Lifts Directive 2014/33/EU

Last reviewed: October 2026 · Legal status verified against EUR-Lex.

Directive 2014/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to lifts and safety components for lifts — the "Lifts Directive" — replaced Directive 95/16/EC and has applied since 20 April 2016. It covers lifts permanently serving buildings and constructions, and safety components for lifts placed on the market separately. The Directive has two distinct economic operators in addition to the standard manufacturer concept — the "installer" of the lift, and the manufacturer of safety components — each with separate obligations. Published as OJ L 96, 29.3.2014, p. 251.

Legal status and timeline

• Adoption: 26 February 2014.
• Date of application: 20 April 2016.
• Repeal of Directive 95/16/EC: 20 April 2016.
• Status (October 2026): applies, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/2749 (emergency procedures for an internal market emergency, applicable from 30 May 2026).

Scope: products covered

Article 1(1) applies to lifts permanently serving buildings and constructions intended for the transport of persons, persons and goods, or goods alone where the carrier is accessible and fitted with controls inside or within reach of a person inside:

• Lifts — defined in Article 2(1) as "a lifting appliance serving specific levels, having a carrier moving along guides which are rigid and inclined at an angle of more than 15 degrees to the horizontal, or a lifting appliance moving along a fixed course even where it does not move along rigid guides";
• Safety components for lifts, listed in Annex III.

Annex III safety components

• Devices for locking landing doors;
• Devices to prevent the car from falling or uncontrolled movements;
• Overspeed limitation devices;
• Energy-accumulating buffers (non-linear or with damping of the return movement);
• Energy-dissipating buffers;
• Safety devices fitted to jacks of hydraulic power circuits where these are used as devices to prevent falls;
• Electric safety devices in the form of safety circuits containing electronic components.

Exclusions (Article 1(2))

• Lifting appliances whose speed is not greater than 0.15 m/s;
• Construction site hoists;
• Cableways, including funicular railways (under Regulation 2016/424);
• Lifts specially designed and constructed for military or police purposes;
• Lifting appliances from which work can be carried out;
• Mine winding gear;
• Lifting appliances intended for lifting performers during artistic performances;
• Lifting appliances fitted in means of transport;
• Lifting appliances connected to machinery and intended exclusively for access to workstations including maintenance and inspection points on the machinery — these fall under the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC (the Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 from 20 January 2027);
• Rack and pinion trains;
• Escalators and mechanical walkways — these also fall under the machinery legislation.

The two economic operators

The Lifts Directive distinguishes two parties not present in the standard NLF model:

The installer

Article 2(6) defines the "installer" as "the natural or legal person who takes responsibility for the design, manufacture, installation and placing on the market of the lift". The installer is the responsible party for the complete lift as installed in the building. The installer must perform the lift's conformity assessment, draw up its technical documentation, affix the CE marking, and sign the EU Declaration of Conformity (Article 7). The installer's obligations are broadly equivalent to those of a manufacturer under Decision 768/2008/EC, but adapted to recognise that a lift is installed in a building rather than placed on the market as a movable product.

The safety component manufacturer

A safety component placed on the market separately is a CE-marked product in its own right. The safety component manufacturer assesses the component's conformity, draws up its technical documentation, affixes the CE marking on the component, and signs an EU Declaration of Conformity for the component (Article 8). The installer of the lift assembles the lift using these CE-marked safety components.

Essential health and safety requirements (Annex I)

Annex I sets the essential health and safety requirements:

• 1. General. Application of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC requirements; carrier; means of suspension and support; control of loading (including overspeed); machinery; controls.
• 2. Hazards to persons outside the car. Lift well, headroom and pit, doors of well, freedom of access, lighting.
• 3. Hazards to persons in the car. Car structure, doors, communication, lighting, ventilation, signage.
• 4. Other hazards. Hazards from gases, electrical hazards, mechanical hazards.
• 5. Marking. Information from the installer including identification of the lift.
• 6. Instructions for use. Information for safe use.

Conformity assessment procedures

For lifts (Article 16):

• Model lift route — lifts built to a model lift that has undergone EU-type examination (Annex IV, Part B), or designed under a quality system approved under Annex XI, followed by final inspection (Annex V), conformity to type based on product quality assurance (Annex X), or conformity to type based on production quality assurance (Annex XII).
• Annex VIII — Unit verification for lifts — Notified Body examination of each installed lift.
• Annex XI — Full quality assurance plus design examination for lifts — comprehensive QMS approval including design.

