What is LOLER?
LOLER is the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations, which require lifting equipment to be strong enough, properly positioned, and subject to thorough examination by a competent person.
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<img src="https://facilityoptix.co.uk/glossary/loler/diagram.svg" alt="LOLER — diagram from FacilityOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
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<a href="https://facilityoptix.co.uk/glossary/loler">What is LOLER?</a> — diagram by
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</figure>In a building context it reaches further than most people expect: passenger lifts, but also hoists, gantries, cradles, vehicle lifts and any accessory used for lifting. Equipment that lifts people is treated more stringently than equipment that lifts loads.
A thorough examination is not a service. It is an independent assessment by a competent person, usually an engineer surveyor, and a maintenance visit by the servicing contractor does not satisfy it.
Reports carry defects with timescales. A defect requiring immediate attention takes the equipment out of use, and a report received and filed without anyone reading the defect section is how equipment stays in service that should not.
In practice
A passenger lift with current examination reports and an unactioned defect.
The report records an observation requiring attention. It was filed, and the next report records the same observation.
A thorough examination produces findings as well as a certificate, and the findings carry timescales set by the competent person rather than by the building.
Two consecutive reports with the same open item is the thing an inspector will find first.
What goes wrong in practice
- Thorough examination assumed to be covered by the maintenance contract.
- Reports filed without the defect section being read or actioned.
- Accessories and less obvious lifting equipment omitted from the register entirely.
- Examination dates tracked by the insurer only, so nobody internally knows when they fall due.