Safety is always the primary concern when considering the frequency of lift maintenance. Routine lift maintenance is mandated by Worksafe and considered a requirement by Insurers. The frequency of lift maintenance depends upon a range of factors depending on, type of lift, the lift application and frequency of use.

Lifts in medium to high rise, city car parks, shopping centres and hospitals will vary greatly in their frequency of servicing. To determine the number of services these lifts should have will require guidance from the lift installation company. If a customer requires an independent assessment or management of a significant lift contract then a Lift Consultant can be engaged or call a range of maintenance providers.

Maintaining “typical“ lifts:

Eighty to ninety percent of lifts are not critical use or high rise so it is possible to give some guiding principles as to how often a lift should be serviced without engaging a consultant.

Typical lifts are generally:

• Less than 5 floors.
• Not in critical need situations such as hospitals lifts.
• Have a rated load of 1,275 kg or less,
• A speed up to 1.5 M/sec

Most home lifts and lifts in commercial applications are viewed as typical lifts in terms of maintenance frequency.

Frequency of use:

The industry standard is that a lift in the “typical” category, hydraulic or traction should be serviced approximately every 5,000 trips. A trip is defined as a movement up or down. So, if a lift travels up a floor then back down again this is 2 x trips.

Trips can accumulate very quickly:

• Just one trip up and down is 730 trips a year (1x service p.a.)
• 5 trips up and down is 3,650 trips per year (1 x service p.a.)
• 10 trips up and down is 7,300 trips per year. (2 x services p.a.)

It is common for lifts in small apartment blocks and offices to make 30+ trips up and down a day, a total of 21,900 trips per year so 4 x services p.a. Most lifts have trip counters in their control system so it is easy to calculate the service regime.

Home Lift service frequency:

A home lift is defined as a lift servicing a single home with no common space such as a shared basement. There is some variation within the industry as to how often home lifts should be serviced but some general principles apply. If the lift is reasonable quality, has been maintained routinely and is less than 10-15 years old and does less than 5,000 trips per year, then a single service per year is adequate. If the lift is older or critical to an occupant, then a second service per year may be recommended. Most lifts in a home fall into the single maintenance category.

Commercial Lift service frequency:

A commercial lift is any lift that is not installed into a single home. The owner of the building, not the occupants, are deemed the responsible party to ensure routine lift maintenance is performed. Most, smaller commercial lifts, 5 floors or less, should be serviced a minimum of 2 times per year but typically 4 x per year. Some commercial lifts may only require 1 x service per year but this would be regarded as unusual as trip hazards and door operation may need adjusting more than once a year. Even very low use lifts for disabled access should be serviced a minimum of 2 x per year if they are in public applications or educational settings. The maintenance frequency is determined by, what does safety dictate, the key consideration of Worksafe and Insurers.

Summary:

Safety is the primary concern when determining service frequency. Most home lifts require one service per year. Worksafe mandates that all lifts receive an annual safety check, insurers also have a keen interest in safety checks. Most low-rise commercial lifts require a minimum of two services per year but typically four services a year. The service demand of your lift should be suited to the amount of trips it does each year, a trip count should be written on your service reports (not all lifts have them though!) just ask your maintenance or installation company.

I trust that this article has been helpful.

Published: May 27, 2026