How to Specify Passenger Lifts for Commercial Buildings

A passenger lift specification can look complete on paper yet still create daily frustration if it has been designed around shaft dimensions rather than how the building will actually operate. Long waits at peak times, doors that close too quickly, insufficient car space and difficult maintenance access are usually specification issues, not simply product issues.

Understanding how to specify passenger lifts means balancing passenger demand, accessibility, building constraints, safety duties and whole-life value. For facilities managers, architects and project teams, the right decisions made before tender can reduce disruption long after practical completion.

How to Specify Passenger Lifts: Start With Building Demand

The first question is not which lift model to select. It is who will use the lift, when they will use it and what they will be carrying. A multi-storey office has concentrated arrival, lunch and departure peaks. A healthcare building may need frequent, less predictable movement of patients, visitors, staff and clinical equipment. In education, short changes between lessons can create intense demand across several floors.

Establish the building population, served floors, expected visitor numbers, operating hours and likely peak periods. Also consider the direction of travel. A reception-led office mainly experiences up-peak traffic in the morning, whereas a retail, public-sector or hospital setting may have two-way traffic throughout the day.

Traffic analysis should then inform the number of lifts, rated load, car size, speed and control system. The aim is to achieve appropriate handling capacity and acceptable interval times, rather than simply fitting the largest possible car into an available shaft. For larger or busier buildings, a group of lifts with collective control or destination control may be more effective than several independently operating units.

Future occupancy matters as well. If a building is likely to be reconfigured, expanded or let to a higher-density occupier, specify capacity with realistic headroom. Replacing or adding lift infrastructure later is considerably more complex than allowing for foreseeable demand at design stage.

Choose the Right Lift Arrangement and Drive System

Passenger lift layouts should reflect both traffic flow and the physical form of the building. Through-car arrangements can be valuable where passengers enter from a lobby and exit into a separate corridor, particularly in healthcare or public buildings. Single-entry arrangements may be more appropriate where space is restricted or traffic is straightforward.

Traction lifts are widely suited to commercial applications because they offer efficient operation, good travel capability and reliable performance across medium and high-rise buildings. Machine-room-less traction arrangements can reduce the need for a separate machine room, but this does not remove the need to plan safe maintenance access and suitable equipment space.

Hydraulic lifts can remain a practical choice for lower-rise buildings with modest traffic levels, particularly where structural restrictions make a traction arrangement less suitable. However, their travel range, energy use, heat management and duty cycle must be assessed against the building’s needs. They are not a like-for-like substitute for traction lifts in every setting.

The shaft, pit and headroom requirements should be confirmed early with the architect and structural engineer. It is equally important to assess access routes for installation, replacement of major components and ongoing maintenance. A lift that can be installed but cannot be safely maintained without disproportionate disruption is not a successful solution.

Specify Car Size, Doors and Accessibility Properly

Car dimensions should be based on actual users, not only the minimum rated load. A 630 kg passenger lift may suit a small office with limited traffic, while a 1,000 kg or 1,275 kg car can better support busy commercial environments, wheelchair users, visitors with luggage and facilities teams moving equipment. Healthcare settings may require a larger car capable of accommodating a trolley, bed or specialist equipment, subject to the clinical brief.

Door configuration has a major impact on usability. Centre-opening doors often provide a wider clear opening for a given shaft size, while side-opening doors may be necessary to suit an existing layout. Door opening width, dwell time and reopening controls should support the expected passenger mix. In a high-footfall public building, a poorly selected door arrangement can create congestion even when the lift car itself is adequately sized.

Accessibility should be considered as a complete passenger journey: approach routes, landing space, call buttons, visual and audible indication, car controls, handrails, mirrors, lighting and door timing all matter. The specification should address the relevant requirements of Approved Document M and EN 81-70, alongside the wider duties that apply to the building and its users.

Avoid treating accessibility as a minimum-compliance exercise. Clear visual contrast, logically positioned controls and readable floor information improve confidence for all passengers, including visitors unfamiliar with the building.

