Preparing safety case reports: Lifts

Help to prepare safety case reports

This information is for Accountable Persons (APs) of high-rise buildings to assist them in preparing safety case reports including lifts for Building Assessment Certificates.

The safety case report must demonstrate that all reasonable steps have been taken to prevent building safety risks happening from lifts and reduce the seriousness if they do.

Lifts in high-rise buildings

Normal lifts should not be used in the event of a fire. Firefighting or firefighters lifts have additional measures in place to allow the fire and rescue service to use them when tackling fires.

This is particularly important with taller buildings. It means firefighters do not have to climb many flights of stairs, carrying heavy equipment.

This page will use the term ‘firefighting lift’ to refer to these types of lift. Different standards may refer to them as that, or as ‘firefighters lifts’.

Older documents may refer to ‘fireman’s lifts’. Here we are using it to mean a ‘lift with protection measures, controls and signals to enable it to be used under the direct control of the fire and rescue service in fighting a fire’.

Further information can be found in BS 9991 or BS 9999.

Older buildings may not have firefighting lifts. They are generally bigger than normal lifts. So it may not be physically possible to replace a non-firefighting lift with a fire-fighting one.

There may be reasonable measures to upgrade a normal lift to allow the fire and rescue service to use it.

Scenario

Firefighters face additional challenges when dealing with a fire as they are unable to use the lift.

Background and possible reasons

The lift(s) in existing buildings may not be firefighting lifts because they were never designed/installed to meet those requirements.

You may not know whether the lift is a firefighting lift. It is possible the lift is a firefighting lift but has not been maintained so it can still be used as one.

Short term responses

If you don’t know if it is a firefighting lift, the first thing is establishing if it is or not. You may be able to determine this yourself from historic information.

You may need the help of a lift engineer or the lift manufacturer. Standards such as BS 8899:2016 or BS EN 81-72:2015 may help you.

If you find it is a firefighting lift, or knew it was but it had not been maintained so it can be used as one:

• you should review the lift’s maintenance records and work out what needs to be done to make it usable as a firefighting lift
• make arrangements for work to be carried out
• tell the fire and rescue service when the lift is suitable for use as a firefighting lift
  • If you find it is not a firefighting lift, or if you knew it wasn’t:
• review the lift against a standard such as BS 8899:2016. Again you may need the help of a lift engineer or the lift manufacturer
• decide which, if any, of the possible changes may be reasonable
• liaise with the fire and rescue service to find out if any of the changes identified would allow them to use the lift in an incident
  • this is critical in deciding what action to take

Additional responses

If making changes would allow the fire and rescue service to use the lift, and they are reasonable, then you should make them.

Then tell the fire and rescue service when the lift is suitable for use as a firefighting lift.

If measures identified would not allow the fire and rescue service to use the lift then those changes would not be reasonable.

You should record the discussions with the fire and rescue service and maintain the lift as a normal passenger lift.

Ongoing management

Ensure maintenance and inspection regimes are in place for the lift(s) whether they are passenger or firefighting.

This will need to include an effective system for managing any action or recommendations that are raised.

Other practical examples

• Internal
  • bin chutes
  • fire doors – not closing
  • fire doors – not marked
• Resident engagement
  • communicating using multiple languages
  • updating outdated information about residents
• Structural
  • balconies
  • damage to structural fire protection
  • new cracking
  • prolonged or uncontrolled water ingress
  • risk of vehicle damage