Lifts
PHASE 1: Does This Product Apply to Your Product
As a manufacturer, you need to secure copies of the Directives and judge whether they apply to your product. The European Commission does not publish a list of products to which their laws apply; they require the manufacturer to determine the applicability of directives to any given product. The Directive 95/16/EC, Lifts, applies to lifts permanently servicing a building or construction. This Directive also applies to all safety components used in lifts listed in Annex IV of this Directive, as defined by the Lifts Directive.
The term “lift” is defined in Chapter 1, Article 1, #2 of this Directive as “an appliance serving specific levels, having a car moving along guides which are rigid and inclined at an angle of more than 15 degrees to the horizontal and intended for the transport of: persons; persons and goods; goods alone if the car is accessible, that is to say, a person may enter it without difficulty, and fitted with controls situated inside the car or within reach of a person inside; or lifts moving along a fixed course even where they do not move along guides which are rigid shall fall within the scope of this Directive (for example, scissor lifts).”
Items that are excluded from the Directive are listed in Chapter 1, Article1, #3. The Directive does not apply to:
- Cableways, including funicular railways, for the public or private transportation of persons
- Lifts specially designed and constructed for military or police purposes
- Mine winding gear
- Theatre Elevators
- Lifts fitted in means of transport
- Lifts connected to machinery and intended exclusively for access to the workplace
- Rack and pinion trains
- Construction-site hoists intended for lifting persons or persons and goods
To view the Lifts Directive and see the latest list of standards for that directive, please go to the European Commission's website at http://www.newapproach.org and click on "Directives and Standards."
This overview of the Lifts Directive is still being developed. For additional information on this directive, please contact either of the U.S. Department of Commerce's EU Specialists: Bob Straetz at 202-482-4496 or Sylvia Mohr at 011 32 2 508 26 75.
PHASE 2: CE Marking Requirements for the Lifts Directive
The Directive 95/16/EC, Lifts, does not allow for CE Marking self-certification. Chapter II “Conformity Assessment Procedure”, outlines the requirements for CE Marking certification
- Safety Components: Chapter II, Article 8, #1
- Lifts: Chapter II, Article 8, #2
- Installation of lifts: Chapter II, Article 8, #3
- Lifts and safety components subjected to additional Directives: Chapter II, Article 8, #4
- Obligations to those other than the manufacturer and the manufacturer’s authorized agent: Chapter II, Article 8, #5
A list of approved testing facilities is published in the Official Journal of the European Communities along with their identification numbers and the tests that each lab is approved to conduct.
To view the Lifts Directive and see the latest list of standards for that directive, please go to the European Commission's website at http://www.newapproach.org and click on "Directives and Standards."
This overview of the Lifts Directive is still being developed. For additional information on this directive, please contact either of the U.S. Department of Commerce's EU Specialists: Bob Straetz at 202-482-4496 or Sylvia Mohr at 011 32 2 508 2675.
