Document ID: 31995L0016

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 95/16/EC
of 29 June 1995
on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to lifts
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (3) in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 17 May 1995,
Whereas Member States are responsible within their territory for the health and safety of people;
Whereas paragraphs 65 and 68 of the White Paper on the completion of the internal market, approved by the European Council in June 1985, provide for a new approach to the approximation of laws;
Whereas Council Directive 84/529/EEC of 17 September 1984 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to electrically, hydraulically or oil-electrically operated lifts (4) does not ensure freedom of movement for all types of lift; whereas disparities between the binding provisions of the various national systems for types of lift not covered by Directive 84/529/EEC constitute barriers to trade within the Community; whereas the national rules on lifts should therefore be harmonized;
Whereas Council Directive 84/528/EEC of 17 September 1984 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to common provisions for lifting and mechanical handling appliances (5) serves as a framework Directive for two specific Directives, namely Directive 84/529/EEC and Council Directive 86/663/EEC of 22 December 1986 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to self-propelled industrial trucks (6), repealed by Council Directive 91/368/EEC of 20 June 1991 amending Directive 89/392/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to machinery (7);
Whereas on 8 June 1995 the Commission adopted recommendation No 95/216/EC (8) to the Member States concerning improvement of safety of existing lifts;
Whereas the essential requirements of this Directive will guarantee the intended level of safety only if appropriate conformity assessment procedures, chosen from among the provisions of Council Decision 93/465/EEC of 22 July 1993 concerning the modules for the various phases of the conformity assessment procedures and the rules for the affixing and use of the CE conformity marking, which are intended to be used in the technical harmonization directives (9), ensure compliance therewith;
Whereas the CE marking must be visibly affixed to lifts or to certain safety components of lifts which meet the essential health and safety requirements of this Directive to enable them to be placed on the market;
Whereas this Directive defines only general essential health and safety requirements; whereas, in order to help manufacturers prove conformity with these essential requirements, it is desirable to have standards harmonized at European level concerning the prevention of risks arising from the design and installation of lifts, and also in order to enable conformity with the essential requirements to be verified; whereas such standards are drawn up at European level by private-law bodies and must retain their non-binding status; whereas, for this purpose, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (Cenelec) are recognized as the competent bodies for adopting harmonized standards in accordance with the general guidelines for cooperation between the Commission and CEN and Cenelec signed on 13 November 1984; whereas a harmonized standard within the meaning of this Directive is a technical specification adopted by CEN and/or Cenelec on the basis of a mandate from the Commission in accordance with Council Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March 1983 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (1) and pursuant to the abovementioned general guidelines;
Whereas provision should be made for transitional arrangements to enable installers to place on the market lifts manufactured before the date of implementation of this Directive;
Whereas this Directive is designed to cover all risks caused by lifts and run by their users and by the occupants of the construction; whereas this Directive should therefore be regarded as a Directive within the meaning of Article 2 (3) of Council Directive 89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products (2);
Whereas an agreement on a modus vivendi between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission concerning the implementing measures for acts adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the EC Treaty was reached on 20 December 1994,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
CHAPTER I
Scope, placing on the market and free movement
Article 1
1. This Directive shall apply to lifts permanently serving buildings and constructions. It shall also apply to the safety components for use in such lifts listed in Annex IV.
2. For the purposes of this Directive, 'lift' shall mean an appliance serving specific levels, having a car moving along guides which are rigid and inclined at an angle of more than 15 degrees to the horizontal and intended for the transport of:
- persons,
- persons and goods,
- goods alone if the car is accessible, that is to say, a person may enter it without difficulty, and fitted with controls situated inside the car or within reach of a person inside.
Lifts moving along a fixed course even where they do not move along guides which are rigid shall fall within the scope of this Directive (for example, scissor lifts).
3. The Directive shall not apply to:
- cableways, including funicular railways, for the public or private transportation of persons,
- lifts specially designed and constructed for military or police purposes,
- mine winding gear,
- theatre elevators,
- lifts fitted in means of transport,
- lifts connected to machinery and intended exclusively for access to the workplace,
- rack and pinion trains,
- construction-site hoists intended for lifting persons or persons and goods.
4. For the purposes of this Directive:
- the 'installer of a lift' shall mean the natural or legal person who takes responsibility for the design, manufacture, installation and placing on the market of the lift and who affixes the CE marking and draws up the EC declaration of conformity,
- 'placing on the market of the lift' shall occur when the installer first makes the lift available to the user,
- 'safety component' shall mean a component as listed in Annex IV,
- the 'manufacturer of the safety components' shall mean the natural or legal person who takes responsibility for the design and manufacture of the safety components and who affixes the CE marking and draws up the EC declaration of conformity,
- a 'model lift' shall mean a representative lift whose technical dossier shows the way in which the essential safety requirements will be met for lifts which conform to the model lift defined by objective parameters and which uses identical safety components.
