Any building with a lift is bound by the rules and regulations stipulated by the ‘Equipment and Machinery Sector’ and the ‘Machinery Inspection and Certification Unit’ of the Department of Labour Inspections.
For lifts, the following laws and regulations are in place:
Periodic audit and maintenance of lifts
On 28.12.2012 the Safety and Health at Work (Operation, Maintenance and Audit of Lifts) Regulations of 2012 (P.I. 533/2012) were published in the Cyprus Government Gazette. The Regulation were put into force on 31.8.2013.
The Regulations specify the obligations of lift owners and the persons who are involved in the maintenance and audit of lifts. Periodic audit and maintenance of lifts is carried out by private auditors and maintenance persons respectively. The Minister of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance, through the Department of Labour Inspection, is the competent authority for the enforcement of the Regulations.
Failure to comply with the obligations set out in the Regulations for Lift Owners, Maintenance Personnel or Authorized Lift Auditors, constitutes a penal offense.
According to the latest amendment to the Law on Safety and Health at Work (L.215(I)/2020, 31.12.2020), the Chief Inspector has the power to proceed with an out-of-court settlement of this offense. The amount of the out-of-court fine that can be imposed depending on the offense is € 400 or € 500. The out-of-court settlement of the offense is not equivalent to a conviction and if paid, no prosecution is initiated in relation to the offense in question.
Authorized Lift Auditors Registry and Lift Maintenance Persons Registry
The Department of Labour Inspection examines applications and approves persons as Lift Maintenance Persons and Authorized Lift Auditors. The criteria for the approval of Authorized Lift Auditors and Lift Maintenance Persons are specified in the Regulations. More information is provided in paragraph 2.8 below.
The names of the persons (physical or legal), which have been approved to carry out maintenance of lifts and periodic audit of lifts, are published in the Official Gazette of the Republic and listed in the Lift Maintenance Registry and the Authorised Lift Auditors Registry, respectively. The Registries are kept in electronic format up to date and are uploaded at the Department’s website.
In addition to the names of the persons approved to carry out lift maintenance or periodic lift audit, the Registries contain contact details and other useful information.
Lift Owner Obligations
Every lift owner, as prescribed in the Regulations, ought to:
Ensure, via periodic audit and maintenance, that the lift satisfies, throughout the duration of its use and at the same level the technical requirements that applied when it was first placed in use and at least the requirements of Annex I (lifts intended for the transport of persons or persons and goods) or of Annex II (goods only lifts) of the Regulations.
● Ensures that the lift is audited at least once every 24 months or after major alterations on the lift or if a change in the use of the building occurs.
● Ensures that the lift is maintained at the frequency prescribed in the Regulations according to the category of the building in which it is installed.
● Ensures that the Lift Maintenance Person is present during the lift audit.
● Affixes inside the lift car the marking «LIFT AUDIT: SUCCESSFUL», which is supplied by the Authorised Lift Auditor after each successful audit and keeps the Audit Report issued by the Authorized Lift Auditor for 5 years.
● Ensures that repairs, changes or replacements in the lift, are carried out within the time frame determined by the Auditor in his Report.
● Takes immediate action to repair the lift in case of a malfunction or a breakdown that may expose lift users to imminent and serious danger and takes appropriate measures to prevent the use of the lift until it is repaired.
● Makes sure a telephone appliance is installed inside the lift car, which must be in operating condition and available to the persons trapped inside the car. This appliance must be connected to the emergency call center of the Lift Maintenance Person, who has the obligation to respond and rescue this person.
Periodic Lifts Audit
According to Regulation 5, the periodic audit of lifts is carried out only by Authorised Lifts Auditors following a written assignment from the lift owner and after the respective fee is paid. The periodic audit of lifts is carried out at least once every 24 months.
If during the lift audit the Authorised Lift Auditor discovers that the lift presents an imminent and serious danger to the lift users, he orders the owner to place the lift «out of use» and to take appropriate measures to prevent its use until its repair. Once the lift is repaired a new audit is required from the same Auditor to ensure that the lift is repaired and deemed safe for use.
Frequency of Lift Maintenance
The maintenance of lifts shall only be carried out by Lift Maintenance Persons. The annual frequency of maintenance is at least 12, 8 or 4 times per year depending on the use of the building (public sector buildings, lifts in private dwellings, hotel, hospital) as defined in Regulation 10(6) and Annex VIII of the Regulations.
The frequency of maintenance for each installed lift is specified in the Regulations as follows:
- At least 12 times annually for lifts in buildings of public use, government and semi-government owned buildings and buildings that are listed in Annex VIII of the Regulations (e.g., lifts in hospitals, clinics, hotels, airports, universities, parking places, department stores, restaurants, places of recreation and mass aggregation of public, etc).
- At least 4 times annually for private use lifts (that is a lift installed in a private dwelling in such a way that it is unapproachable from places outside the private dwelling and which can only be used by the householders or tenants of the private dwelling and their visitors) and for lifts connected to machinery and are exclusively intended for access to a working place.
- At least 8 times annually for all other lifts, which is lifts installed in buildings that are not included in the above two categories.
Furthermore, in special cases (e.g., old lift, frequent malfunctions or stoppages with trapped persons), a more frequent maintenance interval may be required for a short period of time than that specified in the Regulations to ensure a good operational condition of the lift and quality of service of lift users. When the good operational condition is established, the frequency of maintenance may revert to the minimum prescribed as above.
Major Lift Alterations
In cases where the owner proceeds with major alterations of the lift, he should ensure that the lift is audited by an Authorized Lift Auditor. The Regulations specify the term “major alteration”.
Such major alterations are the following:
- Change of the nominal speed, nominal load, weight of car (carrier) and the length of travel.
- Change or replacement of the type of the interlocking devices, the lift normal operation system, the guides or the type of the guides, type of door, the drive mechanism or the friction pulley, the overspeed governor, the means of protection against uncontrolled movement of the lift car during ascent or descent, the buffers of the lift car, the device preventing the free fall of the lift, the control panel or the control electrical installation and the lift car.