Firefighter Lift Company

Make Safety Your Priority With Our Firefighting Lifts Solutions

None of us wants to even imagine the horror of being trapped in a burning building, which is why Tower Lifts makes the safeguarding of lives the top priority when installing firefighting lifts. With over 15 years’ experience working with the unique challenges faced by firefighters when navigating multi-storey buildings, or rescuing individuals from elevated locations, we’re a firefighter lift company you can rely on for your emergency lift services.

What Kind of Lifts Can Be Used in a Fire Emergency?

In the event of a fire, passenger lifts are designed to shut down and go to ground level as per British Standard EN81-73: 2020. However, firefighter lifts can be utilised to aid fire and rescue services and facilitate emergency evacuation.

Our firefighting lifts adhere to fireman lift regulations (BS EN81-72: 2020), enabling firefighters to access all areas of the building and combat fires effectively. Additionally, our evacuation lifts are designed to serve as escape routes for building occupants during emergencies. These lifts function in normal conditions as standard passenger lifts but can transition into an emergency mode when necessary.

What is a Firefighting Lift?

A firefighter lift, as defined by BS EN81-72:2020, is a specialised lift system exclusively designated for the use of the fire service during fire emergencies. Its primary function is to transport firefighters and their equipment to the required floors of a building affected by a fire. These lifts are mandated in buildings with floors situated more than 18 meters above or below the fire service vehicle access level.

Key features of firefighter lifts include:

An interface with the fire detection and alarm system.
Trap doors and ladders for rescue operations.
Water protection for electrical components.
Emergency intercom system.
Separate power supply.
Typically designed as 8- or 13-person passenger lifts.

What is an Evacuation Lift?

An evacuation lift is a passenger lift specifically incorporated into an evacuation strategy to facilitate the safe evacuation of individuals with limited mobility. It helps buildings comply with overall building standards such as BS9999 and BS9991, which encompass the lift as part of the evacuation plan.

The key features of an evacuation lift include:

An interface with the lift control system, fire detection and alarm system.
Emergency intercom system.
Separate power supply.

Evacuation lifts are available in various sizes, with the smallest normally being 8-person capacity, and larger ones for use in hospitals or residential care where they may be used to evacuate beds, wheelchair users or stretchers.

Adapting an Existing Passenger Lift for Firefighter or Evacuation Use

Adapting an existing passenger lift for use as a firefighting or evacuation lift requires a site visit to assess the lift’s current specifications and the building design’s fire protection and safety provisions.

It’s important to note that compliance limitations may arise, preventing full or even partial adherence to the requirements. Each building offers different challenges; we will assess them and make recommendations subsequent to our visit.

Case Study – Replacement Evacuation Lift For Luton Apartment Building

It was necessary to replace the existing thirty-year-old lift at Wesley House, Luton with a state-of-the-art eight-person, ten-stop fire evacuation passenger lift. This replacement was necessary to ensure compliance with current British safety requirements. To adhere to UK fire safety regulations, it is essential to have a passenger lift dedicated to the evacuation of disabled individuals and to provide access for firefighters.

While it may be possible to upgrade certain lifts, the complete replacement of the ageing thirty-year-old passenger lift ensured full compliance with regulations and allowed the new lift to seamlessly integrate with the building’s decor and design aesthetic.

Working With Tower Lifts

As a firefighter lift company, Tower Lifts’ track record speaks for itself; we consistently surpass basic standards of safety, speed and energy-efficiency and our firefighter lifts are considered equal to every demand that has been levelled at them.

Since 2006 Tower Lifts installers have worked with developers, architects, and building managers across the UK to make multi-storey residential and work spaces safer. We are also called upon to work as lift consultants on the installation of firefighting lifts in new buildings.

Tower Lifts is an ISO9001:2015 Lift Cert and UKAS approved firefighter lift company adhering to all current Lift Regulations.

Alongside our firefighter lift installations we also provide a variety of lift fitting services and maintenance.

Platform Lifts • Food Lifts • Service Lifts • Step Lifts • Goods Lifts • Scenic Lifts • Heavy Duty / Car Lifts • Low Pit / Pitless Lifts • Passenger Lifts • Dumbwaiter Lifts • MRL Lifts • Fire Evac lifts • Domestic Lifts