All permitted variations between the model lift and the lifts forming part of the lifts derived from the model lift must be clearly specified (with maximum and minimum values) in the technical dossier.
By calculation and/or on the basis of design plans it is permitted to demonstrate the similarity of a range of equipment to satisfy the essential safety requirements.
5. Where, for lifts, the risks referred to in this Directive are wholly or partly covered by specific Directives, this Directive shall not apply or shall cease to apply in the case of such lifts and such risks as from application of those specific Directives.
Article 2
1. Member States shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that:
- lifts covered by this Directive may be placed on the market and put into service only if they are not liable to endanger the health or safety of persons or, where appropriate, the safety of property, when properly installed and maintained and used for their intended purpose.
- safety components covered by this Directive may be placed on the market and put into service only if the lifts in which they are to be installed are not liable to endanger the health or safety of persons or, where appropriate, the safety of property when properly installed and maintained and used for their intended purpose.
2. Member States shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the person responsible for work on the building or construction and the installer of the lift, on the one hand, keep each other informed of the facts necessary for, and, on the other hand, take the appropriate steps to ensure, the proper operation and safe use of the lift.
3. Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure that shafts intended for lifts do not contain any piping or wiring or fittings other than that necessary for the operation and safety of the lift.
4. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, the provisions of this Directive shall not affect Member States' entitlement to lay down in conformity with the Treaty such requirements as they may deem necessary to ensure that persons are protected when the lifts in question are put into service or used, provided that this does not mean that the lifts are modified in a way not specified in the Directive.
5. At trade fairs, exhibitions or demonstrations in particular, Member States shall not prevent the showing of lifts or safety components which do not conform to the Community provisions in force, provided that a visible sign clearly indicates that such lifts or safety components are not in conformity and are not for sale until they have been brought into conformity by the installer of the lift, the manufacturer of the safety components or the latter's authorized representative established in the Community. During demonstrations, adequate safety measures shall be taken to ensure the protection of persons.
Article 3
Lifts covered by this Directive must satisfy the essential health and safety requirements set out in Annex I.
The safety components covered by this Directive must satisfy the essential health and safety requirements set out in Annex I or enable the lifts in which they are installed to satisfy the said essential requirements.
Article 4
1. Member States may not prohibit, restrict or impede the placing on the market or putting into service on their territory of lifts and/or safety components which comply with this Directive.
2. Member States may not prohibit, restrict or impede the placing on the market of components which, on the basis of a declaration by the manufacturer or his authorized representative established in the Community, are intended to be incorporated into a lift covered by this Directive.
Article 5
1. Member States shall regard lifts and safety components bearing the CE marking and accompanied by the EC declaration of conformity referred to in Annex II as conforming to all the provisions of this Directive, including the conformity assessment procedures laid down in Chapter II.
In the absence of harmonized standards, Member States shall take any steps they deem necessary to bring to the attention of the parties concerned the existing national technical standards and specifications which are regarded as important or relevant to the proper implementation of the essential health and safety requirements in Annex I.
2. Where a national standard transposing a harmonized standard, the reference for which has been published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, covers one or more of the essential health and safety requirements:
- lifts constructed in accordance with that standard shall be presumed to comply with the relevant essential requirements.
or
- safety components constructed in accordance with that standard shall be presumed suitable to enable a lift on which they are correctly installed to comply with the relevant essential requirements.
Member States shall publish the references of national standards transposing harmonized standards.
3. Member States shall ensure that appropriate measures are taken to enable both sides of industry to have an influence at national level on the process of preparing and monitoring the harmonized standards.
Article 6
1. Where a Member State or the Commission considers that the harmonized standards referred to in Article 5 (2) do not entirely satisfy the essential requirements referred to in Article 3, the Commission or the Member State concerned shall bring the matter before the Committee set up under Directive 83/189/EEC, giving the reasons therefor. The Committee shall deliver an opinion without delay.
Upon receipt of the Committee's opinion, the Commission shall inform the Member States whether or not it is necessary to withdraw those standards from the published information referred to in Article 5 (2).
2. The Commission may adopt any appropriate measure with a view to ensuring the practical application in a uniform manner of this Directive in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 3.
3. The Commission shall be assisted by a Standing Committee composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.
The Standing Committee shall draw up its own rules of procedure.
