Reference
UK Lift Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the lift engineering terms property managers, facilities teams and building owners actually encounter.
- 2016
- Established
- 300+
- Sites covered
- 800+
- Lifts maintained
- <1hr
- Emergency response
A
- ARD(Automatic Rescue Device)Safety
- A battery-backed unit that moves a lift to the nearest landing and opens the doors during a mains power failure, releasing trapped passengers without engineer attendance.
B
- BufferSafety
- A spring or oil-filled cylinder fitted in the pit (and sometimes overhead) that absorbs the impact of the car or counterweight if it travels past the lowest or highest stop.
C
- CarEquipment
- The enclosure that carries passengers or goods inside the shaft. Sometimes called the cab.
- Car Operating Panel(COP)Controls
- The button panel inside the car — floor selection, door open/close, alarm and emergency communications.
- CEDES Light CurtainSafety
- An infrared light grid spanning the door entrance that detects passengers or obstructions and prevents the doors from closing on them.
- Compensation Rope / ChainEquipment
- Weighted ropes or chains hung from the underside of the car and counterweight to balance the suspension rope weight on high-rise traction lifts.
- Competent PersonRoles
- Under LOLER, a person with the practical and theoretical knowledge and experience to detect defects and assess their significance — independent of the maintainer.
- ControllerControls
- The electronic cabinet — usually in the motor room or top of the shaft — that processes call requests, sequences door operation, and drives the motor.
- CounterweightEquipment
- A weighted frame on the opposite side of the suspension ropes that balances the car, typically equal to the car weight plus around 40–50% of rated load. Reduces motor torque demand.
D
- Deflector SheaveEquipment
- A secondary pulley used to redirect suspension ropes between the drive sheave and the counterweight or car.
- Door OperatorEquipment
- The motorised assembly on top of the car that opens and closes both the car doors and the landing doors via a clutch (vane/skate).
- Drive SheaveEquipment
- The grooved pulley driven by the hoist motor that grips and moves the suspension ropes via friction. Also called the traction sheave.
- Dumb-waiterEquipment
- A small goods-only lift, typically under 300 kg, used for moving food, files or small items between floors. Subject to LOLER like any other lift.
- Duty-HolderRoles
- The person or organisation legally responsible for the safety of a lift — typically the building owner, managing agent or employer in control of the premises.
E
- EN 81-20 / EN 81-50(EN 81-20:2014)Compliance
- European safety standards for the construction and installation of lifts (81-20) and the testing of safety components (81-50). The benchmark for new UK lift installations.
- EncoderControls
- A position sensor mounted on the motor shaft that feeds back exact position and speed to the controller for accurate floor levelling.
F
- Fire RecallSafety
- An automatic function that returns the lift to a designated floor (usually ground) when a fire alarm signal is received, parks it with doors open, and disables normal calls.
- Firefighters LiftEquipment
- A lift built to EN 81-72 with secondary power, water-resistant equipment and a manual control switch for use by the fire brigade during an incident.
G
- Gate SwitchSafety
- An electrical contact on each landing and car door that proves the door is closed before the lift can move. A fundamental safety interlock.
- Goods LiftEquipment
- A lift designed for transporting goods, with restricted or no passenger access. Often examined under LOLER every 12 months rather than 6.
- Governor(Overspeed Governor)Safety
- A flywheel device that monitors car speed via a separate rope. If the car exceeds 115% of rated speed, it trips and activates the safety gear to grip the guide rails.
- Guide RailsEquipment
- Steel T-section rails running the full height of the shaft that guide the car and counterweight, and provide the gripping surface for the safety gear.
- Guide ShoesEquipment
- Sliding or roller assemblies on the car and counterweight that ride the guide rails, keeping travel smooth and aligned.
H
- Hoist MotorEquipment
- The electric motor — geared or gearless — that drives the traction sheave to move the suspension ropes and hence the car.
- HoistwayEquipment
- The vertical shaft within the building containing the car, counterweight, ropes and guide rails. Also called the shaft or well.
- Hydraulic LiftEquipment
- A lift driven by oil pumped under pressure to a ram (jack), which raises the car directly or via roping. Typically used for low-rise (up to ~6 floors) goods or platform lifts.
