What LOLER Actually Requires
LOLER — the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 — sits alongside PUWER and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 as one of the core pieces of UK workplace safety law. It applies to lifting equipment used at work, and it puts specific duties on whichever person or organisation has control over that equipment.
In a lift context that duty holder is usually the employer, the building occupier, the freeholder, or the managing agent acting on their behalf. The duty is not something you can contract out of by pointing at your maintenance company; you can delegate the work, but the legal accountability stays with the person in control of the equipment.
LOLER's headline requirements for a passenger or goods lift are that it must be: of adequate strength and stability, positioned and installed to minimise risk, marked with its safe working load, used only in a safe way — and, critically for this guide, subject to a thorough examination by a competent person at defined intervals.
Thorough Examination vs Servicing
This is the single point most building managers get wrong, and it is the reason we wrote the guide. A service and a thorough examination are two different things, carried out for two different reasons, and one does not replace the other.
| Aspect | Service / maintenance | LOLER thorough examination |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Keep the lift running reliably | Verify the lift is still safe to use |
| Driven by | Your maintenance contract | LOLER 1998 — statutory |
| Who does it | Your lift maintenance company | A competent person, sufficiently independent |
| Output | Service sheet / job card | Written report of thorough examination |
| Frequency | Whatever the contract says | At least every 6 or 12 months (see next section) |
If your contractor hands you a service sheet and tells you "that's your LOLER done", press for the actual written report of thorough examination. It is a distinct document with a specific format.
The 6-Month Rule and the 12-Month Rule
The frequency of a thorough examination depends on what the lifting equipment is used for:
- At least every 6 months for lifting equipment used to lift people, and for lifting accessories. That covers passenger lifts, platform lifts and stairlifts in workplaces or managed common areas.
- At least every 12 months for other lifting equipment — typically goods-only lifts and industrial lifting equipment that never carries a person.
- Or at intervals set out in a written scheme of examination drawn up by a competent person. A scheme can lengthen or shorten the default interval based on the equipment's use and environment.
A common mistake is treating the 12-month rule as the default for every lift. If the lift is used at all to carry people, the 6-month interval is the starting point.
Not sure which interval applies to your lift? Send us the lift type, use, and building context using the form at the bottom of this page and we'll point you at the right HSE reference.
Tool
LOLER due-date calculator
Two inputs. Client-side math based on LOLER Regulation 9 defaults.
Guidance based on LOLER Regulation 9 defaults — the duty holder remains responsible; see HSE guidance.
Who Counts as a Competent Person
LOLER does not define "competent person" as a specific qualification. In practice, HSE and industry guidance treat it as someone with the practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the equipment to detect defects and assess their significance. The individual must also be sufficiently independent and impartial to make an objective decision.
That is why buildings often separate the maintenance contract from the thorough-examination provider — so the person judging the safety of the lift is not judging their own maintenance work. Larger insurers and specialist engineering surveyors provide this service alongside dedicated LOLER firms.
Reports, Defects and Record-Keeping
The competent person must produce a written report of the thorough examination. LOLER Schedule 1 sets out what that report contains — typically the equipment identification, dates, findings, any defects, and whether the equipment is safe to continue in service.
If the examiner identifies a defect that is or could become a danger to people, they must report it — both to the duty holder and, for serious defects, to the relevant enforcing authority. Duty holders must then act on the report: taking equipment out of service where necessary and correcting defects within the specified timeframe.
Reports must be kept and made available for inspection.
Does LOLER Apply to My Building?
LOLER applies to lifting equipment used at work. That squarely covers offices, retail, hospitality, healthcare, care homes, HMOs, and any workplace with a passenger or goods lift.
The boundary that trips people up is residential. Lifts in purely private domestic dwellings are generally treated differently from lifts in the common parts of managed residential buildings, blocks of flats or mixed-use buildings with workplace elements. This distinction matters and depends on how the lift is used and who has control over it — . If you are managing a residential block, do not assume LOLER does not apply; in most managed blocks it will.
What Happens If You Don't Comply
HSE and local authority inspectors enforce LOLER. Enforcement action can range from improvement notices, requiring the duty holder to correct a shortcoming within a specified period, to prohibition notices that stop the lift being used until safe. Where breaches contribute to injury, criminal prosecution is possible under LOLER and the wider Health and Safety at Work etc. Act.
Specific penalty levels, notice procedures and case outcomes change over time — . The commercial reality is simpler: an uninspected lift is a liability that insurers, tenants and enforcement bodies all take seriously.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a LOLER thorough examination the same as a lift service?
No. A service is planned maintenance carried out by your lift maintenance contractor to keep the equipment running. A LOLER thorough examination is a statutory inspection carried out by a competent person, independent of day-to-day maintenance, to verify that the lift is still safe to use. One does not replace the other; a building typically needs both.
Who pays for LOLER inspections in a leasehold block?
The freeholder or managing agent commissions the thorough examination as part of their duty as the person in control of the equipment. The cost is normally recovered through the service charge, subject to the terms of the lease.
What if the report finds a serious defect?
If the competent person identifies a defect that presents an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, they must notify the enforcing authority as well as the duty holder in writing. The duty holder must then act — typically by taking the lift out of service until the defect is corrected.
Can our regular maintenance contractor also do the LOLER examination?
They can, provided the individual carrying out the examination is genuinely a competent person and is sufficiently independent of the day-to-day maintenance decisions being examined. Many building managers prefer to separate the maintenance contract from the examining engineer to avoid a conflict of interest.
Does LOLER apply to a stairlift in a private house?
Lifts used purely in a private domestic setting are generally treated differently from lifts in workplaces or in the common parts of managed residential buildings. This boundary is important and fact-specific —.
How long must LOLER reports be kept?
The written report of a thorough examination must be kept available for inspection.