The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Standing Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by taking a vote.
The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes, in addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask to have its position recorded in the minutes.
The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered by the Standing Committee. It shall inform that Committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account.
4. The Standing Committee may, furthermore, examine any question concerning the application of this Directive and raised by its chairman either at the latter's initiative or at the request of a Member State.
Article 7
1. Where a Member State ascertains that a lift or a safety component bearing the CE marking and used in accordance with its intended purpose is liable to endanger the safety of persons and, where appropriate, of property, it shall take all appropriate measures to withdraw it from the market, to prohibit it from being placed on the market or put into service or to restrict its free movement.
The Member State shall immediately inform the Commission of any such measure, indicating the reasons for its decision and in particular whether non-conformity is due to:
(a) failure to satisfy the essential requirements referred to in Article 3;
(b) incorrect application of the standards referred to in Article 5 (2);
(c) shortcomings in the standards referred to in Article 5 (2) themselves.
2. The Commission shall enter into consultation with the parties concerned as soon as possible. Where, after such consultation, the Commission finds that:
- the measures are justified, it shall immediately so inform the Member State which took the initiative and the other Member States; where the decision referred to in paragraph 1 is based on shortcomings in the standards, the Commission shall, after consulting the parties concerned, bring the matter before the Committee referred to in Article 6 (1), if the Member State which has taken the decision intends to maintain it, and shall initiate the procedure referred to in Article 6 (1),
- the measures are unjustified, it shall immediately so inform the Member State which took the initiative and the installer of the lift, the manufacturer of the safety components or the latter's authorized representative established in the Community.
3. Where a lift or safety component which does not comply bears the CE marking, the competent Member State shall take appropriate action against whomsoever affixed the marking and shall so inform the Commission and the other Member States.
4. The Commission shall ensure that the Member States are kept informed of the progress and outcome of the procedure.
CHAPTER II
Conformity assessment procedure
Article 8
1. Before placing safety components listed in Annex IV on the market, the manufacturer of a safety component or his authorized representative established in the Community must:
(a) (i) either submit the model of the safety component for EC type-examination in accordance with Annex V and for production checks by a notified body in accordance with Annex XI;
(ii) or submit the model of the safety component for EC type-examination in accordance with Annex V and operate a quality assurance system in accordance with Annex VIII for checking production;
(iii) or operate a full quality assurance system in accordance with Annex IX;
(b) affix the CE marking on each safety component and draw up a declaration of conformity containing the information listed in Annex II, taking account of the specifications given in the Annex used (Annex VIII, IX or XI as the case may be);
(c) keep a copy of the declaration of conformity for 10 years from the date on which the safety component was last manufactured.
2. Before being placed on the market, a lift must have undergone one of the following procedures:
(i) either, if it was designed in accordance with a lift having undergone an EC type-examination as referred to in Annex V, it shall be constructed, installed and tested by implementing:
- the final inspection referred to in Annex VI, or
- the quality assurance system referred to in Annex XII, or
- the quality assurance system referred to in Annex XIV.
The procedures for the design and construction stages, on the one hand, and the installation and testing stages, on the other, may be carried out on the same lift;
(ii) or, if it was designed in accordance with a model lift having undergone an EC type-examination as referred to in Annex V, it shall be constructed, installed and tested by implementing:
- the final inspection referred to in Annex VI, or
- the quality assurance system referred to in Annex XII, or
- the quality assurance system referred to in Annex XIV;
(iii) or, if it was designed in accordance with a lift for which a quality assurance system pursuant to Annex XIII was implemented, supplemented by an examination of the design if the latter is not wholly in accordance with the harmonized standards, it shall be installed and constructed and tested by implementing, in addition:
- the final inspection referred to in Annex VI, or
- the quality assurance system in accordance with Annex XII, or
- the quality assurance system in accordance with Annex XIV;
(iv) or, having undergone the unit verification procedure, referred to in Annex X, by a notified body;
(v) or, having been subject to the quality assurance system in accordance with Annex XIII, supplemented by an examination of the design if the latter is not wholly in accordance with the harmonized standards.
In the cases referred to in (i), (ii) and (iii) above, the person responsible for the design must supply to the person responsible for the construction, installation and testing all necessary documents and information for the latter to be able to operate in absolute security.
3. In all the cases referred to in paragraph 2:
- the installer shall affix the CE marking on the lift and draw up a declaration of conformity containing the information listed in Annex II, taking account of the specifications given in the Annex used (Annex VI, X, XII, XIII or XIV, as the case may be),
- the installer must keep a copy of the declaration of conformity for 10 years from the date on which the lift was placed on the market,
- the Commission, the Member States and the other notified bodies may, on request, obtain from the installer a copy of the declaration of conformity and reports of the tests involved in the final inspection.
