Lesson 1 of 3Maintenance and inspections
SFG20 for lifts.
Many maintenance contracts say the work follows SFG20. Here is what that standard is, how its lift schedules are built and what to check so the schedule fits each of your lifts.
What SFG20 is.
SFG20 is a library of maintenance schedules for building services, created in 1990 by BESA, the Building Engineering Services Association. It describes itself as “the industry standard for building maintenance specification”. Its schedules turn legislation, codes of practice and standards into maintenance tasks for engineers, with a separate schedule for each type of equipment, from boilers to lifts. SFG stands for BESA’s Services and Facilities Group, and the 20 comes from the way BESA numbers its standards.
SFG20 is not free. Building owners, facilities teams and contractors subscribe to it through SFG20’s software, Facilities-iQ, which also tells subscribers when schedules are updated. In our view, that is why the detail matters: two contractors can both say they work to SFG20 and still plan different work, depending on which schedules they use, which version and how they have tailored them.
The law
“Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.”
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, regulation 5(1)
The law requires maintenance, not SFG20. PUWER sets the duty to maintain a lift used at work, and LOLER adds regular thorough examinations by a competent person. Neither names a schedule. SFG20’s own guidance makes the same point: legislation “often focuses on general outcomes rather than prescribing specific activities”, so the detail comes from guidance, approved codes of practice and standards. SFG20 gathers that detail into tasks. Our lesson on passenger lift regulations explains which laws apply to which lifts.
How a schedule is built.
SFG20 describes its schedules as “structured task lists that define what needs maintaining, how often, and by whom”. Each task carries its own frequency, criticality rating, recommended skill set and estimated timing. Select a number to see what each part of a task tells you about a lift.
Lift maintenance schedule
One task, simplified
Illustration, not an SFG20 extract
- Schedule
- 82-05 Electric Traction Lifts – Passenger
- Task
- Example: check the landing door locks, in steps, with safety notes
- Frequency
- How often the task is done
- Criticality
- Red Pink Amber Green
- Skill set
- Competent Person (Lifts)
- Timing
- Estimated time for the task
Schedule
SFG20 has a separate schedule for each type of equipment, with a reference number and a title. For lifts, the right schedule depends on the drive, whether there is a machine room and what the lift is for: 82-05 covers electric traction passenger lifts with a separate machine room, and 82-15 covers machine room-less (MRL) ones.
Task
What to do, broken into steps, with safety notes. Together, the tasks in a schedule cover the parts of the lift that need checking, cleaning, lubricating, adjusting or testing. The example here is ours: SFG20’s own task wording is available to subscribers.
Frequency
Each task has its own frequency, so one schedule mixes tasks done at every visit with tasks done less often. SFG20’s technical team sets frequencies by interpreting legislation, government guidance, standards and codes of practice. They can be tailored where this is justified.
Criticality
A colour that shows how important the task is: red for statutory or legal, pink for business critical, amber for optimal and green for discretionary. The next section explains each one.
Skill set
Who should carry out the task. SFG20 gives a recommended skill set for each one. Its skill sets include Competent Person (Lifts): a “person suitably trained and qualified by knowledge and practical experience, and provided with the necessary instructions to enable the required work to be carried out safely”.
Lift maintenance is specialist work for trained lift engineers.
Timing
An estimate of how long the task takes. SFG20 says its timings are estimated and can vary with the size, age and location of the equipment or building. In our view, treat them as a guide when you compare quotes, not as a measure of a good visit.
The four criticality ratings.
Every task in an SFG20 schedule is rated with a colour. The colours show which tasks are linked to the law, which keep the lift running well and which are optional.
| Rating | SFG20 label | What it means for a lift |
|---|---|---|
| Red | Statutory or legal: to ensure legal compliance | Tasks SFG20 traces to legislation, directly or through approved codes of practice, guidance and standards. |
| Pink | Mandatory, business critical: to ensure sector or organisation compliance | Tasks an organisation makes mandatory by tailoring the schedule, although the law does not require them. For example, a hospital might rate tasks on its theatre bed lifts pink. |
| Amber | Optimal: function critical and industry best practice | Tasks that keep the lift reliable and prevent early failure. SFG20 says leaving them out may cause more serious problems in the long term. |
| Green | Discretionary: non-critical maintenance | Optional tasks with limited impact. Even so, SFG20 notes that minimal maintenance can in some cases shorten an asset’s life. |
Red needs care. SFG20 says red tasks “may assist in achieving legal compliance”: doing them helps you show you have met your duties, but the duties come from the law, not from the colour. SFG20’s technical team decides which tasks are red by tracing each one to legislation, using a definition of statutory agreed with BSRIA, CIBSE and IWFM.
