Lift maintenance in London: what building owners and managing agents need to know

In short: lift maintenance in London means planned servicing to keep your lift safe and reliable, breakdown call-outs when it fails, and arranging the LOLER thorough examination for lifts used at work. How often a lift needs servicing depends on the lift and how busy it is, from once to twelve times a year. London adds its own pressures: busy lifts in offices and hotels, older lifts in mansion blocks, high-rise rules on firefighting and evacuation lifts, and Section 20 consultation for major works in leasehold blocks.

This guide is for building owners, managing agents and facilities teams choosing or reviewing lift maintenance in London. Our engineers cover the whole of Greater London, as well as Essex and the South East, and we maintain all makes of lift. For more about us in the capital, see our lift company in London page.

What lift maintenance in London covers

On our maintenance contracts, lift maintenance in London includes:

• Planned service visits. The engineer checks, cleans, lubricates and adjusts the lift, and records each visit in the logbook.
• Breakdown call-outs. Contract customers can reach us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• An alarm line to us. The emergency phone in the lift car comes straight through to us, so anyone trapped can reach us directly.
• LOLER thorough examinations. We arrange LOLER thorough examinations, carried out by an independent examiner, so every examination stays impartial. We then put right the defects the report lists.

Parts are charged separately, and we quote before replacing anything. Our lift maintenance contract guide explains what to look for in a contract.

The London buildings we maintain lifts in

London’s building stock is unusually varied, and lift maintenance in London has to suit it:

• Residential blocks and mansion blocks. Many London mansion blocks have older lifts, sometimes in tight shafts or with original features. Residents depend on them, and work often has to fit around a managing agent’s budget and consultation process.
• Offices and commercial buildings. Busy lifts that run all day need regular servicing to stay reliable, and visits are often planned around the working day.
• Hotels, pubs and restaurants. Passenger lifts for guests, and service lifts and dumbwaiters for kitchens and cellars, which run constantly. See our dumbwaiter repairs in London guide.
• Schools, healthcare and public buildings. Lifts that people rely on for access, where a breakdown can stop someone using the building.

9 essential checks on a London lift maintenance visit

Every visit follows a checklist suited to the lift. These are the nine checks at the heart of good lift maintenance in London:

1. Doors: door locks and contacts, door gear and the sills, clearing debris from the tracks. Doors are the most common cause of breakdowns.
2. The safety edge: the strip that stops the doors closing on people.
3. Controls: car and landing buttons, indicators and the floor display.
4. The alarm and emergency phone, and the emergency lighting in the car.
5. Levelling: that the car stops level with each floor, so there is no trip step.
6. Ride quality: smooth starts and stops, and no unusual noise or vibration.
7. Brakes, ropes and drive on traction lifts, or oil level and leaks on hydraulic lifts.
8. The controller and machine room or control cabinet, and the lift pit, kept clean and clear.
9. The logbook: each visit recorded, with anything found and anything that needs attention.

If the engineer finds something that needs a part or extra work, we explain it and quote before going ahead.

How often should a lift be serviced in London?

On our contracts lift servicing in London ranges from once to twelve times a year, depending on the lift, how much it is used and what you need from it. Busy passenger lifts in offices, hotels and large blocks usually need the most visits; a platform lift used a few times a day needs fewer. We agree the number of visits after surveying the lift.

UK law doesn’t set a fixed number of service visits. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) require work equipment to be maintained in an efficient state and in good repair. The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) separately require a thorough examination by a competent person, normally at least every six months for lifts that carry people. The HSE explains both in its guidance on lifting equipment at work.

A year of lift maintenance in London: what to expect

Once a lift is on a contract with us, a typical year looks like this:

• Planned service visits at the agreed frequency, each recorded in the logbook, with any findings explained.
• LOLER thorough examinations, normally every six months for lifts that carry people, arranged by us with an independent examiner. The examination fee is charged separately.
• Defect follow-up. When an examination report lists defects, we quote to put them right by the dates given, so the lift stays compliant.
• Breakdown call-outs when needed, with contract customers able to reach us 24 hours a day.
• Advice on the lift’s future. If parts are becoming obsolete or the same faults keep coming back, we tell you early, so modernisation can be budgeted rather than forced by a breakdown.

For managing agents, this gives a predictable pattern of lift maintenance in London to plan service charge budgets and Section 20 consultations around.

High-rise residential buildings in London

London has more high-rise residential buildings than anywhere else in the UK, and they have extra rules:

• The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require the responsible person in high-rise residential buildings (18 metres or 7 storeys and over) to check firefighting and evacuation lifts every month, and to report any of these lifts that are out of action for more than 24 hours to the fire and rescue service.
• The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced further duties for higher-risk buildings.

Good lift maintenance in London supports these duties: regular servicing keeps firefighting and evacuation lifts working, and quick repairs keep out-of-action periods short.

Lift maintenance in London leasehold blocks: Section 20

In leasehold blocks, the cost of lift maintenance in London is usually recovered through the service charge. Two rules matter to managing agents:

• Major works. Under Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the landlord must consult leaseholders before major works where any one leaseholder’s contribution will be more than £250. Larger lift repairs and modernisation often reach this level, so plan ahead.
• Long-term agreements. A maintenance agreement lasting more than 12 months, where any leaseholder’s contribution will be more than £100 a year, also needs consultation.

