EN 81 standards explained.

What EN 81 is.

en 81 is a family of European Standards for lifts. Each part has its own number, and most of their titles begin with the same words: “Safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts”. Together they cover new passenger lifts, goods lifts, platform lifts and stairlifts, the tests for lift components, alarms, accessibility, fire and the safety of existing lifts.

The standards are drawn up by CEN, the European Committee for Standardization, whose members are national standards bodies. Once CEN publishes a European Standard, every member country must give it the status of a national standard and withdraw any national standard that conflicts with it.

In the UK, BSI publishes each part as a British Standard, with “BS” in front of its number, such as BS EN 81-20. Its national foreword calls each one “the UK implementation” of the European Standard. UK experts take part in writing them through BSI committee MHE/4, Lifts, hoists and escalators.

How the standards relate to the law.

For new lifts, the law is the Lifts Regulations 2016. They set essential health and safety requirements for every new lift, dealing with risks such as overloading, overspeed, falls into the shaft and people being trapped. They do not say in detail how to meet them. That is where the standards come in.

The regulations define a designated standard as a technical specification adopted by a recognised standards body, “with which compliance is not compulsory”, whose reference the Secretary of State has published. They then give designated standards their weight:

This is called a presumption of conformity. The regulations say it is rebuttable, so it can be challenged with evidence that a lift does not in fact meet a requirement. And because the standards are voluntary, an installer can meet the requirements in other ways. Without the presumption, though, the installer has to show by other means that the lift meets them.

The list of designated standards

The government publishes the designated standards for lifts on GOV.UK, with a notice each time the list changes. The latest notice we found, dated 16 January 2026, added EN 81-76. The consolidated list names EN 81-20, 81-21, 81-22, 81-28, 81-50, 81-58, 81-70, 81-71, 81-72, 81-73, 81-76 and 81-77, together with EN 12016 on electromagnetic immunity and EN 13015 on maintenance instructions.

The list names an edition of each standard, and it does not always keep up with BSI. For vandal-resistant lifts, it still names EN 81-71:2005+A1:2006, although BSI published a new edition in 2022. So check the edition as well as the part number.

Platform lifts, stairlifts and service lifts

Some lifting equipment is outside the Lifts Regulations and is machinery instead, supplied under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008. Those regulations have their own list of designated standards, which includes EN 81-31 for accessible goods-only lifts, EN 81-40 for stairlifts and EN 81-41 for vertical lifting platforms. The section on goods and platform lifts below explains which equipment this is.

Northern Ireland, contracts and the declaration

• In Northern Ireland, a different version of regulation 46 applies. The presumption comes from harmonised standards whose references are published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
• A contract can make a standard binding between the parties, whatever the law says. In our view, a tender for a new lift or a modernisation should name the standards and their editions.
• The Lifts Regulations require a new lift’s declaration of conformity to give, where appropriate, references to the standards used. It is the first place to look when you need to know what a lift was built to.

The EN 81 family.

The parts are numbered in groups, so the part number tells you what kind of lift or subject each one deals with.

• The 20s: passenger and goods passenger lifts. EN 81-20 is the main standard for new lifts. EN 81-21 covers new lifts in existing buildings, EN 81-22 lifts with an inclined path and EN 81-28 remote alarms.
• The 30s: lifts for goods only. EN 81-30 covers service lifts, whose carriers people cannot enter, and EN 81-31 accessible goods-only lifts.
• The 40s: special lifts. EN 81-40 covers stairlifts and inclined lifting platforms, and EN 81-41 vertical lifting platforms, both for people with impaired mobility. Parts 43 and 44 cover lifts for cranes and lifting appliances in wind turbines.
• The 50s: examinations and tests. EN 81-50 sets the design rules, calculations, examinations and tests of lift components. EN 81-58 is the fire resistance test for landing doors.
• The 70s: particular applications. Extra requirements for particular needs: accessibility (EN 81-70), vandal resistance (EN 81-71), firefighters lifts (EN 81-72), how lifts behave in a fire (EN 81-73), evacuating disabled people (EN 81-76) and earthquakes (EN 81-77).
• The 80s: existing lifts. EN 81-80 is for improving the safety of existing lifts, and EN 81-82 for improving their accessibility.

