LOLER inspections for housing associations: lifts, stairlifts, hoists and your BS05 figure
Housing associations need a LOLER thorough examination at least every 6 months for communal passenger lifts, and for stairlifts, hoists and platform lifts wherever staff or carers use them. Every registered provider also reports its communal lift checks to the Regulator of Social Housing each year, as Tenant Satisfaction Measure BS05.
Communal lifts are the easy part. Most associations have them on a schedule. It’s the stairlift fitted as an adaptation 6 years ago, the ceiling hoist in a bungalow, or the bath hoist in a sheltered scheme that tends to slip off the list. So this post covers all that lot as well!
Why lift examinations are a board-level issue now
Two things have raised the stakes:
The Safety and Quality Standard. Since April 2024, the Regulator of Social Housing’s consumer standard says registered providers “must identify and meet all legal requirements that relate to the health and safety of tenants” in their homes and communal areas. It also expects providers to carry out the actions from legally required health and safety assessments within appropriate timescales. For lifting equipment, that means the examinations and the defects in the reports.
Tenant Satisfaction Measure BS05. Every provider reports the “percentage of homes for which all required communal passenger lift safety checks have been carried out”. It’s published, so tenants, the regulator and the next tender panel can all see it. A single overdue examination on a block of 40 flats knocks 40 homes off your figure.
The regulator also now carries out routine inspections of larger providers. If yours is one of them, your lift records are part of the evidence.
What needs examining, and how often
Equipment | Does LOLER apply? | Thorough examination | Worth knowing |
Communal passenger lift in a block | Yes, wherever staff, cleaners or contractors use it, which is nearly always | At least every 6 months | Counts towards BS05 |
Firefighting or evacuation lift in a building 18m or 7 storeys and over | Yes | At least every 6 months | Plus monthly checks by the responsible person under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 |
Platform lift at a communal entrance | Usually, if staff use it | At least every 6 months | Often missed because it sits outside the “lifts” budget |
Hoists and slings in sheltered or extra care schemes, used by care staff | Yes | At least every 6 months, slings included | Care staff are at work, so LOLER applies in full |
Stairlift, through-floor lift or ceiling hoist installed in a tenant’s home | Not always strictly, unless carers use it | We recommend 6 months, especially where carers use it | You’re still responsible for equipment you installed |
Equipment the tenant bought themselves | No | The tenant’s responsibility | Worth a written confirmation each year that it’s being looked after |
There’s more on why communal lifts in blocks are covered in our post on passenger lift duty holder responsibilities.
The grey area: equipment in tenants’ homes
This is where associations differ most, and where I’d focus if you’re reviewing your policy.
HSE says LOLER and PUWER don’t generally cover lifting equipment in people’s own homes. But if you installed a stairlift or a hoist as an adaptation, it’s your equipment in your property, and the Safety and Quality Standard covers the health and safety of tenants in their homes, not just the communal areas. If paid carers use it as part of their job, their employer has LOLER duties to them, and they’ll often ask you for proof it’s been examined.
Look at published lift policies and you’ll find every approach going. One London borough has its residents’ stairlifts tested yearly. A small north London housing trust services stairlifts and hoists every 6 months and has them thoroughly examined once a year. Oxford City Council examines its tenants’ stairlifts every 6 months.
My view is simple. If a hoist is lifting a person, examine it every 6 months, the same as it would be in a care home. The tenant using it is often frailer than anyone in your communal lift, and a 6-monthly examination is easy to defend if something goes wrong.
Five things that knock your lift compliance off track
No-access visits. In-home examinations depend on the tenant being in. A missed appointment can turn into an overdue examination. Book in-home visits well ahead of the due date, so there’s time to rebook.
Adaptations that never made it onto the register. Stairlifts and hoists are often installed through an aids and adaptations budget and never added to the compliance register.
The servicing contractor examining its own work. HSE says the examiner should be “sufficiently independent and impartial”. The published policies I’ve read say the same thing, in so many words: the examiner must be a different organisation from the servicing contractor.
Defects with no owner. The report lands, the lift is “safe to use”, and the defects with dates sit in an inbox. The Safety and Quality Standard expects those actions done on time.
Insurer changes. If your examinations come with your engineering insurance, a change of insurer changes your examiner, your schedule and your report format, sometimes mid-year.
What a good set-up looks like
From the policies I’ve read, and from what works on the ground, a well-run association has:
One register listing every lift, stairlift, hoist and sling, with its location, last examination and next due date
An independent examiner, separate from whoever services the equipment
Reports back quickly. One trust’s policy asks for certificates within 7 days of the visit
A named person who chases every defect to a completion date
Regular reporting upwards, so the board sees lift compliance alongside gas and fire safety
In-home equipment on the same cycle as everything else, not a separate afterthought
How PULO Compliance works with housing associations
We examine communal lifts, platform lifts, stairlifts, through-floor lifts, hoists and slings, so one examiner can cover everything on your register, in blocks, schemes and tenants’ homes. We don’t service, repair or sell lifting equipment, so we’re never checking our own work.
Every examination is carried out and signed by me, Ryan Leavesley MSOE MBES, an engineer surveyor with 14 years’ experience. You get a separate written report for each item, and we contact you before each examination falls due. Once we’ve agreed a price, it stays fixed for all your ongoing examinations, which makes budgeting a lot simpler.
We’re based in Nottingham and work across the Midlands, including Newark, Mansfield, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln and Grantham, and travel anywhere in the UK for associations with stock spread further afield.
Send us your equipment list, or your last set of reports, and we’ll come back with a fixed quote.
Already have an examiner but not happy? Here’s how to switch your LOLER inspection company without a gap in cover. Running care services too? See our care homes page.
FAQs
Do housing associations need LOLER inspections?
Yes. Communal passenger lifts are used by staff, cleaners and contractors, so LOLER applies and they need a thorough examination at least every 6 months. Hoists used by care staff in sheltered or extra care schemes need the same. The Regulator’s Safety and Quality Standard also requires providers to meet all health and safety legal requirements.
What is TSM BS05?
BS05 is the Tenant Satisfaction Measure for lift safety. Every registered provider reports the percentage of homes for which all required communal passenger lift safety checks have been carried out. It’s reported to the Regulator of Social Housing and published each year.
Do stairlifts in tenants’ homes need a LOLER inspection?
Not always strictly, because LOLER covers equipment used at work. But if you installed it, it’s your equipment, and if paid carers use it, their employer has LOLER duties to them. We recommend a thorough examination every 6 months for anything that lifts a person.
How often should a ceiling hoist in a tenant’s home be examined?
We recommend every 6 months, along with any slings used with it. That’s the LOLER interval for equipment that lifts people, and the same as a hoist in a care home would get.
Can our lift maintenance contractor carry out the thorough examinations?
HSE says the examiner should be sufficiently independent and impartial, and shouldn’t be checking their own maintenance work. Published housing lift policies commonly require a separate examiner for exactly that reason.
Who is responsible for a stairlift the tenant bought themselves?
Usually the tenant. Many associations ask tenants to get permission before installing one and to confirm in writing each year that it’s being serviced and examined.
Do firefighting lifts in high-rise blocks need extra checks?
Yes. In residential buildings at least 18m or 7 storeys high, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require monthly checks of firefighting and evacuation lifts. Any fault that can’t be fixed within 24 hours has to be reported to the fire and rescue service. That’s on top of the 6-monthly LOLER examination.
How much do LOLER inspections cost for a housing association?
It depends on how many items you have, what they are, and how spread out they are, including how many are in tenants’ homes. Every quote is worked out for you, and once agreed it stays fixed for all your ongoing examinations.
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