L
- Landing DoorEquipment
- The door at each floor that opens onto the shaft. Mechanically interlocked so it can only open when the car is present and level.
- LOLER(Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998)Compliance
- UK regulations requiring all lifting equipment used at work to be thoroughly examined by a competent person — typically every 6 months for passenger lifts, 12 months for goods.
M
- Machine Room(MR)Equipment
- A dedicated room — usually directly above the shaft — housing the hoist motor, controller and overspeed governor.
- Machine Room-Less(MRL)Equipment
- A lift design where the motor and controller are housed inside the shaft itself, removing the need for a separate machine room. Common in modern low- and mid-rise buildings.
- ModernisationOperations
- Replacement or major upgrade of obsolete lift components — typically controller, drive, doors, fixtures — to extend service life by 15–25 years and bring older lifts in line with current standards.
O
- OverheadEquipment
- The vertical distance from the top landing to the underside of the machine room floor or shaft ceiling. Must allow safe overrun travel above the highest stop.
P
- PESSRAL(Programmable Electronic Systems in Safety Related Applications for Lifts)Safety
- Electronic safety circuits compliant with EN 81-20 used in modern controllers in place of relay-based safety chains, subject to strict integrity standards.
- PitEquipment
- The space at the bottom of the shaft, below the lowest landing, housing the buffers, governor tension weight and providing safe refuge space for an engineer working in the shaft.
- Platform LiftEquipment
- A short-rise lift — usually under 3 m of travel — designed for accessibility. Slower than a passenger lift and built to EN 81-41 rather than EN 81-20.
- Position Indicator(PI)Controls
- The digital or segment display in the car and at each landing showing current floor and travel direction.
- PUWER(Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998)Compliance
- Sister regulations to LOLER, covering the safe use, maintenance, inspection and information for any work equipment — including lifts.
R
- RamEquipment
- The hydraulic cylinder and piston assembly that raises a hydraulic lift car. Can be direct-acting (under the car) or side-mounted with roping.
- Rope BrakeSafety
- An EN 81-20 device that grips the suspension ropes if unintended car movement is detected with the doors open. Prevents UCM incidents.
S
- Safety EdgeSafety
- A pressure-sensitive strip on the leading edge of the car door that re-opens it if it touches a passenger or obstruction.
- Safety GearSafety
- Wedge or roller mechanisms mounted on the car and counterweight that grip the guide rails when activated by the governor, bringing an overspeeding car to a controlled stop.
- Schedule 18Compliance
- Part of the UK Lifts Regulations 2016 (SI 1093) covering the quality management systems lift installers and modernisers must operate to place lifts on the market.
- SheaveEquipment
- Any grooved pulley in a traction lift — drive sheave, deflector sheave or governor sheave.
- Slack Rope DetectorSafety
- A switch under the counterweight or on the governor rope that stops the lift if the suspension ropes go slack — preventing rope slippage on the sheave.
- StairliftEquipment
- A chair or platform riding a rail mounted to a staircase. Domestic stairlifts fall outside LOLER; commercial installations may be in-scope.
- Suspension RopesEquipment
- Steel-wire ropes — or in modern lifts, flat coated belts — that connect the car to the counterweight via the drive sheave. Typically 4–8 in number with significant safety factor.
T
- Terminal SlowdownControls
- Switches near the top and bottom of the shaft that force a controlled deceleration as the car approaches the terminal floors, independent of the normal control system.
- Thorough ExaminationCompliance
- The formal inspection required under LOLER, carried out by a competent person independent of the maintainer — typically every 6 months for passenger lifts.
- Traction LiftEquipment
- A lift driven by friction between the drive sheave and suspension ropes, balanced by a counterweight. The dominant lift type for buildings over 5–6 floors.
- Trailing CableEquipment
- The flexible cable that travels with the car, carrying power and communications between the controller and the car-top and COP.
U
- UCM(Unintended Car Movement)Safety
- Movement of a lift car away from the landing with the doors open and without a call command. EN 81-20 requires specific protection (rope brake or sheave clamp).
V
- VVVF Drive(Variable Voltage Variable Frequency)Controls
- An inverter drive that varies both voltage and frequency to the hoist motor for smooth acceleration, accurate levelling and significant energy savings over older two-speed motors.
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