Platform lifts - the choices & differences

Platform lifts come in all shapes and sizes. In this blog, we walk you through the types available and the differences between them, outlining the advantages of each and the environments in which they are most suitable. 

Own a Lift? 3 Key Lift Regulations You Need to Know

The legal requirements surrounding the provision and use of passenger lifts and goods lifts provide a framework to ensure best practice. This blog gives an overview on the regulations you need to adhere to in a commercial property.

Dumbwaiter History

However you write it, ‘dumb waiter’ or ‘dumbwaiter’, the origins of the term are puzzling. The name of this small service lift and the history of how it came into being are interesting topics.

What are the main types of goods lift?

Everything You Need to Know About Mezzanine Goods Lifts

What are mezzanine goods lifts? Why choose one? Also known as warehouse goods lifts or pallet lifts, mezzanine goods lifts serve mezzanine floors—intermediate levels that range between secondary floors of a building. 

What is a food lift?

These hard workers go under many names, including dumbwaiters, service lifts, catering lifts, kitchen lifts, back-of-house lifts and restaurant lifts. Speeding up service and keeping customers happy...

Cage lifts vs goods lifts - the choices & differences

You’d be forgiven for thinking all goods lifts are the same, but they’re not… Whilst both help material movement and reduce manual handling risks there are some key differences ...

Lift inspections: Looking after your lift to save time, money & hassle

It pays to be a responsible lift owner—to ensure that your lifts and lifting equipment are maintained to the highest standards.  Why? Because keeping your lift fit for purpose—safe to use, operating well, looking good and living a long life—will protect your building, business, bank balance, brand and reputation.

Goods lifts: Frequently Asked Questions | Stannah

In this blog post we'll clear up some of the most common questions Stannah has heard about goods lifts. If you have a question that isn't covered here then please do get in touch and we'll be happy to help!

Why It Pays to Upgrade Your Lift

Because lift replacements aren’t always the best solution... … particularly if your existing lift occupies a challenging location, design and/or configuration—something that would demand a costly and time-consuming replacement.

10 Types of Lifting Equipment to Make Material Handling Easier

In this post, we explore the different material handling equipment employees can use to enable the free movement of goods around a building, from A to B, or G to 1,2,3,4 or more... 

6 Questions to Help Decide Your Lift Maintenance Company

Not all maintenance providers are the same. So we’ve compiled 6 questions to ask when deciding between them. And why it pays to do your homework…

Lift Maintenance Contracts: An introduction

Lifts, as with all machinery, require regular servicing. As a lift owner if you have a lift that is used by an employee in a commercial setting, e.g. restaurant, library, office or warehouse you have a duty of care. As a national provider of lift servicing, we are regularly asked for advice about lift responsibility and what to consider.

Lift Standards: A Glossary

If you either own or are thinking of installing a lift then there is a whole host of lift standards, regulations, codes of practice and guidance to advise on best practice. Knowing where to start and which regulations are relevant can be confusing, so we have listed some of the main ones. 

Lift Modernisation Benefits - Stannah

An old lift doesn't always need replacing and, in fact, doing so may be extremely difficult due to its design or layout. Instead, you can have a lift modernised. Allow us to explain the benefit of lift modernisation...

Everything You Need to Know About Stairlift Batteries

Discover everything you need to know about stairlift batteries. How long do they last? What’s involved in a stairlift battery replacement? Find out here...

A Guide on LOLER Thorough Lift Examination & Supplementary Tests

In this helpful overview we've covered what is required of you as a lift owner by Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) and what thorough and supplementary examinations are.

COVID-19: 3 Tips on Lift Use Whilst Social Distancing

Passenger and platform lifts are enclosed spaces where people mingle. They are also an essential mode of transport for people who struggle climbing stairs, especially in critical settings like hospitals. We've put together some useful tips for lift use whilst social distancing because of the spread of COVID-19.

An Introduction to Sabbath Lifts

We love the variety of lift requests (and the numerous configurations within each lift type), we get involved in at Stannah. Whilst the request for a Shabbat lift tends to be a few and far between, we’ve given an overview of them in this post.

The Rising Trend of Lifts for Houses

We all love a little luxury in our house and the latest comforts and electronic gadgets to help us in our busy lives; so it’s no surprise that the trend for building high specification luxury homes sees developers and owners alike including the convenience of a lift. 