Some older part numbers have gone. EN 81-30 replaced EN 81-3, the old standard for service lifts, in 2025. EN 81-1 and EN 81-2 were replaced by EN 81-20 and EN 81-50, as the next section explains.

The core standards for new lifts.

Two parts do most of the work for a new passenger lift.

• EN 81-20 sets the safety rules for permanently installed new passenger and goods passenger lifts, with traction, positive or hydraulic drive, serving defined landing levels and moving between guide rails inclined not more than 15° to the vertical. It also limits the floor area of the car for each rated load, based on 75 kg per person, to help detect and discourage overloading.
• EN 81-50 sets the design rules, calculations, examinations and tests of lift components that EN 81-20 and other standards refer to.

The 2014 editions of EN 81-20 and EN 81-50 replaced EN 81-1, for electric lifts, and EN 81-2, for hydraulic lifts. The old standards stopped giving a presumption of conformity on 31 August 2017. Older lift documents may still refer to EN 81-1 or EN 81-2, or to BS 5655-1 and BS 5655-2, older British standards for electric and hydraulic lifts.

The editions current today are from 2020. BSI describes BS EN 81-20:2020 as an editorial revision of the 2014 edition, and its European foreword says that no technical changes were made.

New lifts in existing buildings: EN 81-21

EN 81-21 is for new passenger and goods passenger lifts installed in existing buildings, where the building’s constraints mean that some requirements of EN 81-20 cannot be met. It gives alternative requirements, for example where there is not enough room for a full pit or headroom.

The Lifts Regulations require a lift to be designed to prevent crushing when the car is at either end of its travel, normally by leaving free space or a refuge there. In specific cases, particularly in existing buildings where that is impossible, other appropriate means may be provided, and the regulations give the Secretary of State the possibility of approving them in advance. In our view, ask your installer early in the project whether a lift designed to EN 81-21 will need that approval.

Other parts for new lifts

EN 81-22 covers passenger and goods passenger lifts with an inclined path. EN 81-28 covers remote alarms, the systems that let trapped passengers call for help. It deals with the risk of people being trapped in the car or in the shaft. Our guide to lift autodiallers and EN 81-28 explains how they are tested.

The move to EN ISO 8100.

In 2026, BSI published two new standards that will replace the core pair:

• BS EN ISO 8100-1:2026, the safety rules for the construction and installation of passenger and goods passenger lifts, replacing BS EN 81-20:2020
• BS EN ISO 8100-2:2026, the design rules, calculations, verifications and tests of lift components, replacing BS EN 81-50:2020

Both are identical to the international standards ISO 8100-1 and ISO 8100-2, and both were also adopted as European Standards. That is why their names include BS, EN and ISO. BSI says BS EN 81-20:2020 and BS EN 81-50:2020 will be withdrawn on 30 June 2029. Until then, the old and the new standards are both current.

In our view, a project starting now should agree in writing which standard the lift will be built to, and how the installer will show that it meets the Lifts Regulations. Check the GOV.UK list for updates before you decide.

Particular applications: the 70s.

The parts in the 70s add requirements for particular needs. They add to EN 81-20 rather than replacing it. EN 81-72, for example, sets out “additional or deviating requirements to EN 81-20:2020” for firefighters lifts.

EN 81-73 is the standard behind fire recall: on a recall signal, for example from the fire alarm, a lift goes to a designated landing and parks there. Our lessons on accessible lifts and the law and firefighting and evacuation lifts explain how EN 81-70, EN 81-72 and EN 81-76 are used.

EN 81-58, in the tests group, is the fire resistance test for lift landing doors, which are meant to stop fire spreading from the landing side and through the lift shaft for a set time. Approved Document B, the fire safety guidance for buildings in England, refers to it for lift doors. Our lesson on fire safety duties for lifts covers the law around it.

Goods lifts, platform lifts and stairlifts.

