Passenger and Goods Lift Inspections in Medway, Kent
Local Service Hub
Passenger lifts, goods lifts, and service lifts are permanent installations found in offices, residential buildings, hospitals, shopping centres, and industrial premises. They carry people and goods multiple times daily, often for decades. Thorough examination verifies that safety-critical systems (including door interlocks, overspeed governors, and emergency braking) are functioning correctly to prevent entrapment, free-fall, or crush injuries.
Lift Inspections in Medway
Commercial lifts in Medway serve office blocks, retail premises, residential developments, healthcare sites, and hotels. Every lift carrying people must be thoroughly examined under LOLER at least every 6 months, or at the intervals set by an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person.
The Medway towns (Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Strood, and Rainham) form a large, continuous urban area. The area has a strong industrial heritage rooted in the former Chatham Dockyard and retains a substantial engineering, manufacturing, and construction sector. Rochester Airport industrial estate and the Medway City Estate are significant centres of commercial activity. Our Engineer Surveyors provide passenger and goods lift inspections to businesses throughout Medway and nearby areas including Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham.
Industries We Support in Medway
Medway's local economy includes engineering and manufacturing, construction, logistics, and maritime services. These are sectors where passenger and goods lift inspections are regularly required to maintain legal compliance and workplace safety.
Across Kent, Construction and logistics dominate demand for lifting equipment inspections across Kent. The Thames Gateway development programme continues to drive building activity in the north of the county, while cross-Channel freight operations sustain a large fleet of material handling equipment along the M20 corridor. Manufacturing, food processing, and agricultural operations across the county's rural areas also generate steady inspection demand.
Lift Types in Medway
- Passenger lifts (traction and hydraulic)
- Goods lifts and service lifts
- Platform lifts (disabled access)
- Dumbwaiters and food service lifts
- Stairlifts in commercial premises
- Home lifts (where used in a work context)
- Inclined platform lifts
- Vertical platform lifts
Lift thorough examinations cover the car structure and platform, guide rails and fixings, suspension ropes or hydraulic rams, door interlocks and landing door mechanisms, overspeed governor and safety gear, buffer assemblies, and the control system. The competent person checks that all safety devices operate within their design parameters and that no deterioration has occurred that could lead to failure.
Building Owner Duties in Medway
The LOLER duty for a lift in Medway falls on whoever has control of the equipment, typically the building owner, managing agent, or employer in occupation. The duty is statutory. HSE guidance in L113 adds that the competent person should be sufficiently independent and impartial, and should not normally be the person who maintains the lift.
Why Passenger and Goods Lift Inspections Matter in Medway
Medway Maritime Hospital is an acute hospital with a major lift estate. Add the Universities at Medway campus, the Pentagon and Strood retail centres, council buildings, and the riverside residential pipeline, and managing agents and estates teams share a substantial duty-holder workload for 6-monthly examination.
Our Coverage Around Medway
We cover the Medway towns including Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Strood, and Rainham, plus the Hoo Peninsula. Our engineers regularly attend Medway City Estate, Gillingham Business Park, Rochester Airport industrial area, Medway Maritime Hospital, and developments along the river including Chatham Waters and Rochester Riverside.
Inspection Frequency and Legal Requirements
Passenger lifts must be thoroughly examined at intervals not exceeding 6 months under LOLER, because they lift persons, and goods-only lifts at intervals not exceeding 12 months, unless an examination scheme sets different intervals. The Lifts Regulations 2016 (implementing EU Directive 2014/33/EU) apply additional requirements to new lift installations. Building owners and managing agents are typically the duty holders responsible for arranging thorough examinations.
Required Inspection Interval
At least every 6 months for passenger lifts and every 12 months for goods-only lifts, unless an examination scheme sets different intervals
Covering Medway and Kent
Kent businesses often require flexible scheduling to accommodate the county's spread-out geography, from the Thames Estuary in the north to the Romney Marsh in the south. Our local Engineer Surveyors operate across the entire county, reducing travel time and enabling responsive service.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often does a passenger lift need inspecting?
Passenger lifts must be thoroughly examined under LOLER at least every 6 months, because they are used to carry people, unless an examination scheme sets different intervals. This applies to all passenger lifts regardless of age, type, or usage level.
Who is responsible for lift inspections in a building?
The duty holder is responsible: this is typically the building owner, landlord, managing agent, or facilities management company. In multi-tenanted buildings, the responsibility usually falls on whoever has control of the common parts including the lift.
What happens if a defect is found during examination?
If the competent person identifies an immediate danger, they must notify the duty holder immediately and send a copy of the report to the relevant enforcing authority (the HSE or the local authority) under LOLER Regulation 10. The lift must be taken out of service until the defect is rectified. Less critical defects are noted in the report with a timeframe for remedial action.
Do you cover all of Kent including rural areas?
Yes. Our Engineer Surveyors are based across Kent and cover the entire county from the Thames Estuary towns in the north through to the Romney Marsh in the south. We regularly attend sites in rural locations, farms, and small workshops as well as major industrial estates and construction sites.
Passenger and Goods Lift Inspections in Kent
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