Engineer’s note
In our view, any proposal to remove a red or amber task from a lift’s schedule should come with a written reason from a lift engineer, and a red task should not be removed until its legal basis has been checked.
SFG20’s lift schedules.
SFG20 has a separate schedule for each main type of lift, listed by reference number in its public schedule search. The right one depends on how the lift is driven, whether it has a machine room and what it carries.
| Schedule | Reference | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Electric traction lifts, passenger | 82-05 | Traction passenger lifts with a separate machine room |
| Machine room-less (MRL) electric traction lifts, passenger | 82-15 | Traction passenger lifts with the machinery in the shaft |
| Hydraulic lifts, passenger | 82-03 | Hydraulic passenger lifts |
| Machine room-less (MRL) hydraulic lifts, passenger | 82-16 | Hydraulic passenger lifts with the drive in the shaft |
| Goods-only lifts | 82-13, 82-14 | Electric traction and hydraulic lifts for goods only |
| Firefighters lifts | 82-10 | Passenger lifts with switch-activated features for the fire and rescue service |
| Evacuation lifts | 82-11 | Passenger lifts with a switch-activated feature for trained staff to evacuate people with reduced mobility |
| Vertical platform lifts | 82-01, 82-17, 82-18 | Screw-driven, encapsulated chain drive and hydraulic platform lifts |
| Inclined platform lifts | 82-04 | Stairlifts, platform stairlifts and step lifts |
| Service lifts | 82-12 | Dumbwaiters and food lifts |
| Escalators and moving walks | 82-02, 82-19 | Passenger escalators and travelators |
| Lifts and escalators management audit | 83-14 | Management tasks for lifts and escalators, including examination documents and written schemes |
SFG20 also has separate lift schedules for healthcare buildings. If you are not sure which type each of your lifts is, our lessons on types of lift and machine room-less lifts explain the differences.
Check your contract
Ask for the schedule reference for each lift. A lift with a machine room and one without have different schedules, and a firefighters lift or evacuation lift has its own schedule for its extra features. If a contract applies one schedule to every lift in a mixed building, ask why.
Tailoring a schedule to the lift.
A schedule is a starting point. SFG20 describes tailoring as adapting a schedule “to suit an asset, site context, risk profile or maintenance requirements”, for example by excluding tasks that do not apply, adjusting frequencies or changing a task’s criticality, where this is justified.
HSE’s guidance on PUWER lists what should set the frequency of maintenance: how intensively the equipment is used, the operating environment, the variety of operations and the risk to health and safety from malfunction or failure. For lifts, LEIA’s code of practice sets no standard frequency. It says the frequency should follow a survey and an assessment of the lift, and warns: “Caution is therefore urged on reducing the number of visits without an adequate assessment being undertaken by, and agreed with, the maintenance contractor.” Our guide to planned lift maintenance explains how usage, age, environment and the consequences of a breakdown shape visit frequency in practice.
What to record when a schedule changes
SFG20 advises keeping a record of every tailoring decision. For a lift, that record belongs with the maintenance contract and the lift’s records.
What was changed
The task, its frequency or its criticality, before and after.
Why it was changed
For example, how much the lift is used, its condition, the manufacturer’s instructions or a finding in a thorough examination report.
Who approved it
The engineer who proposed the change and the person who agreed it for the building.
The references used
The legislation, approved codes of practice, guidance or standards behind the decision.
When it will be reviewed
The date of the decision and when it will next be reviewed, for example after a modernisation or a change in how the building is used.
Where SFG20 fits.
SFG20 is one of several documents that shape what an engineer does on a maintenance visit. Each layer is more specific than the one above it.
Describe this diagram
Six layers, from general to specific. The law: PUWER requires maintenance and LOLER requires thorough examination. Guidance and codes of practice: HSE’s L22 and L113, and LEIA’s LM01. The manufacturer and standards: the lift’s maintenance instructions and BS EN 13015. The SFG20 schedule: tasks, frequency, skills and criticality, highlighted. The maintenance contract: the schedule, visits, response times and reports. Each visit: the tasks done and what was found.
