Lifts (Germany)
A list of checks and obligations with their cadence, ready to add to your agenda.
For German lift operators: companies, building managers, owners of commercial property. Covers the two statutory inspections carried out by an approved inspection body — the main inspection every two years and the intermediate inspection halfway through, which together bring an external check every year — plus the inspection before first use, the inspection book, the emergency call system, contractual maintenance and defect handling. Installation work, the machinery directive on new lifts and disabled-access platform lifts, which follow their own rules, are out of scope.
Questions about this product?
Ask what is in the manuals, how often the maintenance is due and what it takes to do it.
What it already has at hand
- No manual on this page
- 7 planned checks, the most frequent every 12 months since the last job
Planned checks
Informative summary verified on 12/09/2026. It does not replace legal advice: the regulation cited prevails. If you spot an error, report it.
Some checks are only mandatory in certain countries: pick yours and the list follows.
In Italy this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In France this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
- 01
Take the lift out of service on serious defects
If an inspection finds a defect that compromises the safety of people, the lift must be stopped and taken out of service until it is resolved: the decision belongs to the operator and cannot wait for a quotation. Minor defects must be removed within the period stated in the report, and the evidence of removal is filed with the inspection book. This control exists so that the most expensive loose end of all is not left open: a report with findings nobody closed, discovered two years later by the next inspection.
continuous checkCompany ruleGermany only - 02
Service as the manufacturer and contract require
Routine maintenance is a different thing from the statutory inspections and does not replace them: the maintenance company performs it at the interval the manufacturer and the contract set, often shorter than twelve months. No German law fixes a single interval, so the reminder is set to twelve months as a minimum attention span and should be brought back to the real cadence of your contract. The maintenance reports belong in the inspection book: the inspection body reads them.
every 12 months since the last jobRecommendedGermany only - 03
Have the main inspection done at least every 2 years
The duty lies with the operator of the installation — the company, owner or manager who makes it available — and only an approved inspection body such as TÜV or DEKRA may carry it out: not the maintenance company, however good. Two years is the maximum interval, and the appointment must be booked ahead because the external body sets the date. The evidence is the certificate the inspection body issues: the expiry sticker in the car is what users see, but the document is what counts.
every 24 months since the last inspectionLegal obligationBetrSichV Anlage 2 Abschnitt 2Germany onlySourceverified on 12/09/2026 - 04
Test the emergency call system
The emergency intercom in the car must reach a service staffed around the clock and allow two-way communication with whoever is trapped inside. Testing it once a month by pressing the button and actually speaking to the operator is widespread practice, not an interval set by law, and it is the only way to notice that the contract with the call centre has lapsed or that the line is dead. Also check who holds the release keys and how long they take to arrive.
continuous check, confirm every 1 monthsRecommendedGermany only - 05
Have the lift checked before it is put into service
A new lift, or an existing one after a substantial modification — a new car, new drive, new controller — may not go back into service before an approved inspection body has checked it. This deadline has no date: it is triggered by the event, that is when the installation is fitted or altered. The duty lies with the operator, not the installer: it is the operator who must hold the certificate before the first person steps into the car.
continuous checkLegal obligationBetrSichV Anlage 2 Abschnitt 2Germany only - 06
Keep the lift inspection book
The inspection body certificates, the maintenance reports and the system documentation live together in the inspection book, which the operator keeps available for the authority and for the inspection body at the next visit. It is the document that makes the history of the installation demonstrable: who checked what, which defects were found and how they were closed. When the building changes owner or manager, the book goes with the installation, and an incomplete handover is paid for at the next inspection.
continuous check, confirm every 12 monthsLegal obligationBetrSichV Anlage 2 Abschnitt 2Germany only - 07
Have the intermediate inspection within one year
Between two main inspections sits the intermediate inspection, due halfway through the interval and in any case no more than a year after the previous check: offset by a year, it means the installation sees an external check every twelve months. An approved inspection body carries this out as well, and it too leaves a certificate. It is lighter than the main inspection but it is not a formality: whoever skips it because the lift runs fine finds out when the authority asks for the inspection book.
every 12 months since the last inspectionLegal obligationBetrSichV Anlage 2 Abschnitt 2Germany onlySourceverified on 12/09/2026
In Switzerland this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Austria this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In United Kingdom this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Spain this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Portugal this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In United States this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Other country this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
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