UK lift fault-finding · 59 brands covered
Lift Troubleshooting
Calm, plain-English fault-finding for 59 lift, stairlift and elevator brands sold in the United Kingdom — and one email away from a specialist when you need one.
Type any brand — Stannah, Otis, Aritco, KONE, ThyssenKrupp — and hit Enter. Or scroll to browse by lift type or symptom.

Step one
Choose Your Lift Type
Every brand is grouped into one of five categories. Start here if you know the type of lift you have but not the make.
14 brands
Home Lifts
A domestic home lift — sometimes called a through-floor lift, shaftless lift or residential elevator — moves one to three people between two or three floors of a private house.
Aritco · Easy Living Home Elevators · Elite Elevation · Federal Elevator · …
Browse home lifts →
12 brands
Stairlifts
A stairlift is a chair or perch that travels up and down a rail bolted to the staircase, powered by a 24V DC motor and a pair of sealed lead-acid batteries.
Acorn Stairlifts · AmeriGlide · Brooks Stairlifts · Bruno Independent Living Aids · …
Browse stairlifts →
10 brands
Platform Lifts
Platform lifts — sometimes called vertical platform lifts, low-rise lifts or Cabin 1B lifts — carry wheelchair users, prams and mobility scooters between two or three floors in public buildings, schools, clinics, offices and adapted homes.
Axess2 · Cibes · Encasa · Gartec · …
Browse platform lifts →
18 brands
Commercial Elevators
Commercial passenger and goods elevators from the 18 manufacturers on this page dominate UK office, retail, hospital, hotel and residential-block buildings.
BLT Elevator · Broad Group · Canny Elevator · Dalby · …
Browse commercial elevators →
05 brands
Lift Components
Sometimes a lift fault traces to a specific component rather than a whole-lift symptom.
Fermator · Motala Hissar · Sicor · Wittur · …
Browse lift components →
Step two
Find Your Brand
All 59 brands are here, grouped by category. Use the tabs to narrow, or type a make.
Acorn Stairlifts
Stairlifts
AmeriGlide
Stairlifts
Aritco
Home Lifts
Axess2
Platform Lifts
BLT Elevator
Commercial Elevators
Broad Group
Commercial Elevators
Brooks Stairlifts
Stairlifts
Bruno Independent Living Aids
Stairlifts
Canny Elevator
Commercial Elevators
Cibes
Platform Lifts
Dalby
Commercial Elevators
Doppler
Commercial Elevators
Easy Living Home Elevators
Home Lifts
Elite Elevation
Home Lifts
Encasa
Platform Lifts
Federal Elevator
Home Lifts
Fermator
Lift Components
Fujitec
Commercial Elevators
Gartec
Platform Lifts
Genesis Lifts
Home Lifts
GMV Elevator
Commercial Elevators
Handicare
Stairlifts
Harmar
Stairlifts
Hitachi
Commercial Elevators
Hyundai Elevator
Commercial Elevators
Inclinator Company of America
Home Lifts
Kalea
Platform Lifts
Kleemann
Commercial Elevators
KONE
Commercial Elevators
Lehner Lifttechnik
Platform Lifts
Lifton
Home Lifts
Meditek
Stairlifts
Mitsubishi Electric
Commercial Elevators
Motala Hissar
Lift Components
Nami
Home Lifts
Nibav Lifts
Home Lifts
NTD
Commercial Elevators
Orona
Commercial Elevators
Otis
Commercial Elevators
Otolift
Stairlifts
Platinum Stairlifts
Stairlifts
PLE
Platform Lifts
Pollock
Home Lifts
Savaria
Home Lifts
Schindler
Commercial Elevators
Sesame Access Systems
Platform Lifts
Sicor
Lift Components
Stannah
Stairlifts
Stiltz
Home Lifts
Terry Lifts
Home Lifts
ThyssenKrupp Access
Stairlifts
ThyssenKrupp Stairlifts
Stairlifts
TK Elevator
Commercial Elevators
Toshiba Elevator
Commercial Elevators
Vimec
Platform Lifts
Waupaca Elevator
Home Lifts
Wessex Lifts
Platform Lifts
Wittur
Lift Components
Ziehl-Abegg
Lift Components
Rather see the full alphabet? Browse all brands A–Z.
Or step one, if you'd rather
Or Start With the Symptom
Don't know the make? Skip straight to what the lift is doing. Each symptom links to the walk-through.
Symptom
Home lift won't move but display is on
Nine checks before you phone an engineer.
Read the walk-through →
Symptom
Lift stuck between floors
Don't force any door. What to do while you wait.
Read the walk-through →
Symptom
Door and sensor faults
Reed switches, light-curtains and mechanical latches.
Read the walk-through →
Symptom
Stairlift beeps continuously
The single commonest UK stairlift fault, walked through.
Read the walk-through →
Symptom
Stairlift stops halfway up the stairs
Obstruction sensors, stair carpet and footplate checks.
Read the walk-through →
Symptom
Stairlift seat swivel not locked
The interlock that keeps the chair from moving.
Read the walk-through →
Before you touch anything
Safe to Try vs Call an Engineer
Two callouts you'll see on every page. Read them once so the checks below make sense.
The path from broken to fixed
How It Works
01
Find your make
Pick your brand from the type-ahead, the category tabs or the A–Z. Every one of our 59 brands has its own page.
02
Decode the fault
Match the beep, code or symptom to a plain-English explanation. Every fix is labelled safe-to-try or engineer-only.
03
Still stuck? Email us
Describe the fault once — a specialist replies by email and, where useful, points you to the right engineer.
