Lift Maintenance Frequency UK – LOLER 6-Monthly Thorough Examinations

Understanding UK lift maintenance and LOLER intervals

If you manage lifts in a UK building, “every six months” is probably the phrase you hear most. The law is subtler: PUWER expects ongoing maintenance, while LOLER sets fixed intervals for thorough examination, and both duties must be met at the same time.

Confusion between servicing and LOLER reports leads to overdue examinations, blurred responsibilities and uncomfortable audits. By separating the two duties, naming a single dutyholder and recording clear intervals and competent‑person decisions, you can show that each lift is maintained, examined and documented in a way you can defend.

• Clarify the difference between servicing and LOLER examinations
• Set defensible 6‑ or 12‑month intervals for each lift
• Prove competence, independence and continuous compliance under audit

Is lift maintenance “every 6 months” a legal rule—or are you really asking about LOLER?

You hear “six‑monthly” because LOLER thorough examinations run on a legal clock. Servicing does not.

In UK law you have two parallel duties for every lift:

• to maintain it so it stays in efficient working order
• to have it thoroughly examined at fixed intervals by a competent person who issues a formal safety report.

A service visit (PPM) is about reliability: cleaning, lubrication, adjustments and planned part replacement so breakdowns and nuisance callouts reduce.

A LOLER thorough examination is about statutory safety assurance. A competent person inspects safety‑critical parts, decides whether the lift is safe to keep in use, and issues a written report setting out what was examined, any dangerous or potentially dangerous defects, required actions and the next due date.

Because these duties run together, a lift can be well serviced and still out of compliance if the examination is overdue. You avoid that by keeping a single “next‑due” register per lift and by making sure changes in managing agent, employer or maintenance provider do not break that chain.

All Services 4U can sit alongside your existing maintenance contractor, separate servicing and LOLER on paper, schedule each duty clearly, and give you an explanation you can defend under audit or challenge.

LOLER vs PUWER in plain English: two duties, two outputs, one dutyholder

Your legal starting point is simple: keep the lift maintained and have it thoroughly examined at the right times.

The maintenance duty flows mainly from PUWER, which expects work equipment to be kept in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair. It does not set visit numbers; you justify frequency from manufacturer guidance, usage, environment and failure history and record that rationale.

LOLER then adds a safety layer. For lifting equipment used at work it requires thorough examination by a competent person:

• after installation and before first use
• at regular intervals (default maximums are in Regulation 9)
• and after specified events such as major modifications or damage.

In multi‑party buildings problems usually come from blurred control. You reduce that risk by naming a single dutyholder in writing – usually whoever controls day‑to‑day use and can commission work – and by setting an escalation path when that control changes.

Your contracts should reflect the split. The maintenance agreement should cover visit frequency, scope, response times and exclusions. The thorough‑examination scope should set the competent person’s role, report contents, timescales, retention, and how defects are escalated and signed off.

Where this is weak you get “paper compliance”: service sheets but overdue or missing examination reports, unclear ownership of defects and no simple storey for an auditor. Standardised documentation and explicit responsibilities let you show you discharged both PUWER and LOLER without relying on hindsight.

LOLER Reg 9 intervals you can defend: 6 months vs 12 months vs written scheme

The law gives default maximum intervals and allows a competent person to vary them in a written scheme.

Regulation 9 sets maximum periods between thorough examinations where no written scheme exists. In practice you decide, for each lift, which row applies and whether any deviation is properly justified and documented.

If the lift carries people in any way, you should treat six‑monthly examinations as the default unless a competent person sets out something different in writing.

* Unless a competent person sets different intervals and scope in a written scheme of examination.

Edge cases cause most trouble. A “goods‑only” lift that staff regularly ride is no longer goods‑only in risk terms. If you know that happens, treat the classification and interval as a conscious decision, backed by competent‑person input and a written rationale.

A written scheme can adjust the interval up or down, but it must explain what will be examined, how often, and why that pattern is adequate for that lift and environment. Keep the scheme with the reports because together they are what you will rely on if an incident, audit or dispute tests your choices.

When you refinance or sell, these interval decisions are scrutinised. Valuers and lenders look for continuous, in‑date statutory examination records and evidence that significant findings were closed out. A simple map of “this lift, this use, this interval, this scheme” removes debate.

“Competent person” and independence: who can examine, who should maintain, and how to prove impartiality

You can choose your competent person; you just cannot treat competence or independence as a box‑tick.

For LOLER, a competent person is someone with enough practical and theoretical knowledge and experience to spot defects and judge their significance for that specific lift. In practice that usually means an inspection or engineering specialist with relevant experience and familiarity with applicable standards.

Independence matters just as much. The thorough examination is meant to be an impartial safety check, not a disguised sales opportunity. Many dutyholders therefore appoint an inspection body that is structurally separate from the maintenance contractor, or at least separate the roles, reporting lines and incentives where one organisation supplies both.

You can hard‑wire this into procurement. When you shortlist providers, ask how they demonstrate impartiality, what internal checks exist on reports, how conflicts are handled, and request sample reports and any inspection‑body accreditation. Then record why you selected them and what competence evidence you reviewed.

