Lift Installation Inspector
Inspections of lift installations, intermediate checks between main examinations, safety-device and emergency-call testing, defect tracking and inspection records. Performed per BetrSichV § 16 and TRBS 1201 Teil 4.
BetrSichV § 16 · TRBS 1201 Teil 4
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What is a Lift Installation Inspector?
The lift installation inspector is the competent person (befähigte Person) who watches the safe operating condition of passenger and goods lifts in day-to-day use. Lifts count as installations requiring monitoring (überwachungsbedürftige Anlagen), so they sit under a stricter inspection regime than ordinary work equipment: the operator owes their inspection under the Industrial Safety Ordinance (Betriebssicherheitsverordnung, BetrSichV) and has to be able to show at any time that it took place.
The boundary of the role comes first. Recurring inspections of lift installations under Section 16 BetrSichV in conjunction with Annex 2 Section 2 of the ordinance are reserved for an approved monitoring body (zugelassene Überwachungsstelle, ZÜS). That covers the main inspection and equally the intermediate inspection that falls between two main inspections. The competent person carries out neither. Where an operator blurs that split, it ends up with a check that produces no valid inspection record.
The competent person's own territory lies between those dates: the regular check of whether the installation is still in a safe condition. That covers the safety devices, meaning overspeed governor and safety gear, buffers, door locks and bridging circuits, slack-rope and load control, plus the condition of machine room, suspension means and guide systems, and above all the emergency-call system, which under the lift standards of the EN 81 series must provide a permanent two-way voice link to a point that is staffed at all times. How often these checks fall due follows from the risk assessment and the manufacturer's instructions, not from a habit that grew on site.
On qualification the person has to satisfy Section 2 paragraph 6 BetrSichV and evidence the criteria of TRBS 1203; the technical detail for inspecting lift installations sits in TRBS 1201 Part 4. She documents every finding, classifies defects by severity, hands them to the operator for repair and retests after the work. Those records also prepare the next ZÜS date: what came up between inspections, and how it was closed, has to be readable there without gaps.
Core duties of the Lift Installation Inspector
- Carry out the recurring checks of lift installations between the inspections by the approved monitoring body, above all the safety devices and the emergency call system.
- Test safety devices: overspeed governor, safety gear, buffers, door locks and bridging circuits.
- Verify the emergency-call system gives a permanent two-way voice link to a manned point per the EN 81 series.
- Check levelling, slack-rope detection, load control and overload signalling.
- Inspect the machine room, suspension means and guide systems for wear and condition.
- Classify defects by severity and decide whether continued operation is permissible.
- Document each inspection in a written record with findings, photos and deadlines.
- Track defects to closure and arrange a retest after repair where needed.
- Coordinate with the approved monitoring body (ZÜS) on the main inspection cycle.
- Confirm and maintain own competent-person qualification under TRBS 1203.
When is appointment required?
The duty arises whenever an operator runs a lift installation that counts as an installation requiring monitoring. Under Section 16 BetrSichV the operator must have such installations inspected before first use, after substantial changes, and on a recurring basis. The recurring regime combines a main inspection by an approved monitoring body (ZÜS) with an intermediate inspection at the midpoint of the inspection period, which under Annex 2 Section 2 BetrSichV is likewise carried out by an approved monitoring body; the competent person handles the recurring checks between those dates.
The operator therefore needs access to a Lift Installation Inspector who meets the competence requirements of Section 2 paragraph 6 BetrSichV in conjunction with TRBS 1203: relevant training, professional experience with lift technology, and current knowledge kept up to date. The inspector may be internal or an external service provider, but the competence must be demonstrable, independent of instructions in the inspection judgement, and free of conflicts of interest with the maintenance work being judged.
The operator remains responsible for commissioning the inspections at the right intervals, acting on defects, and keeping the records available for the supervisory authority. Intervals follow the ordinance and the deployment conditions; the inspector confirms or shortens them where condition demands.
- Operation of a passenger or goods lift classed as requiring monitoring
- First use of a new or substantially changed lift installation
- The recurring inspection cycle reaching the intermediate-inspection point
- A defect or incident requiring a retest before continued use
- Modernisation or component replacement affecting safety functions
- Authority order following a complaint or accident
Industries that need this role
- Residential property and housing management
- Office and commercial real estate
- Hospitals, clinics and care homes
- Hotels and hospitality
- Retail and shopping centres
- Industrial and logistics buildings with goods lifts
- Public administration and schools
- Parking garages with car lifts
- Manufacturing sites with platform and material lifts
How CIVAC supports the Lift Inspector role
CIVAC turns the lift inspection cycle into a schedule. The main inspection and the intermediate inspection are reserved for an approved monitoring body (ZÜS, Zugelassene Überwachungsstelle); the competent person carries out the regular checks in between. Both strands become scheduled tasks with an owner and a reminder, so no date slips past unnoticed, and role templates cover the recurring steps once fitted to your own stock of installations.
Every inspection certificate, every finding and every defect rectification sits in the documentation area and stays traceable through the append-only audit trail, so when the supervisory authority asks, the chain of check, defect, repair and re-inspection can be shown without a search. Training evidence per person, the stand-in for holiday and sickness and the handover to a successor hang on the same role file. Where the role cannot be filled in-house, an external competent person can be appointed through CIVAC. Data is held in the EU, at 49 euros per role per month.
Frequently asked questions
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