As we approach the end of 2025, focus is already moving towards next year and what may be in store for us all.
We have once again been asked for our predictions for the forthcoming year in this month’s article in Flat Living magazine. However, before we do so, it is useful to reflect on 2025 and the challenges/successes faced by the lift industry and beyond.
Probably the most significant change faced by the industry is the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and their role in projects within “high risk” building works. The definition of a high-risk building is any building with a habitable floor above 18m from the emergency exit level, and/or a building of seven stories, (G, 1-6). If either of these criteria are met then the building should have been registered as a high-risk building and any planned “building” works within the property should have prior consent, (unless mitigating circumstances are at work).
One such example is the need for emergency works, such as reliance on a single lift within the building, is becoming compromised with a lack of reliability due to failing components. This could be evidenced and an emergency works application could be applied for.
Lifts interface with buildings in a number of ways, often being connected to the fire alarm system, (bringing the lift to evacuation floor in event of emergency), utilise phone lines for emergency autodiallers, and in some instances; are even connected to BMS (building management systems), whereby the management can watch the status of a lift in real time.
However, the most significant interface between building and the lift in terms of building safety is that of the doors meeting the fabric of the building. Modern lift doors have improved significantly in terms of their fire resistance, with 120-minute fire rated door sets now commonplace. The doors are manufactured to strict guidance and type tested to obtain this certification document.
The fire certificate these doors hold is based on the door and surrounding frame being correctly installed as per manufacturers guidance. However, where this 2-hour fire rated door meets the building fabric, there can often be materials of a lesser rating used in the building fabric, as we have found in a number of surveys over the last 12 months (and before).
Part of the role of the Competent Person or Principal Designer on projects, is to ensure the information and evidence of works being undertaken is kept in a clear and legible manner, to form part of the Golden Thread of information to be held for the assurances of BSR. This is twofold, as it ensures all professionals and tradespeople involved in the project are focussed on maintaining good records and working to the expected standards, it also acts as a record for future reference should any matter occur in the lifecycle of the building.
The lift industry is keeping abreast of these changes and significant works on evacuation rules and standards have been undertaken during 2025, with the launch of the new EN81-76: 2025 Evacuation Lift Guidance, which gives these lifts their own standard for the first time, (rather than being an addition the Fireman’s/Firefighting Lifts lift standards.
Property Managers, building owners and responsible persons now have more onus than ever to ensure their buildings (and by proxy, their lifts) are compliant; regularly tested and any shortfalls are reported to local fire authorities.
Our comments in this Edition of Flat Living should direct you to more information, but this subject evolves constantly, as all parties get to grips with the ramifications, as the focus from 2025 on this subject will only increase into 2026.
The team at Ardent has grown once again this year with a further field engineer joining the team, to complement our already strong staff. The year has also seen us move into more maintenance management works with two nationwide contracts coming over in the latter part of 2025 and plans to expand the admin team further to continue to deliver our Ardent approach…
As always, we welcome emails and phone calls from the readers of Flat Living to reach out with their questions or comments, as we are always happy to offer advice and guidance whenever possible.
All that is left is for me and all the team at Ardent Lift Consultancy would like to wish you all a happy festive period and best wishes for 2026.
