Lesson 2 of 3Maintenance and inspections
Keeping a lift logbook.
A logbook gives each lift one history: every visit, call-out, repair, examination and check. Here is what to record, who makes each entry and how long to keep it, with sample entries and a blank sheet to print.
Why keep a logbook.
A lift’s records are often spread across visit reports, emails, examination reports and notes in a site office. A logbook brings them together, so anyone looking after the lift can see its history in one place.
Every new lift should arrive with one. The Lifts Regulations 2016 require the instructions supplied with a new lift to include “a logbook in which repairs and, where appropriate, periodic checks can be noted.” Once the lift is in use, the duty is to keep that record going.
The law
“Every employer shall ensure that where any machinery has a maintenance log, the log is kept up to date.”
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, regulation 5(2)
HSE’s guidance on PUWER is clear that there is no general requirement to keep a maintenance log, “Although it is recommended that you keep a record of maintenance for high-risk equipment.” It adds that “A detailed maintenance log can provide information for future planning of maintenance activities and inform maintenance personnel what actions have been taken previously.”
Other duties depend on a good record too:
- HSE guidance on LOLER asks dutyholders to make documents available to the competent person, “eg manufacturer’s instructions and maintenance records”.
- In a high-rise residential building in England, the responsible person must check firefighters lifts and evacuation lifts every month, record the checks and make the record accessible to residents. Our lesson on fire safety duties for lifts explains those checks.
- LEIA’s code of practice for lift maintenance says the contractor will provide a log card and make an entry after each visit, and that the customer will report defects straight away and carry out simple daily checks.
Our compliance resources page has a checklist of the documents to keep for each lift. The logbook is where they come together.
What goes in it.
Several people write in a lift’s logbook, and several people rely on it. In our view, one logbook for each lift works best, even in a building with several lifts, so each lift’s history stays clear.
Describe this diagram
Four sources feed one logbook for each lift: the lift contractor records visits and call-outs, the competent person’s examination reports are filed in it, building staff record checks and incidents, and lift users report anything unusual. Four people then use it: your contractor, to spot repeat faults; your examiner, to see past findings; you, to track open defects; and a new contractor, to pick up the full history.
| Entry | Who makes it | What to note |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance visit | Lift contractor | The date, what was done, anything found and anything left outstanding. |
| Call-out | Lift contractor | When the fault was reported and attended, what was found, what was done and whether the lift is back in service. |
| Repair | Lift contractor | What was repaired or replaced, and which defect or call-out it closes. |
| Thorough examination | You, from the competent person’s report | The date of the examination and of the report, each defect and the date to remedy it by, and when the next examination is due. |
| Supplementary test | You, from the competent person’s report | Which test was carried out, when, and the result. |
| Building check | Building staff | The date and time, what was checked, anything unusual and who it was reported to. |
| Incident or trapping | Building staff, with the contractor | What happened, when, who was involved and who was told. Some incidents must also be reported under RIDDOR. |
| Out of service | Building staff or the contractor | When the lift stopped and restarted, why, and how users were told. |
Our guide to planned lift maintenance explains what a maintenance visit includes and what its report should show.
What good entries look like.
A good entry is short and specific: when, what, where and who. Select a number to see why each of these sample entries is useful.
Lift logbook: Lift A
Sample entries for October
Illustrative example
- 6 Oct
Maintenance visit - Routine visit. Door equipment and brake checked, guide rails cleaned and lubricated. No defects found. Visit report filed.
- 9 Oct, 08:10
Building check - Scraping noise as the doors close at floor 2. Lift otherwise working normally. Reported to the contractor at 08:15.
- 9 Oct
Call-out - Engineer attended at about 10:50. Worn landing door guide shoe replaced at floor 2. Lift tested and back in service.
- 14 Oct
Examination report - Thorough examination report received, dated 10 Oct. One defect to be remedied by 7 Nov. Next examination due by 10 Apr 2027.
- 28 Oct, 07:50
Out of service - Lift taken out of service for the repair below. Notices put up at each landing. Back in service at 10:40 (2 h 50 min).
- 28 Oct
Repair - Defect from the 10 Oct examination report repaired by the contractor. Job sheet filed. Defect closed.
Maintenance visit
The contractor records each visit: the date, what was done, anything found and anything left outstanding. LEIA’s code of practice says the contractor will provide a log card and make an entry after each visit. If the full report is in a portal, note where to find it.
Building check
A good building entry says exactly what was seen or heard, where and when, and who it was reported to. It does not try to diagnose the fault. The floor and the time help the engineer find the cause faster.
Call-out
A call-out entry records when the fault was reported, when the engineer arrived, what was found, what was done and whether the lift is back in service. The times give you the response time for this call-out.
Examination report
Note when the report arrived, each defect with the date it must be remedied by, and the date the next examination is due, as stated in the report. File the report itself with the logbook.
Out of service
Record when the lift stopped and restarted, why, and how users were told. Over a year, these entries show how much service the lift actually gave.
Repair
Link each repair to the defect or call-out it closes, and keep the evidence. A defect from an examination report should have a matching repair entry before the date in the report.
Simple checks by building staff.
LEIA’s code of practice suggests that the building carries out simple daily checks, and NHS guidance on lifts sets out a similar list for hospital staff. In our view, how often you check should depend on how the building is used, and is worth agreeing with your contractor. These checks only involve watching, listening and riding the lift:
- Ride the lift up and down, and listen for anything unusual, such as squeaks, scraping or knocking.
- Check that the lift stops level with each floor, with no step at the door.
- Check that the car lighting, buttons and floor indicators work.