Build Safety and Resilience Into the Specification

A passenger lift is not normally an evacuation lift. Where the building fire strategy requires people to use a lift during evacuation, the design must identify this clearly from the outset and meet the additional requirements for an evacuation lift. This may involve protected lobbies, dual power supplies, water protection, communications and defined management procedures. EN 81-76 provides the relevant lift standard for evacuation lifts.

Similarly, a firefighting lift has a specific emergency role and should not be assumed simply because a lift serves multiple floors. Its design must align with the fire strategy and the applicable requirements, including EN 81-72 where relevant.

For standard passenger lifts, safety planning still extends well beyond statutory inspection. Consider emergency alarm communication, two-way voice communication, monitored lift release, lighting, landing protection and safe access for engineers. In buildings with extended opening hours or critical operations, remote monitoring and a clearly defined rescue response can reduce the impact of a fault.

The specification should also identify environmental conditions. Lifts installed in transport hubs, schools, retail premises, industrial sites or exposed public areas may need more durable finishes, protection against misuse, enhanced cleaning considerations or water-resistant detailing. Material choices should reflect the operational environment, not only the appearance of a sample panel.

Define Performance, Controls and Passenger Experience

Speed should be proportionate to travel height and expected demand. A faster lift is not automatically the better option if the building is low-rise or traffic levels are light. Conversely, a slow lift in a tall building can lead to queues and encourage passengers to make unnecessary repeated calls.

Specify the quality of the ride as well as its nominal speed. Acceleration, deceleration, levelling accuracy and door operation affect passenger confidence, especially in healthcare, hospitality and premium office environments. Accurate floor levelling is also essential where wheeled equipment, trolleys or wheelchairs are in regular use.

Control systems should be selected around how the building is managed. Conventional collective control is familiar and effective in many applications. Destination control can improve handling capacity in larger office buildings by grouping passengers travelling to similar floors, but it needs intuitive user interfaces and careful consideration for visitors, accessibility and access-control integration.

Finishes should be practical as well as presentable. Stainless steel, durable wall panels, resilient flooring and protected control panels may carry a higher initial cost, yet can reduce damage and refurbishment requirements in busy public-facing spaces. Specify lighting levels and colour temperature with the interior design team, ensuring that button labels and floor displays remain easy to read.

Plan for Maintenance, Modernisation and Whole-Life Value

The purchase price is only one part of the cost of a passenger lift. The specification should support planned preventative maintenance, statutory thorough examination, availability of parts and eventual modernisation. Proprietary components with limited availability can create avoidable risk during the life of the installation.

Ask tendering contractors to explain their maintenance approach, call-out coverage, spare-parts strategy, monitoring capability and proposed lifecycle plan. It is sensible to define expected response arrangements for passenger entrapments separately from routine faults. A commercial building with public access may need a different service level from a lightly used back-office location.

Where an existing lift is being replaced or refurbished, survey the current shaft, structural openings, electrical supply, pit condition and headroom before committing to a specification. Modernisation can improve reliability, accessibility and energy performance, but the scope must account for the condition of the retained equipment. A new controller alone will not resolve every issue created by worn doors, inadequate shaft dimensions or poor building interfaces.

Make the Tender Information Clear and Testable

A well-written specification gives bidders enough information to price the same outcome. It should set out the required performance, dimensions, finishes, standards, interfaces, testing, documentation, training and maintenance expectations. It should also state which party is responsible for builders’ work, shaft preparation, incoming supplies, fire stopping, decoration and coordination with access control or building management systems.

At handover, require commissioning records, test certificates, operating information, maintenance schedules, drawings, keys and a clear defects process. Before accepting the installation, test it in the conditions that matter: peak passenger flow, accessibility features, levelling, alarm communications and any agreed integration with the wider building.

The strongest passenger lift specification is one that remains practical after the design team has left site. Swallow Lifts can help project teams turn operational needs into a commercially sound lift solution that is safe, accessible and maintainable for the building’s working life.