4. (a) Where the lifts or safety components are subject to other Directives concerning other aspects and which also provide for the affixing of the CE marking, the latter shall indicate that the lift or safety component is also presumed to conform to the provisions of those other Directives.
(b) However, where one or more of these Directives allows the manufacturer, during a transitional period, to choose which arrangements to apply, the CE marking shall indicate conformity only to the Directives applied by the installer of the lift or the manufacturer of the safety components. In this case, particulars of the Directives applied, as published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, must be given in the documents, notices or instructions required by the Directives and accompanying the lift or safety component.
5. Where neither the installer of the lift nor the manufacturer of the safety component nor his authorized representative established in the Community has complied with the obligations of the preceding paragraphs, those obligations shall devolve upon whomsoever places the lift or the safety component on the market in the Community. The same obligations shall apply to whomsoever manufactures the lift or safety component for his own use.
Article 9
1. Member States shall notify the Commission and the other Member States of the bodies which they have appointed to carry out the procedures referred to in Article 8, together with the specific tasks and examination procedures which these bodies have been appointed to carry out and the identification numbers assigned to them beforehand by the Commission.
The Commission shall publish for information in the Official Journal of the European Communities a list of the notified bodies and their identification numbers and the tasks for which they have been notified. The Commission shall ensure that this list is kept up to date.
2. Member States shall apply the criteria laid down in Annex VII in assessing the notified bodies. Bodies meeting the assessment criteria laid down in the relevant harmonized standards shall be presumed to fulfil the criteria laid down in Annex VII.
3. A Member State which has notified a body must withdraw its notification if it finds that the body no longer meets the criteria laid down in Annex VII. It shall immediately inform the Commission and the other Member States accordingly.
CHAPTER III
CE marking
Article 10
1. The CE marking shall consist of the initials CE. Annex III sets out the model to be used.
2. The CE marking shall be affixed to every lift car distinctly and visibly in accordance with Section 5 of Annex I and shall be affixed on each of the safety components listed in Annex IV or, where that is not possible, on a label inseparably attached to the safety component.
3. The affixing on the lifts or safety components of markings which are likely to mislead third parties as to the meaning and form of the CE marking shall be prohibited. Any other marking may be affixed to the lifts or safety components, provided that the visibility and legibility of the CE marking are not thereby reduced.
4. Without prejudice to Article 7:
(a) where a Member State establishes that the CE marking has been affixed irregularly, the installer of the lift, the manufacturer of the safety component or the authorized representative of the latter established within the Community shall be obliged to make the product conform as regards the provisions concerning the CE marking and to end the infringement under the conditions imposed by the Member State;
(b) should non-conformity persist, the Member State must take all appropriate measures to restrict or prohibit the placing on the market of the safety component in question or to ensure that it is withdrawn from the market and prohibit the lift from being used and inform the other Member States in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 7 (4).
CHAPTER IV
Final provisions
Article 11
Any decision taken pursuant to this Directive which restricts:
- the placing on the market and/or putting into service and/or use of a lift,
- the placing on the market and/or putting into service of a safety component,
shall state the exact grounds on which it is based. Such a decision shall be notified as soon as possible to the party concerned, who shall at the same time be informed of the legal remedies available to him under the laws in force in the Member State concerned and of the time limits to which such remedies are subject.
Article 12
The Commission shall take the necessary steps to have information on all the relevant decisions relating to the implementation of this Directive made available.
Article 13
Directive 84/528/EEC and Directive 84/529/EEC are hereby repealed with effect from 1 July 1999.
Article 14
With regard to the aspects concerning the installation of the lift, this Directive is a Directive within the meaning of Article 2 (3) of Directive 89/106/EEC.
Article 15
1. Member States shall adopt and publish the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 1 January 1997. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.
Member States shall apply these measures with effect from 1 July 1997.
2. Until 30 June 1999 Member States shall allow:
- the placing on the market and putting into service of lifts,
- the placing on the market and putting into service of safety components,
which conform to the provisions in force in their territories on the date of adoption of this Directive.
3. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.
Article 16
No later than 30 June 2002, the Commission shall, in consultation with the Committee referred to in Article 6 (3) and on the basis of reports provided by the Member States, re-examine the functioning of the procedures laid down in this Directive and, if necessary, submit any proposals for appropriate amendments.
Article 17
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 29 June 1995.

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