COVID: Getting Your Lifts Ready for Building Reopening

As people return to work and pubs, shops, hotels and other businesses resume. The key question is, are you ready? As a lift owner, it’s important to have your plans in place for reoccupation and be able to action them at short notice.

COVID: Advice on Leaving Your Lift Inactive

Like cars, lifts left for long periods need a little TLC. If you leave your car parked on the drive for weeks on end and expect it to start, likely, it won’t. The handbrake may have seized, the battery died, tyres flattened – so to prevent any issues you might go for a 15-minute drive in it every week or so.

COVID: Escalator Cleaning and Use

With the current focus on preventing transmission of COVID on surfaces, escalator cleaning and use is a hot topic. This blog is a helpful guide...

COVID: Advice for Lift Owners

With COVID affecting all of us personally and professionally, we appreciate your building’s lift might be the last thing on your mind. But in light of reopenings, changes of business use and concern around infection we thought it helpful to cover some of the questions you, as a responsible lift owner, may have … perhaps even some you’ve not considered yet.

Machinery or Lift Regulations?

When moving people or goods, your lift will fall into either the Machinery or the Lift regulations. Whilst all are "lifts" in the general term the regulations do help to identify the key differences and ultimately identify the standards they will then fall under.  

COVID: Lift Cleaning - a Step by Step Guide

In light of recent news, lift cleaning is now a hot topic, this blog is a helpful guide...

Ensuring Platform Lift Landing Safety

At Stannah we believe in keeping our customers, other lift owners and operators advised of issues that may affect lift safety and the passengers that use them. Below is information regarding the risk of falls from height to employees/workers and members of the public. 

Choosing the Right Goods Lift for Your Business

Have a requirement for moving goods? Whether down to manual handling issues or to improve efficiency we can help you identify the type of goods or service lift you require...

Part M: Building Regs & Lifts

The Building Regulations, Approved Document M (Part M) gives direction on lifts in all types of buildings, stating that reasonable provision must be made for people to gain access to and use the building's facilities. Whilst Part B gives guidance on fire-rating lifts or the area surrounding them as well as further detail on firefighting and evacuation passenger lifts. We've given a helpful outline to the building regulations guidance surrounding lifts below.

BREEAM for Lifts, Escalators & Moving Walkways

BREEAM or 'Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method' is the best way to ensure sustainable value and efficiency in your projects. Stannah passenger lifts, escalators and moving walkways can generate BREEAM credits which can help the building achieve the best rating possible. 

BS EN81-80: Lift upgrades for existing lifts

Like technology elsewhere, lifts and lift standards have developed over the years and new safety features have become the norm. In recognition of the fact that lift upgrades are required for improved safety, BS EN 81-80:2003 gives an audit framework for lift modernisation.

The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act imposes a requirement to make reasonable adjustments to a public building, Within this blog post, we will explain what the Equality Act is, what it means for building owners and how lifts can play a part. 

Everything You Need to Know About Lift Maintenance | Stannah

Here at Stannah, we understand that lift maintenance, however important, is not a subject that often wets the proverbial appetite! So we pride ourselves on making this process as painless as possible for our customers, with helpful and clear answers to the key questions shown below.

A Handy List of Escalator & Moving Walkway Standards (updated 2019)

Unsure of what codes of practice, standards and regulations escalators and moving walkways fall under? Not to worry, here's a handy list...

Bike & Bin Lifts: Lifts for Waste Management & Bike Transportation

There is an increasing trend of lifts being used to aid underground storage of bikes/bins in commercial and residential projects. In this short blog post we outline the considerations for these type of applications and the most suitable bin lift systems to choose from.

Avoiding the costs of manual handling & risks with a lift

Did you know?  Every year more than a third of all work-related illnesses reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or local authorities are due to manual handling – the transporting or supporting of loads by hand or bodily force.

FAQ: Dumbwaiters & Service lifts

In this blog post we'll clear up some of the most common questions we've heard about Microlift dumbwaiters and service lifts. Read on...

The Disability Discrimination Act, Equality Act & Lifts

The DDA was introduced over 20 years ago and formed for the industry an invaluable set of standards, eventually becoming part of the Equality Act introduced in 2017. Stannah Engineering Director, Paul Clifton looks back at what it meant to those in the lift industry. 

