With space in urban areas becoming less available and more expensive, it’s natural that expansion becomes more vertical rather than horizontal. This means that access to such spaces forms an important aspect of building design.
With some of our cities having extremely tall buildings, access is possible only via a lift. We take lifts for granted in buildings that have more than a certain number of floors. Persons with disabilities require lifts to access their homes, work places and entertainment areas. The restaurant and hospitality industry and many other businesses that require transportation of goods and people on a large scale between different areas of operation and service have a vital need of modern, safe and efficient lifts.
The different types of lift include:
In some buildings, passenger lifts may be used to transport light goods below a certain weight and volume. For instance, in apartments and flats, passenger lifts may be used to transport furniture and luggage, while in office buildings, they may be used to transport office equipment and furniture between floors. Freight lifts and service lifts may be designated within the same building and their use has to be strictly enforced for the designated purpose only.
One of the most crucial aspects of installing lifts is their safety. In the UK, The Lifts Regulations Act 2016 applies to lifts installed permanently in buildings or constructions and their safety components. They apply to installers, manufacturers, authorised representatives, importers and distributors of lifts meant to be used in commercial and private buildings. Owners or operators of lifts have a legal obligation to stay in compliance with the current regulations. In the case of modernisation, it is important to ensure that the existing utility systems in the building are compliant with current safety code systems and are able to comfortably take the load of the new lift systems.
What Is A Lift Survey?
The main purpose of a lift survey is to inspect, diagnose, prepare and cost a suitable solution that can be provided to the client. The survey can be conducted in private residential buildings, commercial buildings, leisure and hospitality centres, retail outlets, and public areas.
There are several different aspects that have to be considered during the survey process when you want to install a new lift or upgrade your old system:
- Type, structure and purpose of the building
- Whether the building in its present state meet the regulations and expectations of the type of lift that you require
- Lift usage including area, frequency, type, volume of traffic
- Suitability of different locations within the building
- Selecting the right site for installation of the lift
- Accessibility and convenience for persons with disability or special needs
- Speed requirements based on number of floors in the building
- Calculating the costs of different types of lifts based on your requirement and fitting them into your budget
- The type of lift that would best suit the client’s maintenance regime and capability
There are different types of lift surveys: one is a pre-acquisition survey to design and install a new lift and the other is to evaluate an existing lift system for safety, reliability, performance, and capacity or to upgrade, refurbish or modernise it.
Pre-Acquisition Survey: This is a project planning survey that helps to coordinate the lift infrastructure planning and design with facility, operational requirements, preferences and budget. It also includes client survey and traffic study to determine the type, size, service, speed, and capacity. This study also includes aspects of the building such as type, use, size, height, present and projected population, exterior considerations and space availability.
Safety/Performance Survey: Excessive noise, vibration, slow/fast speed, jarring stops, floor-levelling problems makes the lift unreliable and unsafe. The lift must be checked against the current standards, codes and legal requirements. Recommendations are given in this survey.
Maintenance Survey: Manufacturers and distributors offer maintenance contracts to ensure that the product performs well and remains safe. It’s important to ensure that these contracts are not given purely on the basis of a low quote. Maintenance audit reports help to create a system of documentation.
Modernisation/Upgrade/Refurbishment Survey: When older systems are unable to cope with new requirements, such surveys help to increase capacity, efficiency and performance.
What Our Lift Surveyors Do
At Motion Elevators, our team of highly trained, qualified and experienced professionals can conduct the requisite survey based on your unique requirements. We believe that the key to successful installation of top-quality lifts is a thorough and detailed professional lift survey.
We offer a Free Lift Site Survey conducted by one of our professional technicians that incorporates compliance with current regulations and standards along with the client specifications. The survey aims at enabling us to understand your specific requirements and also to evaluate the available options. Based on this, the survey helps us to take the process to the next level where we can advise you on the right kind of products to purchase and install. We take into account energy efficiency, auxiliary power operations, and emergency power options, to ensure that you get the most suitable product.
This survey is conducted by one of our highly experienced lift installation surveyors.
The process follows a step-by-step procedure:
- The lift installation surveyor arranges to meet with you at a convenient time at the site.
- Following an initial discussion, we conduct the survey according to our standard procedure
- We locate the appropriate site for a new lift. If you already have one planned, we can assess the suitability of this site
- We put this information in sync with the data already gathered from our initial discussion and compile a report
- This allows us to provide you with a free, no-obligations quote that in our opinion matches your particular lift requirements, preferences and budget
- The quote is usually provided to you within a couple of days following the survey
- If you decide to take the process forward based on the quote, we organise one more site meeting to ensure that all the specs are firmed up and that the client is 100% satisfied with all aspects
- Once you convey that you have complete clarity and understanding, you can give us the go-ahead to place an order for manufacture
- The lift goes into production and we provide a detailed work schedule and installation dates along with a time frame for the work to be completed.
We ensure that we provide a detailed report that will help you make an informed choice.