We can provide clear, itemised quotes to help managing agents through the consultation.

Lift maintenance in London mansion blocks and older buildings

Many London residential blocks were built long before modern lift standards, and their lifts have often been modernised in stages. Lift maintenance in London’s older buildings brings its own issues:

• Older equipment. Some parts are no longer made and have to be sourced, reconditioned or made, so repairs can take longer.
• Tight shafts and machine rooms. Older shafts and rooftop or basement machine rooms can be awkward to work in, which affects how long visits take.
• Original features. Some blocks want to keep original car interiors, gates or landing doors. Where a building is listed, alterations that affect its character usually need listed building consent from the local council, so talk to the council and your lift company early.
• Planning upgrades. BS EN 81-80 is the standard for improving the safety of existing lifts. A survey against it shows which upgrades matter most, so work can be phased to suit the budget and Section 20 consultation.

Lift maintenance in London offices and commercial buildings

Office lifts are often the busiest in London, so lift maintenance in London offices focuses on reliability:

• More frequent visits for lifts that run all day.
• Visits planned around the working day, for example early mornings, to keep disruption down.
• Clear responsibility in the lease. In multi-let buildings the landlord usually maintains the lifts and recovers the cost through the service charge; check the lease.
• Tenants’ expectations. A broken lift in a busy office quickly becomes a complaint, so quick call-outs matter.

Lift maintenance in London hotels, pubs and restaurants

Hotels need guest lifts working at all times, and visits are usually planned around quieter periods. Pubs and restaurants rely on service lifts and dumbwaiters to move food, drink and stock between floors, often all day. Lift maintenance in London’s hospitality buildings covers both, and we work on all makes of dumbwaiter and food lift.

What affects the cost of lift maintenance in London

We don’t publish fixed prices, because two lifts are rarely the same. The cost of lift maintenance in London depends on:

• The type of lift: passenger, goods, platform, service lift or dumbwaiter.
• How many lifts and floors.
• How many service visits a year: from one to twelve.
• Age and condition, and how easy parts are to find for the make.
• How busy the lift is.
• Access: how easy the site, machine room and pit are to reach, including parking and loading in central London.

Parts, the LOLER examination fee, defect repairs and upgrades are charged separately. Our lift maintenance cost guide explains each of these.

When to modernise rather than keep repairing

If a London lift keeps breaking down, its parts are obsolete or repair bills keep rising, modernising the worn parts, such as the controller, drive or doors, can be better value than more repairs. Modernisation also helps meet current standards on safety and accessibility. See our lift modernisation page.

Choosing between lift maintenance companies in London

When you compare lift maintenance companies in London, check:

• Visits: how many a year, and what is checked on each.
• Call-outs: whether breakdown call-outs are part of the contract, and whether you can reach someone 24/7.
• Parts: included or charged separately, and whether you get a quote before work starts.
• LOLER: who arranges the thorough examination, and whether the examiner is independent.
• All makes: whether the company can maintain your make of lift. We maintain all makes.
• Contract terms: the minimum term, notice period and whether it renews automatically.
• Records: visit records, and whether the logbook stays with the building.

Lift maintenance in London: getting access right

Central London sites bring practical challenges that affect lift maintenance:

• Access to the machine room or control cabinet, which is often on the roof or in a basement. Make sure keys and codes are available.
• Building management rules, such as permits to work, sign-in and working hours.
• Parking and loading, which can be limited in central London. Tell us about any loading bay or parking arrangements.
• Residents and tenants. Let people know when the lift will be out of use for a service visit.

Clear access makes each visit quicker and keeps the lift out of use for less time.

Signs your London lift needs attention between visits

Call your lift maintenance company if you notice:

• New noises, a rough ride or vibration.
• The car stopping above or below the floor.
• Doors that are slow, reopen for no reason or don’t close fully.
• Error codes or warning lights.
• On hydraulic lifts, a smell of oil or the car creeping down when parked.

Reporting faults early usually means a smaller repair. Our lift breakdown guide explains what to do if the lift stops.

Switching lift maintenance company in London

1. Check your current contract for the notice period and end date, and give notice in writing.
2. Book a survey, so we know the lift’s condition before we take it on.
3. Collect the paperwork: the logbook, LOLER thorough examination reports and records of recent repairs.
4. Agree a start date, so the lift isn’t left without cover.

We regularly take over lifts from other maintenance companies, and we offer a free lift survey and quote.

Lift maintenance words explained

• Service visit: a planned visit to check, clean, lubricate and adjust the lift.
• Call-out: a visit when the lift has broken down.
• LOLER thorough examination: a legal safety examination by an independent competent person, separate from servicing.
• Defect: a fault listed on the examination report, with a date by which it must be put right.
• Firefighting lift: a lift designed for the fire and rescue service to use in a fire.
• Evacuation lift: a lift designed to help people, including disabled people, leave the building in an emergency.
• Logbook: the record of every visit, fault and repair.

What to have ready for a London lift maintenance quote

• The building address and how many lifts there are.
• The type and make of each lift, if you know them.
• How busy each lift is and how many floors it serves.
• The latest LOLER report and the logbook.
• Any access rules, parking arrangements and your current contract’s notice period.

See our lift maintenance page for the lifts we look after.

Questions people ask