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Free lessons from Durant Lifts

Lift Academy.

Free, plain-English lessons on how lifts work, the law that applies to them and how to look after them well.

Written for building managers, managing agents, facilities teams and residents, with original diagrams and links to the official sources.

Start with parts of a liftBrowse the courses
  • 7 courses
  • 31 lessons
  • Free no sign-up
View into a lift shaft during rope replacement works, with scaffolding and the counterweight screen

Start here.

Three short paths through the lessons, depending on what you need to know.

For dutyholders and managing agents

Responsible for compliance

  1. Who is responsible for a lift
  2. How to read a LOLER report
  3. Passenger lift regulations
  4. Fire safety duties for lifts

For building and facilities managers

Running a building

  1. Taking on a building with lifts
  2. Keeping a lift logbook
  3. Measuring lift performance
  4. Power cuts and lifts

For residents and anyone new to lifts

Curious about lifts

  1. Parts of a lift
  2. How a traction lift works
  3. What happens when you call a lift
  4. How long does a lift last?

Seven courses.

Each course is a short series of lessons with original diagrams, links to the official sources and a quick check at the end.

  1. How lifts work

    The parts inside a lift and how they work together, from the machine room to the pit.

    8 lessons

  2. Lift types and sizes

    The main types of lift, the space each one needs, and the lifts built for fires and evacuation.

    3 lessons

  3. Safety and the law

    The regulations that apply to lifts, who is responsible, and how to read the reports they produce.

    7 lessons

  4. Maintenance and inspections

    What good maintenance looks like, how to keep records and how to measure a contract’s performance.

    3 lessons

  5. Faults and breakdowns

    How engineers find faults, what fault codes and flooded pits mean, and what happens in a power cut.

    4 lessons

  6. Lifecycle and modernisation

    What decides how long lift parts last, how a modernisation project runs and what the analogue switch-off means for lift phones.

    3 lessons

  7. Managing a building’s lifts

    Practical checklists and planners for taking on, tendering and scheduling a building’s lifts.

    3 lessons

  8. Lift glossary

    Plain-English definitions of the terms engineers and examiners use.

    122 terms
Cutaway of a traction liftSide section through a traction lift with a machine room above the shaft. The machine, controller and overspeed governor sit in the machine room. Suspension ropes run from the top of the car over the traction sheave and a diverter pulley, then down to the counterweight at the back of the shaft. The car serves three floors and is shown at floor 1, with a landing door and call button at each floor. Guide rails run the height of the shaft. The pit below the ground floor holds the buffers and the governor tension pulley.Machine roomFloor 2Floor 1GroundHeadroomPit

Featured lesson

Our interactive cutaway shows every main part of a traction lift, from the machine and the overspeed governor to the buffers in the pit, and explains what each one does.

  • Select any part to see what it does and where it sits.
  • Find out which parts keep the lift safe, and why.
  • Learn the terms engineers and examiners use.
Explore the parts of a lift

Practical tools.

Free to use in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to us.

Tender checklist

Compare maintenance tenders like for like, then print or save your checklist.

Open the tender checklist

LOLER schedule planner

Turn your last examination date into due dates for the next two years.

Open the loler schedule planner

Know the terms.

Plain-English definitions of words you will meet in maintenance reports and examinations. See all 122 terms.

Car
The compartment that carries passengers or goods. It sits in a steel car frame that runs on the guide rails.
Counterweight
A frame of weights that travels in the opposite direction to the car in a traction lift, balancing the car and part of its rated load.
Overspeed governor
A device, driven by its own rope from the car, that detects overspeed. It opens a switch to stop the machine and, if the car keeps accelerating, triggers the safety gear.
Interlock
A mechanical lock with an electrical contact on each landing door. The lift cannot run normally unless every landing door is closed and locked.
Sheave
A grooved wheel that ropes run over. The traction sheave is turned by the machine and moves the car by friction.
Thorough examination
A systematic, detailed examination of a lift and its safety-critical parts by a competent person, followed by a written report.

How we write these lessons.

Guidance you can rely on, with the sources to check it yourself. Read our editorial standards.

  • Reviewed by engineers

    Every lesson is prepared and reviewed by the Durant Lifts engineering team before it is published.

  • Linked to the source

    Statements about the law link to legislation.gov.uk, HSE guidance or the relevant standard.

  • Dated and maintained

    Each page shows when it was last updated, and lessons are reviewed regularly.

  • Guidance, not training

    The lessons explain; they do not certify. For your building, your competent person and legal adviser have the final word.

Questions about your lifts?

Talk to an engineer about maintenance, repairs, examinations or a lift that is giving you trouble.

Talk to an engineer020 3488 4226

Common questions.

Answers about the lessons and how we write them.

Who are the lessons for?

Building managers, managing agents, facilities teams, residents and anyone who wants to understand lifts. No technical background is needed.

Is Lift Academy accredited training?

No. The lessons are free guidance from the Durant Lifts engineering team. They do not lead to a qualification or certificate, and they are not a substitute for your competent person or legal advice.

Do I need to sign up?

No. Every lesson is free to read without an account. If you choose to mark lessons as complete, that record stays in your own browser and is never sent to us.

How are the lessons checked?

Each lesson is reviewed by our engineering team and checked against the primary sources it cites, such as legislation.gov.uk and HSE guidance. Every page shows the date it was last updated.