An inspection is not a look and a signature. A proper visit follows a written schedule, ends in a report you keep, and produces a list of items with dates against them.
The non-negotiables
- Overspeed governor and safety gear — tested, not just inspected.
- Door interlocks on every landing, checked individually.
- Buffer condition and pit cleanliness, including water ingress.
- Rope or belt wear measured against the discard criteria, not judged by eye.
- Emergency alarm, intercom and battery-backed lighting, tested live.
How often
Monthly preventive service for a lift in normal residential duty, moving to fortnightly for high-traffic commercial installations. A full load and safety-gear test annually. Anything advertised as "yearly service only" is a maintenance contract, not a safety programme.
The five findings we log most often are worn door gibs, a dirty pit, a weak battery in the alarm unit, drifting levelling and an out-of-date inspection log.
None of those five are expensive to fix. All five are expensive to ignore.
