Public consultation for the Evaluation of the Lifts Directive

Deadline: 16/12/2016

Introduction

Directive 95/16/EC of 29 June 1995 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to lifts aims at ensuring the free movement of lifts and safety components for lifts within the internal market and a high level of protection of the health and safety for users and maintenance personnel of lifts. It applies to:

- Lifts intended for the transport of persons only;
- Lifts intended for the transport of persons and goods;
- Lifts intended for the transport of goods only, if the carrier is accessible to persons and if the controls of the lift are inside the carrier or can be reached from within the car.

It shall also apply to the safety components for use in such lifts listed in Annex IV.

More in particular, Directive 95/16/EC applies to new lifts, when they are first placed on the market and put into service. The provisions of the Directive are therefore not applicable to existing lifts, that is to say, lifts placed on the market and put into service before Directive 95/16/EC came into force (at the earliest, after the 1st July 1997 and at the latest, after the 1st July 1999). New lifts, subject to the provisions of Directive 95/16/EC, include:

- Lifts installed in new buildings;
- Lifts installed in existing buildings;
- Lifts installed in existing wells in replacement of existing lifts, including when the existing guide rails and their fixings or the fixings alone are retained.

In line with the “New Approach to Technical Harmonization and Standards”, the design and manufacturing of lifts and safety components for lifts and the installation of lifts are subject to essential health and safety requirements which are applicable to any lifts and safety components for lifts placed on the EU internal market. The essential health and safety requirements define the objectives to be attained in terms of lift safety. In general, the installer or manufacturer remains free to choose the means to attain those objectives, though conformity with the applicable essential health and safety requirements is mandatory.

In 2014, the Directive was aligned to the New Legislative Framework, which clarified the obligations of economic operators and the operating rules of notified bodies and improved consistency with respect to conformity assessment. The new Lifts Directive 2014/33/EU was published on the OJEU on 29 March 2014 and is applicable since 20 April 2016.

This recast only aligned Directive 95/16/EC to the New Legislative Framework, thus not entailing its full revision.


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