Much of this equipment is machinery rather than a lift in law. The Lifts Regulations cover a lift for goods alone only if a person can enter the carrier without difficulty and its controls are inside it or within reach of someone inside. They also exclude lifting appliances whose speed is not more than 0.15 metres per second, which is why platform lifts are machinery. So the designated editions of these parts are on the machinery list.

The 2010 editions of EN 81-31 and EN 81-41 stay on the list until 20 January 2027. Our lesson on types of lift explains what each kind of lift is for, and our pages on platform lifts and dumbwaiter lifts cover them in more detail.

Standards for existing lifts.

EN 81-20 is for new lifts. A new edition of it, or of any other standard, does not by itself require changes to a lift already in service. The duties for a lift in service come from health and safety law: keeping it safe, maintained and thoroughly examined. Our lesson on who is responsible for a lift explains who holds those duties.

EN 81-80: improving safety

EN 81-80 gives a methodology for improving the safety of existing passenger and goods passenger lifts. Its aim is a level of safety equivalent to a newly installed lift, by applying today’s state of the art. It is organised around a numbered list of hazards, and the 2019 edition added eleven new ones, covered in EN 81-20 or identified by risk assessment.

EN 81-80 is voluntary, and it is not a designated standard. In our view, it is a sound basis for a lift survey: it shows which hazards a lift has, so that improvements can be planned and budgeted, often as part of a modernisation.

Other standards for existing lifts

• EN 81-82 does the same for accessibility. BSI published a new edition in December 2025 and will withdraw the 2013 edition on 30 November 2027.
• BS 5655-11 and BS 5655-12, both from 2005, are British codes of practice for modifying existing electric and hydraulic lifts. BSI lists both as under review.
• BS 8899 is the British code of practice for improving the fire-fighting and evacuation provisions of existing lifts. Our lesson on firefighting and evacuation lifts explains how it is used.

When a replacement counts as a new lift

A complete replacement is different. HSE’s leaflet on lift examinations treats a lift as new where no lift existed before, where an existing lift has been completely replaced, or where only the existing guide rails and their fixings, or the fixings alone, have been kept. A lift like that is installed under the Lifts Regulations like any other new lift. In our view, the current standards for new lifts are then the starting point: EN 81-20, or EN 81-21 where the building needs it.

Our lift modernisation page explains the choice between modernising a lift and replacing it.

How to read a standard’s name.

A standard’s full name tells you who published it, which part it is and which edition.

• BS means BSI has published it as a British Standard.
• EN means it is a European Standard, from CEN.
• ISO means it is also an International Standard. BS EN ISO 8100-1:2026 is identical to ISO 8100-1:2026.
• 81-70 is the series and the part: series 81, part 70.
• :2021 is the year of the edition.
• +A1:2022 means the text includes amendment A1, from 2022.

Status words

BSI Knowledge shows the status of each standard. The main ones are:

• Current: the standard is live and can be used. A standard can be current even after its replacement is published, as BS EN 81-20:2020 is until 30 June 2029.
• Under review: still current, but being reviewed. CEN reviews each European Standard within five years of its publication, and a review ends in confirmation, modification, revision or withdrawal.
• Withdrawn: no longer current, usually because a newer standard has replaced it. The withdrawal does not change lifts already built to it, but a new design should use the current edition.

Using the standards in practice.

For a building manager, the standards matter most at a few points in a lift’s life. In our experience, these steps help:

1. 01

   Find out what your lifts were built to

   For a lift installed under the Lifts Regulations, the declaration of conformity should list the standards used, where appropriate. Older lifts may have a test certificate or a handover file that names them. Keep these with the lift’s records.

2. 02

   Check the edition

   BSI Knowledge shows the status, scope and history of each standard free of charge, although the full text is not free. Copies found elsewhere online may be out of date or unofficial, so check the edition with BSI.

3. 03

   Name the standards in contracts

   For a new lift or a replacement, name the standards and editions in the tender, for example EN 81-20 or EN 81-21, EN 81-70, EN 81-28 and EN 81-73, and ask for the declaration of conformity at handover. In our view, this avoids arguments later about what was agreed.

4. 04

   Survey existing lifts

   A survey based on EN 81-80 shows the hazards an older lift has, so that improvements can be planned, often as part of a modernisation. Our lift modernisation page covers condition surveys.

