The New Standardization Request for Lifts

Explaining the upcoming CEN TC 10 standardization work to achieve harmonized standards fully in compliance with the requirement of fair competition

The elaboration and adoption of harmonized standards is based upon a standardization request (mandate) issued by the European Commission to the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) according to Regulation (EU) No. 1025/2012. When a standard meets the requirements set out in the request, the commission publishes its reference in the Official Journal of the European Union. Once published in the journal, the harmonized standard gives presumption of conformity with the essential requirements it aims to cover.

CEN Technical Committee (TC) 10 (Lifts, Escalators and Moving Walks) is in charge of the establishment of safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts and service lifts, escalators and passenger conveyors. Until last year, CEN TC 10 standardization activity relied on a commission request dated 1992 that was not publicly available. In September 2016, the commission issued a new standardization request asking CEN to develop and revise standards for lifts and safety components for lifts covered by Lift Safety Directive 2014/33/EU (Commission Implementing Decision of 21.9.2016 on a standardization request to the European Committee for Standardization as regards lifts and safety components for lifts in support of Lift Safety Directive 2014/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the council).

The fair competition issue raised by this standardization request is crucial for companies operating in the lifts maintenance and repair market.

In the new mandate (M/549), CEN is requested to draft harmonized standards in support of the implementation of essential health and safety requirements laid down in Annex I to Lift Safety Directive 2014/33/EU, which includes conformity with the relevant health and safety requirements set in Annex I to Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. In the mandate, the commission states that the requested harmonized standards, while ensuring a high level of protection of health and safety of persons, should also support fair competition, providing a level playing field on the European Union (EU) market by effectively implementing those essential health and safety requirements.

Annex I of the mandate, setting out the requirements of the harmonized standards, clearly explains the purpose of fair competition. In this respect, the following requirement of Annex I is very important:

“The requested harmonized standards shall not unduly inhibit fair internal market and fair competition on the internal market, especially with respect to the implementation of those essential health and safety requirements necessitating technical specifications dealing with maintainability and serviceability of lifts and safety components. The requested harmonized standards shall not unduly restrict access to relevant maintenance and diagnostic data, related interfaces and tools needed during [the] use phase of lifts.”

The fair competition issue raised by this standardization request is crucial for companies operating in the lifts maintenance and repair market, because existing harmonized standards do not fully comply with the essential safety requirements dealing with the availability of instructions and service tools needed for a safe operation of lifts once they are put into service.

The European Federation for Elevator Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (EFESME), with the help of Small Business Standards, will carefully monitor CEN TC 10 standardization work in the coming months to achieve harmonized standards fully in compliance with the requirement of fair competition set out in the new commission standardization request for the revised lifts.