The manufacturer’s instructions
Every new lift must come with instructions that cover maintenance, inspection, repair and periodic checks. HSE’s guidance on PUWER says maintenance procedures should be carried out “in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations”. BS EN 13015 sets out what maintenance instructions for lifts and escalators should contain. It covers new installations, but BSI’s summary notes that it “can be taken as a reference” for existing ones. In our view, where an SFG20 schedule and the manufacturer’s instructions differ, the contract should say which applies and why.
Thorough examination is separate
A thorough examination under LOLER is not maintenance. HSE says it “may act as a check that maintenance is being carried out properly, but is not intended to replace it.” Our lesson on how to read a LOLER report explains what the examiner records.
Safe working
BS 7255 is the code of practice for safe working on lifts. A schedule says what to do; BS 7255 covers how engineers keep themselves and others safe while they do it.
Using SFG20 in a contract.
On its own, “maintained to SFG20” says little. These questions turn it into something you can check.
Which schedule for each lift?
Ask for the schedule reference and title for every lift, and check that it matches the type of lift.
Which version?
SFG20 updates its schedules, and subscribers choose when to accept the updates. Ask which version the contract uses and how updates will be handled.
How has it been tailored?
Ask to see the record of any tasks removed and any frequencies or ratings changed, with the reasons.
Which tasks at each visit?
Tasks have different frequencies, so not every task is done at every visit. NHS guidance on lifts makes the same point: a complete service does not have to be carried out each time. Ask how the tasks are spread across the year.
How will you know it was done?
Visit reports should show which tasks were carried out, what was found and what is outstanding.
Our page on lift maintenance contracts compares the levels of cover. Our lift maintenance service works to SFG20 schedules, with visit frequencies matched to how each lift is used.
Check your understanding.
Three quick questions on this lesson. Choose an answer to check it, or open the answer below each question.
-
Does the law require lifts to be maintained to SFG20?
Show the answer
B. No. The law requires lifts used at work to be maintained, but it does not name SFG20. PUWER requires work equipment, including lifts used at work, to be maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair. SFG20 is a recognised way to specify that maintenance, but no regulation requires it.
-
In an SFG20 schedule, what does a red task mean?
Show the answer
B. The task is linked to legal compliance. Red is statutory or legal: tasks SFG20 traces to legislation, which may assist in achieving legal compliance. Pink tasks are business critical, amber tasks are optimal and green tasks are discretionary.
-
Your contractor proposes fewer visits to a busy lift. What should come first?
Show the answer
B. An assessment of the lift’s use and condition, with the change, the reasons and the approval recorded. LEIA’s code of practice urges caution on reducing visits without an adequate assessment, and SFG20 advises recording what was changed, why, who approved it and when it will be reviewed.
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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Related reading
Want the right schedule for each lift?
We set an SFG20-based schedule and visit frequency for each lift, matched to how it is used and agreed with you in writing.
Common questions.
Quick answers to common questions about this topic.
What is SFG20?
SFG20 is the building maintenance specification created in 1990 by BESA, the Building Engineering Services Association. Its schedules set out maintenance tasks for each type of equipment, including lifts, with how often to do them, the skills needed and how critical each task is. It is available by subscription through SFG20’s Facilities-iQ software.
Is SFG20 a legal requirement for lifts?
No. The law requires lifts used at work to be maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair, and to be thoroughly examined by a competent person under LOLER. Neither law names SFG20. It is a recognised way to specify the maintenance, and its red tasks are the ones SFG20 links to legal compliance.
Which SFG20 schedules cover lifts?
SFG20 has separate schedules for electric traction and hydraulic passenger lifts, machine room-less lifts, goods-only lifts, firefighters lifts, evacuation lifts, platform lifts, stairlifts, service lifts, escalators and moving walks, and separate sets for healthcare buildings.
Can an SFG20 schedule be changed?
Yes. SFG20 calls this tailoring: adapting a schedule to an asset, site, risk profile or maintenance needs, for example by excluding tasks that do not apply or adjusting frequencies where this is justified. SFG20 advises recording what was changed, why, who approved it, the references used and when the decision will be reviewed.