First, secure the lift
An unattended lift with a fault must be visibly out of service to every possible user:
- Place an ‘Out of service’ barrier or hood over each landing call station.
- If the lift is stopped between floors with occupants, follow the entrapment procedure — do not use the emergency-key release unless you are trained to do so.
- Notify reception, security and any tenant with accessibility needs immediately — many contracts require you to log a service-affecting fault within 30 minutes.
Note everything before you phone
Safe to check yourself
Have this ready before you dial the service line:
- Lift identifier (as on the annual LOLER report — usually a two- or three-character code).
- Make, model, and installation year.
- Exact time the fault occurred, or was first noticed.
- Landing at which the car is stopped, or between which two landings.
- Any warning message visible on the car display or landing display, photographed.
- Whether the lift was carrying passengers when it failed.
- Any unusual smell, noise or vibration noted before the fault.
- Whether the fault has been seen before on this lift, and if so when.
What the service provider will need to confirm
The service provider will ask a set of standard questions, including:
- Is the lift in a public, workplace or private setting? This changes the response SLA.
- Is the lift the only accessible route between floors? If yes, response is usually 4 hours; if not, next working day is contractual on many UK contracts.
- Are there any people currently trapped or stranded on an upper floor?
- Has the fault been reset yet? (Do not reset before the engineer's advice.)
Have the contract number and site address to hand — it speeds dispatch materially.
Not sure which brand or model you have? Send us the symptom in plain English and we’ll point you at the right diagnostic page for free.
Describe your symptom →RIDDOR and LOLER considerations
An out-of-service commercial lift may trigger a RIDDOR notification if it caused injury, and must trigger a LOLER report update if a safety-critical component has failed. In practice:
- Any injury more than a bruise = RIDDOR notifiable within 10 days.
- Any failure of a lifting-related component (drive, brake, ropes, safety gear) = must be recorded on the next LOLER report.
- Any near-miss involving a fall or entrapment = should be logged in the site accident book.
See our LOLER guide for the full framework.
During the wait: what not to do
Stop — call an engineer
- Do not attempt to reset the lift via the controller cabinet — even a benign reset can lose event-log entries the engineer needs.
- Do not remove the out-of-service signage even if the lift ‘seems fine’ when you press a call.
- Do not authorise a non-approved third party (a general electrician, a maintenance handyman) to open the machine room or shaft — LOLER requires competent-person work only, and non-approved work invalidates the CE marking of the lift.
- Do not defer the callout because tenants aren't complaining — the SLA clock runs from time of fault, not time of complaint.
After the fix: sign-off and communication
Before returning the lift to service, insist on:
- An engineer's written report describing the fault, the fix and any residual risk.
- Confirmation the warning has been cleared and the controller log preserved.
- A note in the LOLER report if a safety-critical component was replaced.
- Communication to tenants — many managed buildings require a ‘lift restored’ email within 15 minutes of return-to-service.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a reasonable response time for a commercial lift out of service?
- Standard UK commercial contracts run: 4 hours for entrapment or sole-route accessibility; next working day for a non-entrapment fault where alternative access exists. Bespoke SLAs on hospitals, high-rise residential and retail commonly commit to 1–2 hours.
- Can building staff isolate the lift themselves?
- Yes — the main isolator in the machine room is designed to be operated by building staff as part of the emergency response. Beyond isolating, any work on the lift is competent-engineer only.
- Does the annual service prevent out-of-service events?
- It reduces them substantially but does not eliminate them. UK commercial lift service intervals are set by the manufacturer against expected duty cycle; a lift in heavier use than expected will need more frequent service to maintain that MTBF.
- The lift is fine 90% of the time. Do intermittent faults need urgent action?
- Yes. Intermittent faults are early-warning signs of a component nearing failure. Ignoring them until the lift stops completely typically triples the eventual repair cost and extends the downtime.
- Who is legally responsible for an out-of-service lift in a rented building?
- The building owner or managing agent — LOLER duty holder — regardless of who reports the fault. Tenants report; the duty holder must ensure competent response. See our <a href="/guides/lift-repairs-landlord-or-tenant/">landlord vs tenant repair guide</a>.