Your scope should also state the practical support they can expect: keys and fobs, plantroom access, acceptable times for alarm testing, and who can assist with isolations and reinstatement. If those basics are unmanaged you will start to see “could not inspect” qualifications, which weaken your assurance and leave blind spots.

A simple audit file for each appointment – competence checks, accreditations, insurance, sample reports and references – gives you a defensible answer when an insurer, risk surveyor or internal auditor asks why you rely on a particular competent person.

Accreditations & Certifications

What happens during a LOLER thorough examination (vs a service visit): scope, outputs, and what “good” looks like

You reduce risk and friction when everyone involved understands what each visit is for.

On a routine maintenance visit the engineer’s focus is keeping the lift running: cleaning and lubricating moving parts, checking door operation and levelling, adjusting ride quality, replacing worn components within scope, and flagging issues that need a separate quote. The output is a service sheet.

On a thorough examination the competent person’s focus is statutory safety. They run a structured inspection and testing of safety‑critical parts – overspeed protection, brakes, suspension, safety gears, doors and interlocks, emergency communications, emergency lowering and other protective functions – looking for deterioration or defects that are, or could become, a danger to persons.

A useful report should give you enough to manage risk without further interpretation. As a minimum you should see:

• clear identification of the lift and location
• the examination date and next examination due date
• the parts examined and any limitations
• defects that are, or could become, a danger, with actions and timescales.

If you cannot tell from the report whether the lift can remain in service, what must be done, by when, and who needs to know, the format is not yet good enough. It is reasonable to ask for clarification and, if necessary, improvements to future reports.

Once reports are consistent you can build resident and internal communication around them – why the examination is happening, how long disruption is likely to last, and how completion will be confirmed – instead of reinventing the process each time.

Scheduling, access, and disruption control: how to run 6‑monthly examinations in real buildings

You can meet six‑monthly obligations without turning every visit into a disruption battle.

Start with a forward calendar. For each lift, record the next thorough examination due date and set reminders early enough to arrange access, resident communication and clashes with other works. On multi‑lift sites decide whether to examine lifts together or stagger them so at least one remains in service.

Examinations run smoother when the competent person arrives to a prepared site. A simple pre‑visit pack – lift identifiers and locations, the last report, any written scheme, known issues, key contacts and access constraints – reduces partial examinations and repeat attendance.

You minimise disruption by agreeing examination windows around typical usage and giving clear notice. In residential blocks that might be mid‑morning; in offices or healthcare it may be quieter operational periods.

If a lift is already out of service near a due date, you still need to manage compliance. Record its out‑of‑use status, secure the installation and agree with the competent person how and when it will be examined before being returned to service. Allowing due dates to drift because a lift is “off” creates hidden risk for the day someone restarts it.

Behind this you should name one role responsible for logging defects, tracking target dates, chasing evidence and updating the next‑due register so actions do not fall between contractors and you can see your position at a glance.

If defects are found: categories, shutdown decisions, enforcement risk, and recordkeeping that stands up

Your position is judged less by the existence of defects and more by how you respond and record.

A thorough examination report will list defects and indicate whether they are, or could become, a danger. In practice findings fall into three broad bands:

• defects involving an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury
• defects that could become dangerous and must be remedied within a stated period
• observations or recommendations that are not statutory defects.

Where there is an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, the expectation is that the lift is taken out of service and made safe until the defect is remedied and, where appropriate, a re‑examination confirms safe operation.

For time‑bound defects you should log the finding, assign responsibility, schedule remedial work within the period specified and keep evidence that the work was completed and, where needed, re‑examined.

A robust file for each lift will usually contain the latest reports, any written scheme, a defect log with dates and actions, invoices or job sheets, photographs where they add clarity, and records of resident or stakeholder communications where access or safety was affected.

You also need a clear workflow for incoming reports: who receives them, how quickly they are reviewed, how defects are logged, and how high‑risk findings are escalated. A shared mailbox that nobody owns is not a defence.

When incidents are examined, the questions are direct: what did you know, when did you know it, what did you do, and how long did it take? If your records answer those calmly and consistently, you do a great deal to reduce enforcement and insurance risk and to show that you are in control.

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You may already have service contracts and examination providers in place yet still not have a simple storey about intervals, reports and defect management. A short consultation turns that into a position you can explain and defend.

In one engagement you can ask All Services 4U to map each lift to the right LOLER interval, confirm which assets sit on the six‑monthly regime, check next due dates, and flag gaps in reports or written schemes. You leave with a clear view of where you stand and where you need to act.

To make that efficient, you only need a basic pack: a list of lifts and locations, the most recent thorough examination reports, any existing written schemes, and a note of recent major works. That is usually enough for the team to give you a focused, practical view.

From there you choose how much support you want, from examinations delivered independently of your maintenance contractor through to a fuller programme where All Services 4U helps design the workflow: who receives reports, who logs defects, what counts as closure evidence, and how the “next‑due” register is maintained.

Examination plans can then be shaped around resident needs, building usage and accessibility, with access windows, notice periods and contingency arrangements agreed in advance.

If you want your lifts to be well maintained, demonstrably safe and backed by paperwork that will stand up when tested, book a consultation with All Services 4U and turn “we think we are compliant” into calm, documented assurance you can show to anyone who asks.

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