Glossary term
landing door
The door in the wall at each floor, locked shut until a lift car is present and level behind it.
What it means
The landing door is the door you see when you are waiting for the lift. It is not the same door as the one on the car. It stays locked at all times and can only be released when a car is actually there, which is what stops anyone stepping into an empty shaft. On most lifts the landing door is dragged open by the car door rather than having a motor of its own.
Where you see it
One at every floor the lift serves. In a home lift or platform lift the landing door may be a light hinged door or a gate; in a commercial lift it is usually a sliding steel panel set in a fire-rated frame.
How it works
A lock on the back of the door holds it shut and carries a contact in the safety circuit. When the car arrives, a cam or vane on the car door engages the lock, releases it, and then pulls the landing door along as the car door opens. When the car leaves, the lock drops back and the contact closes again.
The whole safety circuit is a chain: if any landing door contact anywhere in the building is open, no lift movement is allowed. That is why a door pushed or knocked out of line on the fourth floor can stop a lift that is standing on the ground floor.
Why it matters
Landing doors take the most abuse of any part of a lift because they are in the public part of the building. Trolleys, prams, cleaning machines and propped-open panels all knock them out of alignment, and misalignment is the single most common cause of a lift standing idle with its doors half shut.
Commonly confused with
Users often think the landing door is powered. It is not. It is dragged open by the car door and closed by weight or spring. That is why a landing that fails while every other floor works usually means damage or wear at that one doorway, not a fault in the lift's electronics.
Wear, service and lifespan
Landing doors are struck by trolleys, buggies and furniture, and their sills fill with grit. Service work cleans sills, checks the closing weight or spring, tests the interlock and checks that the door cannot be opened when the car is away. Fire integrity matters too, so damaged panels are repaired rather than patched.
Signs to watch for
- The door closes slowly, stops short or bounces back open.
- A gap appears between the panels when they are shut.
- You can hear the lock clicking repeatedly.
- Scrape marks or grit are visible in the sill track.
- The lift is out of service and the doors at one floor look out of line.
Troubleshooting landing door
One floor's door closes slowly or stops short
What it usually means: The closer, the track or debris in the sill at that floor
Safe check: Look at the sill groove and note anything visible. Report the floor number.
A bang each time the door shuts at one landing
What it usually means: A closer set too strong or a damaged track
Safe check: Compare the sound with another floor and describe the difference.
A visible gap between the doors when closed
What it usually means: Misalignment, and possibly an interlock at risk
Safe check: Stop using the lift and report it. Never put fingers or objects into the gap.
How to report it
Always give the floor number. Landing faults are floor-specific, so an engineer who knows the floor arrives ready with the right closer, roller or lock parts instead of testing every level.
Ask us about landing door on your lift
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Related terms
Definitions that usually come up alongside landing door when you are describing a fault.
- car door
The powered door on the lift car itself, driven by the door operator and responsible for opening the landing door as well.
Doors and entrances
- interlock
A lock and switch combined, so a door cannot be opened unless the car is there and the lift cannot move unless the door is locked.
Safety devices
- door operator
The motor and gear on top of the car that opens and closes the doors and reports their position to the controller.
Doors and entrances
- entrapment
A passenger stuck in a lift car between floors or behind closed doors, released only by trained responders.
Safety devices
- goods lift
A lift built to move materials rather than people, with a rugged car, heavy-duty doors and, in many cases, no permission to carry passengers at all.
Lift types