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Integrity Lift Compliance

Six-Monthly Thorough Examination — The Square Mile

Passenger Lift Inspections in the City of London

Independent six-monthly thorough examination of passenger lifts across the Square Mile. City lifts work harder than almost any others in the country: banks of high-speed traction lifts moving thousands of people a day, in buildings where a lift out of service in the morning peak is a tenant complaint by nine o'clock.

07496 873972All equipment in the City of London

The passenger-lift stock in the City of London

Most of the City's passenger lifts sit in office buildings, from post-war blocks to modern towers with high-rise installations, destination control and separate firefighting lifts. Alongside them are the residential estates around the Barbican and Golden Lane, older stock where the lift is the only practical way to the upper floors, and a growing number of hotels. The common thread is access: in a let office building the examination usually has to happen before the building opens, after it closes, or at the weekend.

What the six-monthly examination covers

Every one of these lifts carries people, so every one is six-monthly. On high-rise traction lifts the examination concentrates on the suspension ropes and their terminations, the brake, the overspeed governor and safety gear, and the door equipment that takes the most wear in a busy lobby. Firefighting lifts are examined like any other passenger lift, and it is worth knowing which lifts in the building are which before the visit, not during it.

Areas covered around the City of London

Passenger lifts carry people, so the statutory interval is six months — not twelve.

  • Bank
  • Liverpool Street
  • Moorgate
  • Aldgate
  • Barbican
  • Fleet Street
  • St Paul's
  • Tower Hill

Passenger lift inspections in other London boroughs

Common Questions

Passenger lift inspections in the City of London — common questions

Can you examine City office lifts outside working hours?

Yes. Early mornings, evenings and weekends are normal for City work, because a bank of lifts in a let building cannot lose a car at the morning peak. We agree the times with the building manager in advance and examine one car at a time so the building is never left without lifts.

Does the building's maintenance contractor need to attend?

It helps on high-rise installations, because some tests are easier with the maintainer on site to restore the lift afterwards, and many City buildings require a contractor escort anyway. It is not a legal requirement, and the examination is still carried out and reported independently of them.

Further reading

How Often Does a Passenger Lift Need Inspecting?
Every six months. The confusion is almost never about the number — it is about whether the maintenance visits already cover it. They do not. A service contract and a thorough examination are different things done by different people for different reasons, and having one does not satisfy the duty for the other.
Will the Examiner Leave My Lift Out of Service?
It is the question duty-holders ask least often and worry about most, and it is the real reason many let their maintenance contractor examine its own work. A thorough examination takes the lift out of normal service deliberately — that is what testing the safety gear means. Getting it back is specific to the installation in front of you rather than to the name on the doors.
Can My Lift Company Carry Out the LOLER Inspection?
It is one of the most common questions duty-holders ask, and the honest answer is not a flat no. LOLER does not name a prohibited person. What it requires is a competent person, and HSE expects that person to be sufficiently independent and impartial to make objective decisions — which is where a maintenance provider examining its own work runs into difficulty. This is about the structure of the arrangement, not about anyone's honesty.

Book a passenger lift examination in the City of London

Tell us what needs inspecting and where — company name, contact details and a note on the equipment. We'll reply within one business hour.

Already have an asset list or examination schedule? Email it to info@integrityliftcompliance.co.uk and we'll come back with a survey plan rather than ask you to retype it.

Survey Request Form