5. 05

   Keep the records together

   The Lifts Regulations require a new lift to come with instructions and a logbook for noting repairs and, where appropriate, periodic checks. Keep these with the declaration of conformity, surveys and thorough examination reports, so the next engineer or examiner can see the lift’s history.

Our health and safety page explains how we apply LOLER, PUWER, the Lifts Regulations 2016 and BS EN 81 standards in our own work.

Check your understanding.

Three quick questions on this lesson. Choose an answer to check it, or open the answer below each question.

1. What does it mean that BS EN 81-20 is a designated standard in Great Britain?

   1. Every new passenger lift must be built to it by law
   2. A new lift built to it is presumed to meet the essential requirements of the Lifts Regulations 2016 that it covers
   3. Existing lifts must be upgraded to it at their next thorough examination
   Show the answer

   B. A new lift built to it is presumed to meet the essential requirements of the Lifts Regulations 2016 that it covers. Under regulation 46 of the Lifts Regulations 2016, a lift that conforms to a designated standard is presumed to meet the essential health and safety requirements the standard covers. The presumption can be rebutted, and following the standard is not compulsory.

2. Which part of EN 81 gives a method for improving the safety of existing lifts?

   1. EN 81-21
   2. EN 81-50
   3. EN 81-80
   Show the answer

   C. EN 81-80. EN 81-80 gives a methodology for improving the safety of existing passenger and goods passenger lifts. EN 81-21 is for new lifts in existing buildings, and EN 81-50 covers the design rules, calculations and tests of lift components.

3. A new firefighters lift is being designed. Which standards would it follow?

   1. EN 81-72 alone, because it replaces EN 81-20 for these lifts
   2. EN 81-20, together with EN 81-72
   3. EN 81-73, because it covers lifts in a fire
   Show the answer

   B. EN 81-20, together with EN 81-72. EN 81-72 sets out additional or deviating requirements to EN 81-20 for firefighters lifts, so the two are used together. EN 81-73 covers how lifts behave in a fire when they receive a recall signal.

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.

1. The Lifts Regulations 2016legislation.gov.uk. Regulation 2A defines a designated standard, regulation 46 gives the presumption of conformity, and Schedule 1 sets the essential health and safety requirements.
2. Designated standards: liftsGOV.UK (Office for Product Safety and Standards). Notices of publication and the consolidated list of standards designated for the Lifts Regulations 2016 (version 6, 16 January 2026).
3. Designated standards: machineryGOV.UK (Office for Product Safety and Standards). Standards designated for the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, including EN 81-31, EN 81-40 and EN 81-41 (version 16, 8 August 2026).
4. BS EN 81-20:2020 Passenger and goods passenger liftsBSI. Safety rules for new passenger and goods passenger lifts. BSI will withdraw it on 30 June 2029.
5. BS EN 81-50:2020 Design rules, calculations, examinations and tests of lift componentsBSI. The design rules and tests that EN 81-20 and other parts refer to.
6. BS EN ISO 8100-1:2026 Safety rules for passenger and goods passenger liftsBSI. Identical to ISO 8100-1:2026. It supersedes BS EN 81-20:2020.
7. BS EN ISO 8100-2:2026 Design rules, calculations, verifications and tests of lift componentsBSI. Identical to ISO 8100-2:2026. It supersedes BS EN 81-50:2020.
8. BS EN 81-21:2022 New passenger and goods passenger lifts in existing buildingBSI. Alternative requirements where an existing building means some requirements of EN 81-20 cannot be met.
9. BS EN 81-80:2019 Rules for the improvement of safety of existing passenger and goods passenger liftsBSI. A methodology for improving the safety of existing lifts.
10. Commission communication 2016/C 138/03Official Journal of the European Union (EUR-Lex). The listing in which EN 81-20 and EN 81-50 superseded EN 81-1 and EN 81-2, whose presumption of conformity ceased on 31 August 2017.
11. European StandardsCEN-CENELEC. How European Standards are adopted nationally and reviewed within five years.
12. Thorough examination and testing of lifts (INDG339)Health and Safety Executive. When a lift counts as new.