified Body or by the Lift Contractor providing the necessary criteria are satisfied. A Notified Body in this instance must be recognised as being able to operate within the Lifts Regulations and shall have the necessary experience available in order to assess and supervise the design and installation of lifts.

The Lift Contractor's responsibilities and limitations are determined by the quality control procedures employed by him. For these systems to be effective, the Lift Contractor must register with a Notified Body, recognised under the Regulations, and get the system accredited. This is achieved by the auditing and periodic surveillance of the quality system. This then allows the contractor to continue to provide services within the scope of the quality accreditation.

This allows contractors with EN29002 to install a lift, which has been previously designed in accordance with EN29001, without direct intervention of the Notified Body. However the Quality System must be monitored by the Notified Body and in effect the lift must be of a package type that has been sample tested and all of which extraneous criteria, i.e. shaft dimensions, pit depths and headroom dimensions are fixed. This is obviously most suitable for new lift installations in new buildings.

Contractors with EN29001 accreditation can design and install without direct intervention of the Notified Body providing the lift environment fully complies to EN81. However the Quality System must still be monitored by the Notified Body.

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