- Watch the doors open and close smoothly, without juddering, and reopen when the door edge or light curtain is interrupted.
- Check that the floor by each landing door is clean, dry and safe, and that nothing in the car could catch on clothing.
- Test the alarm only in the way agreed with your contractor or the centre that answers it, so a test call is not treated as an emergency.
- Record anything users report. NHS guidance asks staff to record “any reports from users as to any unusual behaviour (however odd)”.
Safety first
These checks are observation only. Never open a landing door, enter the shaft, pit or machine room, try to free trapped passengers or attempt a repair. NHS guidance is clear that staff “should not attempt to make any repairs to a lift”. If something seems unsafe, stop people using the lift and call your lift contractor straight away.
LEIA’s code of practice adds: “Checks by the building maintenance manager are not a substitute for the checks to be undertaken by the maintenance contractor.”
How long to keep records.
Some lift records have a legal minimum period. Most do not.
| Record | Keep it for at least | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Declaration of conformity | As long as you operate the lift | LOLER, regulation 11(1) |
| Report of the thorough examination after installation | Until you stop using the lift where it was installed | LOLER, regulation 11(2)(a)(iii) |
| Reports of periodic thorough examinations | Until the next report is made, or two years, whichever is later | LOLER, regulation 11(2)(a)(iv) |
| Records of incidents reportable under RIDDOR | Three years from the date of the entry | RIDDOR 2013, regulation 12(2) |
| Monthly checks of firefighters and evacuation lifts in high-rise residential buildings | No period is set, but the record must be accessible to residents | Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 7(4) |
| Maintenance records and the logbook | No legal minimum | HSE L22, paragraph 78 |
Engineer’s note
In our view, keep the logbook and every examination report for the life of the lift. The legal minimum for examination reports is short, but the full history helps your examiner, your contractor and anyone planning a repair or modernisation.
Putting the logbook to work.
A logbook only helps if someone reads it. Four habits make the most of it.
Look for repeat faults
If the same fault keeps coming back, the logbook shows it. Ask your contractor what is being done about the cause. Our lesson on measuring lift performance explains how to count repeat faults.
Close every defect
Each defect in an examination report should have a matching repair entry before the date in the report. Our lesson on how to read a LOLER report explains those dates.
Share it with your examiner
Give your competent person the logbook and the latest visit reports before each thorough examination, so they can see what has been found and done since the last one.
Hand it over with the building
When a building changes hands or a new contractor takes over, the logbook is the lift’s history. NHS guidance makes the point that the log card “remains the property of the healthcare building”. In our view, if your records are in a contractor’s online portal, download a copy regularly so you keep the history if you change contractor.
A blank log sheet to print.
Use this sheet to start a logbook, or alongside your contractor’s visit reports. Print one for each lift and file it with the lift’s records. The button prints the sheet on its own, with 16 rows.
Lift logbook
One sheet for each lift. File examination reports with it.
- Building
- Lift name or number
- Lift type
- Maintenance contractor
- Contractor’s 24-hour number
- Competent person (examining body)
- Next thorough examination due
- Sheet number
| Date and time | Entry type | What happened or was found | Action taken, and by whom | Done (date) | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Entry types: V visit · C call-out · R repair · E thorough examination · T test · B building check · I incident or trapping · O out of service
From Lift Academy by Durant Lifts: durantlifts.co.uk/learn/. Free to copy and use.
Check your understanding.
Three quick questions on this lesson. Choose an answer to check it, or open the answer below each question.
-
Who should record a routine maintenance visit in the logbook?
Show the answer
B. The lift contractor, after each visit. LEIA’s code of practice says the contractor will provide a log card and make an entry after each visit. Building staff add their own checks and anything users report.
-
What is the legal minimum for keeping a routine thorough examination report?
Show the answer
A. Until the next report is made, or two years, whichever is later. LOLER regulation 11 sets that minimum for periodic thorough examination reports. In our view, keep every report for the life of the lift, because the history helps the examiner and anyone planning work on it.
-
During a building check you hear a scraping noise as the doors close at floor 2. What should you do?
Show the answer
B. Note the time and floor, report it to your lift contractor and record who you told. Building checks are observation only. Record what you noticed, report it straight away and let a lift engineer find the cause. If the lift seems unsafe, stop people using it until the engineer has been.
Sources.
The primary sources for this lesson. We checked them when the lesson was last updated on 18 October 2026. How we research and check our lessons.
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Keep learning.
Related reading
Missing your lift records?
When we take over a contract, we review your current contract, logbooks and lift inventory. If the history is missing, we start new logs and build it from the first visit, with visit reports and compliance documents in Durant OS.
Common questions.
Quick answers to common questions about this topic.
Is a lift logbook a legal requirement?
Not in every case. HSE guidance on PUWER says there is no general requirement to keep a maintenance log, but where a machine has one, PUWER requires it to be kept up to date. Every new lift must come with a logbook for noting repairs and periodic checks, and in high-rise residential buildings in England the monthly checks of firefighters lifts and evacuation lifts must be recorded and made accessible to residents.
What should a lift logbook contain?
An entry for every maintenance visit, call-out, repair, thorough examination and test, plus building checks, incidents and the times when the lift was out of service. Each entry should say when it happened, what was found, what was done and who did it.
Who keeps the lift logbook?
The building owner or dutyholder keeps it, usually in the building’s records or with the lift. The lift contractor makes an entry after each visit, building staff record their checks and anything users report, and thorough examination reports are filed with it.
Can a lift logbook be kept online?
Yes. Many contractors provide visit reports through an online portal. In our view, make sure you can download the records, and keep your own copy so the history stays with the building if you change contractor.