Still stuck? Email us — we'll point you to the right engineer.
Cornerstone reads
Guides Worth Reading
Longer-form UK guides for building managers, landlords and leaseholders. The regulations, the responsibilities, the timescales — in plain English.
Guide
LOLER thorough examinations: the 6 and 12 month rules
The Lifting Operations & Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, in plain English for UK building managers.
Read the guide →
Guide
Lift repairs: landlord or tenant responsibility?
Who pays and how fast the lift must be fixed in UK rented flats and leasehold blocks.
Read the guide →
Guide
Inspections under LOLER: who is responsible?
Duty holder in plain English — employers, landlords, agents and worked scenarios.
Read the guide →
Guide
PUWER inspections for lifts: UK requirements
How PUWER 1998 sits alongside LOLER and when a lift needs both.
Read the guide →
Guide
LOLER inspection: costs & what to expect
Typical UK cost ranges, what happens on the day and how to prepare.
Read the guide →
Guide
Lift inspections UK: LOLER, PUWER & servicing compared
Four-way side-by-side comparison of the visits a UK lift actually needs.
Read the guide →
Guide
Types of lifts in the UK: passenger, platform, goods, home & stair
Pillar guide to every lift family in UK buildings, plus the drive systems underneath them.
Read the guide →
Guide
Small house lift costs UK: 2026 price guide
Typical UK price ranges by lift type, cost drivers, running costs and funding pointers.
Read the guide →
Guide
Residential lifts explained: types & terminology
Lift vs elevator, cabin vs through-floor vs platform — plain-English overview for UK homeowners.
Read the guide →
Guide
Home elevators UK: installation & requirements
Space, pit, headroom, power, structural work, planning and building regs — plus a realistic timeline.
Read the guide →
Guide
House lifts for disabled people: UK options guide
Choosing between stairlift, through-floor and shafted home lift by user need and property.
Read the guide →
Guide
Platform wheelchair lifts: vertical & inclined guide
Product deep-dive — dimensions, indoor/outdoor, Part M context and specification.
Read the guide →
Guide
Disability lifts for homes: funding & grants UK
DFG process, OT assessments, VAT relief and charity routes for UK households.
Read the guide →
Guide
Wheelchair lifts UK: prices, types & regulations
Umbrella market view — types, price ranges, supplier landscape and public vs private regulation.
Read the guide →
Guide
Lift maintenance in London: contracts & costs
Contract tiers, London-specific cost drivers and how LOLER interplays with servicing.
Read the guide →
Guide
Lift contractors in London: how to choose
Accreditations, vetting criteria, red flags and tender basics for London building owners.
Read the guide →
Guide
Platform lift maintenance contracts: UK guide
What a good contract covers, service frequency, tier comparison and exit clauses.
Read the guide →
Guide
Goods & service lifts: UK buyer and duty guide
Types, capacities, use cases and the 12-month LOLER angle for goods-only lifts.
Read the guide →
Guide
Stannah lifts: models, costs & owner guide
Independent buyer-and-owner overview of the Stannah range across stairlifts, home lifts, platform, passenger and goods.
Read the guide →
Guide
What does BREEAM stand for? Lifts & ratings
Definitional guide to BREEAM and where lift energy efficiency factors into the assessment.
Read the guide →
Guide
Lift service contracts UK: response times & exclusions
Contract tiers, SLAs, exclusions to read twice and what is genuinely negotiable.
Read the guide →
Guide
Home lift buyer's checklist: 12 questions to ask
Twelve numbered questions to ask before signing a UK home lift order.
Read the guide →
Guide
Stairlift battery care: make your batteries last
How stairlift batteries work, habits that extend life, realistic lifespan and warning signs.
Read the guide →
Guide
How to find your lift serial number & model plate
Where the plate lives on stairlifts, home, platform and passenger lifts — plus the paperwork route.
Read the guide →
Tell Us What Your Lift Is Doing
Get help by email
Tell us what your lift is doing.
Describe the fault — we'll reply by email and point you to the right help. Usually within one working day.
The six questions we get most
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a lift engineer call-out cost in the UK?
A typical UK call-out for a domestic stairlift or home lift is £120–£220 during working hours, before parts and labour. Passenger and commercial lifts are usually covered by a service contract with a fixed monthly fee, and the per-visit charge for a fault outside contract hours is higher. Always ask for the fault-diagnosis fee separately from the repair quote.
Is a stuck lift dangerous — do I need to worry?
A lift that has stopped between floors is designed to hold position safely. There is no risk of the car falling. Use the alarm, wait for help, and never try to force the doors or climb out — most injuries happen during self-rescue attempts, not during the stoppage itself.
Can I reset my lift myself?
For domestic stairlifts and some home lifts, cycling the mains isolator for 30 seconds and confirming the door interlock will clear many soft faults. For any commercial or passenger lift, do not attempt a controller reset — note what the display shows, report it, and let the maintenance engineer decide.
How often should a lift be serviced in the UK?
Most UK domestic and stairlift service contracts cover one or two planned visits a year. LOLER requires a separate statutory thorough examination — at least every 6 months for lifts that carry people, and at least every 12 months for goods-only lifts — carried out by a competent person independent of routine servicing.
Who is responsible for lift repairs — the landlord or tenant?
In UK rented flats and leasehold blocks, communal lifts are almost always the responsibility of the landlord or freeholder to arrange and manage. Leaseholders normally contribute to the cost through the service charge, in line with the lease. Individual tenants do not organise or pay for repairs themselves.