The installer must complete one of these procedures for each lift. The identification number of the Notified Body involved in final inspection, unit verification or quality assurance follows the CE mark of each installed lift (Article 19(3)).

For safety components (Article 15):

• Annex IV, Part A — EU type-examination of the model, followed by Annex IX — conformity to type with random checking;
• Annex IV, Part A — EU type-examination, followed by Annex VI — conformity to type based on product quality assurance;
• Annex VII — Full quality assurance — standalone.

Technical documentation

The conformity assessment annexes (Annexes IV to XII) set the technical documentation contents. The lift technical file documents the specific installation; the safety component technical file documents the component as a placing-on-market item. Retention: 10 years after the lift or safety component has been placed on the market (Article 7(3) for installers, Article 8(3) for component manufacturers). See technical documentation.

EU Declaration of Conformity

Article 17 governs the Declaration. Annex II Parts A (safety components) and B (lifts) set the contents. See EU Declaration of Conformity.

Marking and labelling

Article 19 requires CE marking on each lift car and on each safety component. The four-digit Notified Body number appears next to the CE mark for both lifts and safety components. Under Annex I, point 5.1, each car must bear, in addition to the particulars required by point 1.7.3 of Annex I to Directive 2006/42/EC, a plate showing the rated load in kilograms and the maximum number of passengers. Safety components are marked separately by their manufacturer.

Harmonised standards

EN 81 series is the principal harmonised standard family:

• EN 81-20 — safety rules for the construction and installation of passenger and goods passenger lifts;
• EN 81-50 — design rules, calculations, examinations, and tests of lift components;
• EN 81-21 — new lifts in existing buildings;
• EN 81-22 — lifts with inclined path;
• EN 81-28 — remote alarm on passenger and goods passenger lifts;
• EN 81-58 — landing doors fire resistance tests;
• EN 81-70 — accessibility to lifts for persons including persons with disability;
• EN 81-71 — vandal resistant lifts;
• EN 81-72 — firefighters lifts;
• EN 81-73 — behaviour of lifts in the event of fire;
• EN 81-77 — lifts subject to seismic conditions.

See harmonised standards.

Recent and upcoming changes

The only amendment to the Lifts Directive since 2016 is Directive (EU) 2024/2749, which adds emergency procedures that operate only when an internal market emergency is activated (applicable from 30 May 2026). EN 81-20:2020 and EN 81-50:2020 were cited in the Official Journal by Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/76 on 27 January 2021; the 2014 editions ceased to give a presumption of conformity on 27 July 2022.

Related legislation

• Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 — from 20 January 2027 (Directive 2006/42/EC until then): escalators, mechanical walkways, lifting appliances with a speed not exceeding 0.15 m/s, and lifting appliances connected to machinery for access to workstations.
• Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU — does not apply: electrical parts for goods and passenger lifts are excluded under LVD Annex II.
• EMC Directive 2014/30/EU — applies for EMC aspects.
• European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) — applies from 28 June 2025 but does not list lifts among the products it covers; lift accessibility is addressed through EN 81-70.
• Construction Products Regulation (EU) 2024/3110 — may apply to construction products incorporated in the building around the lift, where they are covered by a harmonised technical specification under that Regulation. It does not replace the Lifts Directive for the lift itself or its safety components.

Common errors

• Confusion between installer and manufacturer roles. The installer is responsible for the lift as installed. A separate "manufacturer" of the unassembled lift is not the legal responsible party.
• Safety components without their own CE marking. Annex III safety components placed on the market separately are CE-marked products in their own right.
• Missing Notified Body number on either the lift or safety component. Notified Body involvement is mandatory for both.
• Treating refurbished lifts as not subject to the Directive. Substantial modification of an existing lift may constitute placing a new lift on the market, with a fresh conformity assessment required.
• Reliance on EN 81-1 / EN 81-2 (withdrawn). These older standards no longer produce the presumption of conformity; the EN 81-20 / EN 81-50 dated editions are the current harmonised references.

Sources

• Directive 2014/33/EU (Lifts) — EUR-Lex consolidated text.
• European Commission — Lifts sector page.
• Commission Notice — Blue Guide 2022 — EUR-Lex.
• Directive (EU) 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act) — EUR-Lex.
• EN 81-20 / EN 81-50 (CEN harmonised standards).