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5 Free Checklists

Lift & Escalator Maintenance Checklist

Free maintenance checklists for vertical transport — passenger lifts, goods lifts, platform lifts and escalators. Each includes preventive tasks, service frequencies, common faults and the safety and statutory notes that apply to lifting equipment.

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A lift maintenance checklist covers car and landing door operation and the door protective devices, levelling and ride quality, machine room condition and lubrication, ropes or belts and their terminations, controller and drive status, the emergency alarm and communication link, and the condition of the pit and headroom. Choose the checklist for your specific installation below.

Other maintenance checklist categories

HVAC maintenance checklists — Air handling units, fan coils, chillers, VRF, ductwork and extract systems — filters, coils, refrigerant and damper checks.
heating maintenance checklists — Boilers, calorifiers, heat exchangers, heat pumps and flues — combustion, controls and hot water safety checks.
plumbing and water system maintenance checklists — Pressurisation units, booster sets, storage tanks, TMVs and water treatment — pressure, hygiene and legionella control.
electrical maintenance checklists — Distribution boards, switchgear, generators, UPS, solar PV and EV charging — inspection, testing and thermographic checks.
fire safety maintenance checklists — Fire dampers, alarms, emergency lighting, sprinklers, risers and fire doors — the statutory checks and their records.
BMS and controls maintenance checklists — BMS panels and head-ends, DDC controllers, inverters, sensors and actuators — calibration, overrides and strategy backups.
metering maintenance checklists — Energy, heat, water and gas meters — read integrity, accuracy checks and the data quality behind aM&T reporting.
All maintenance checklists·preventive maintenance checklist·Statutory inspection checklists·Free checklist templates·Compliance and FM topics

Maintenance and thorough examination are not the same thing

This is the distinction that causes the most trouble on lifts. Routine maintenance is the servicing your lift contractor carries out to keep the installation working — lubrication, adjustment, door tuning, replacing worn components. A thorough examination under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) is a separate, independent inspection whose purpose is to detect defects that could cause danger, carried out by a competent person acting impartially. A maintenance visit is not a thorough examination, and a maintenance contract does not automatically include one.

Under LOLER, lifting equipment used to lift people must be thoroughly examined at least every 6 months, and equipment used only for goods at least every 12 months — or at intervals set out in an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person, which can differ from those defaults. In practice this means a passenger lift needs a thorough examination twice a year and a goods-only lift once a year unless a written scheme says otherwise. Reports of thorough examination must be kept, and defects identified as an existing or imminent danger have to be acted on and reported. PUWER 1998 also applies to lifts as work equipment.

Doors, levelling and entrapment

Most lift callouts and most passenger injuries involve the doors. Landing and car door operation, the interlocks that prevent the car moving with a door open, and the protective devices that stop the doors closing on someone are the highest-priority items on any lift checklist. Door detection edges and photocell curtains get knocked out of alignment by trolleys and deliveries, and a device that has failed safe-but-insensitive will still appear to work while no longer protecting anyone — so it needs testing, not just observing.

The emergency alarm and communication link deserves the same scrutiny. A trapped passenger needs to reach someone who can respond at any hour, which means the alarm must be audible where it will actually be heard and the autodialler or intercom must connect to a monitored destination — something worth testing on every visit, particularly after any telephone line or network change. Releasing a trapped passenger is a task for trained personnel following the manufacturer's procedure; an untrained release attempt is genuinely dangerous, and the procedure and any release keys should be documented and controlled rather than kept loose in a cupboard.

Escalators and platform lifts

Escalators and moving walks bring their own hazards — combs and comb plates, skirt clearances and brushes, handrail speed and entry guards, step and pallet condition, and the accessible emergency stop devices. Maintenance intervals come from the manufacturer's schedule and the equipment's duty; heavily used retail and transport escalators need considerably more frequent attention than a lightly loaded unit. BS EN 115 is the relevant safety standard family for escalators and moving walks, and work on them should follow the recognised code of practice for safe working on escalators, including securing the unit against inadvertent starting.

Platform lifts and stairlifts are frequently forgotten because they are used rarely and often serve accessibility rather than general circulation. That combination is precisely why they fail when needed: infrequent use hides faults, and the people who depend on them have the least ability to use an alternative. They are lifting equipment for lifting people, so the LOLER thorough examination duty applies to them as it does to a passenger lift. Always refer to the manufacturer's O&M manual, your written examination scheme and the site-specific risk assessment for the exact requirements on your building — the checklists below reflect the BS EN 81 series and LOLER practice as a practical starting point, not a substitute for either.

Compliance & CAFM

Schedule lift & escalator maintenance automatically

Every checklist here is also a planned maintenance programme in PM Assist. Add the asset to a building and its tasks go into the planner at the right frequency.

  • Statutory tests are tracked on the compliance register with the date last done, the date next due and the certificate.
  • Inspection forms run on your phone, and failed items become remedial actions.
  • Included in every paid plan.
See the compliance and PPM softwareCompare plans

Frequently asked questions

How often should a lift be thoroughly examined?
Under LOLER 1998, lifting equipment used to lift people must be thoroughly examined at least every 6 months, and equipment used only for goods at least every 12 months — unless a competent person has drawn up an examination scheme setting different intervals. A thorough examination is independent of routine maintenance and produces a report that must be kept. Defects presenting an existing or imminent danger have to be acted on and reported.
Is a lift service visit the same as a LOLER inspection?
No. A service or maintenance visit keeps the lift running — lubrication, adjustment, door tuning, component replacement. A LOLER thorough examination is a separate inspection by a competent person acting impartially, intended to find defects that could cause danger. Many buildings hold a maintenance contract and assume it covers the statutory examination when it does not, so it is worth checking explicitly what your contract includes.
What should a lift maintenance checklist include?
Car and landing door operation and interlocks, testing of the door protective devices, floor levelling and ride quality, the emergency alarm and communication link, machine room or machine space condition and lubrication, suspension ropes or belts and their terminations, controller and drive status, brake operation, and the condition of the pit and headroom including pit stop switches and lighting. Escalators add comb plates, skirt clearances, handrail condition and speed, step or pallet condition, and the accessible emergency stops.
Do platform lifts and stairlifts need the same checks?
They need the same duties applied proportionately. A platform lift used to lift people is lifting equipment under LOLER, so the thorough examination requirement applies to it as it does to a passenger lift. Because these units are often used infrequently and serve accessibility needs, regular functional testing matters more than usage figures suggest — a fault that goes unnoticed for months is discovered by the person who has no alternative route.
Are these lift and escalator checklists free to download?
Yes. Every checklist can be viewed in full and downloaded as a free PDF from the templates library, with no signup required. They are built on UK maintenance practice for FM teams and building engineers.

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