Section 4.2 of the Technical Handbook & Lifts (Scotland)

This handy guide to Section 4.2 (Scottish Part M) explains what this regulation is and its various implications on lifts in building projects in Scotland. Read on to learn something new!

Passenger lift or platform lift - the differences...

Whilst both lifts move people they are quite different! When deciding between the two it can be confusing. So we've put together a short blog to outline the differences between these lift types and the directives they conform to. 

Building regulations: key guidance for lifts

Here is a handy overview to the key acts, regulations and standards that outline best practice around lifts - ensuring that any commercial/public building is accessible and efficient when moving people.

Specifying Lifts for Care Homes

A helpful guide on the process of specifying lifts for nursing and care homes and all the considerations that need to be taken into account when carrying out this process…

The History of Moving Walkways | Stannah

When it comes to hitching a ride, it doesn’t get easier than moving walkways.  Around for over 130 years, they have evolved from simple conveyor belts to sophisticated systems that move people along horizontal and inclined planes.

External Lifts & the New BS8300-1 Design Guidance

In January 2018 BS8300:2009 was superseded by BS 8300-2, with the introduction of BS 8300-1 alongside it. Part 1offers the first comprehensive design guidance for new public spaces. In this helpful blog, we’ve outlined the new standard and where outdoor lifting appliances can play their part.

The History of Escalators | Stannah

From idea to patent to prototype to full working system, escalators illustrate a common human quest: to make life easier. Read more about the history of the now common escalator...

Advice on Existing Lifts in Multi-storey Housing

A helpful guide on the existing lifts in multi-storey housing developments and flats, from the different types of lifts, including fire-fighting lifts, to refurbishing existing lifts in tower blocks, we discuss it all in this insightful blog!

Lift Requirements for Flats and Tower Blocks

A helpful guide on specifying lifts for multi-storey housing developments, from fire fighting lifts to refurbishing existing lifts in a block of flats, the choices are endless, so read on to find out what the options and considerations are...

Part M: Volume 2 & Wheelchair Platform Stairlifts

This post is the fifth and final in the series of our Part M: Volume 2 building regulations blogs and covers the detailed requirements for wheelchair platform stairlifts.

Part M: Volume 2 & Platform Lifts

This post is the fourth in the series of our Part M: Volume 2 building regulations blogs and covers the detailed requirements for lifting platforms.

5 FAQs on the EN81-20 & EN81-50 Lift Standards  (2018 update)

Post updated for 2018 - In September 2017, EN81-20 and EN81-50, two new safety standards for the construction of lifts and for the testing of lift components were introduced, bringing benefits in terms of safety and accessibility for both lift passengers and service engineers. We've covered the most frequently asked questions...

Part M: Volume 2 & Passenger Lifts

Part M Volume 2, provides practical guidance for complying with building regulation requirements for buildings other than dwellings. This post is the third in the series of our Part M: Volume 2 building regulations blogs and covers passenger lift requirements within Part M in detail.

New Home Quality Mark ONE: National Standard for Domestic Homes

The Home Quality Mark (HQM) is steadily increasing in popularity for all new homes, currently in technical consultation for the latest standard, it provides a national standard through a simple 5-star rating and providing information on a new home's design, construction quality and running costs. 

An Overview of the General Lift Requirements Within Part M: Volume 2

This post is the second in the series of our Part M: Volume 2 building regulations blogs and covers general lift requirements with Part M in greater detail.

Dementia Friendly Lift Design | Stannah

A helpful guide on the process of specifying lifts for dementia sufferers and all the considerations that need to be taken into account when carrying out this process…

Owners Guide: Escalators & Moving Walkways | Stannah

So you own/are responsible for an escalator or moving walkway but are unsure of what this means in terms of your responsibilities? Don't worry, you're not alone! This is precisely why we've put together the information below...

10 questions to help you choose the right type of lift

So you've decided that your commercial project is in need of a people moving lift, or an additional lift. But which type do you need? To help you choose we've come up with some questions to consider.

Brave the elements with the new Stannah external Midilift

The innovative Midilift platform lift can now be installed outside! The external option for the Midilift means you get all the quality construction and convenience of the Midilift SL but with a reliable finish and specification that is ready for the tough outdoors.