You did not plan to become a LOLER expert. But if you manage buildings with passenger lifts, loading bay equipment, or goods hoists, the responsibility landed with you anyway. If your FM contract gives you operational control of lifting equipment, you are the duty holder under LOLER 1998. That obligation does not transfer to the building owner simply because they own the lifts. Control determines duty. Not ownership.
The LOLER equipment across your portfolio is probably wider than you think
A standard total FM contract for a mixed-use estate covers a wide range of lifting equipment. Each category carries its own thorough examination interval. Miss one category and you have a compliance gap regardless of how well you manage the rest.
Your FM contract does not automatically pass the LOLER duty to the building owner
The person with operational control bears the duty. This must be explicitly allocated in FM service agreements. Ambiguity in a contract does not protect either party if a compliance failure occurs.
LOLER places the duty on the person who controls the lifting equipment, not the person who owns it. In FM, that creates two common situations worth being clear on.
If your FM company manages a building and runs the day-to-day operation of the passenger lifts, you are the duty holder. The building owner's name on the lease does not change that. If your contract explicitly excludes lift management and the owner retains that responsibility, the duty sits with the owner. The contract must say so clearly.
Every FM service agreement should include a schedule identifying each piece of LOLER equipment in scope, the party responsible for arranging thorough examinations, and the party responsible for maintaining the examination report and audit trail. This protects both the FM provider and the building owner if the HSE investigates.
Managing LOLER across 50 buildings without a central system is not a risk. It is a guarantee of gaps.
Most FM companies manage multiple buildings. Each building has its own inventory, its own due dates, and its own inspection contractor relationship. Without a central tracking system, due dates drift. Certificates live in building-level folders. Nobody has a company-wide view of where compliance actually stands.
A single passenger lift running past its 6-month examination date is enough for an HSE improvement notice. Across 20 buildings, the probability of a missed examination increases sharply without software that tracks every asset centrally and sends alerts before due dates pass.
A contractor's crane comes onto your site. Checking their LOLER records is your responsibility.
When fit-out teams, installation contractors, or removal companies bring lifting equipment into buildings you manage, you must verify that their equipment has current LOLER examination recordsbefore they start work. This is part of your contractor management obligation under LOLER and CDM 2015. A permit-to-work process that includes LOLER certificate verification protects you if the contractor's equipment causes an incident on your site.
The four LOLER failures that keep appearing in FM operations
A due date list is not a compliance picture. These six metrics are.
If you manage a large portfolio, a spreadsheet of due dates tells you nothing about whether you are actually compliant. These are the indicators that give you a real view:
- Examination currency rate: the percentage of assets with a current, in-date thorough examination report across the portfolio
- Overdue count by building: which buildings have assets past their examination date, and by how many days
- Category A and B defect open rate: how many outstanding defects across the estate have not yet been rectified
- Competent person coverage: whether every asset has an appointed competent person and whether their accreditation is current
- Certificate retention rate: the percentage of assets for which a complete examination report and audit trail can be produced on request
- Contract handover completeness: when a managed building transfers, whether all LOLER records transfer with it
Purpose-built software like Lolerflow surfaces these metrics automatically. You see examination status across all buildings from one dashboard. No spreadsheet hunting. No calling contractors to ask when the last inspection happened.
A full FM contract covers more LOLER equipment than most companies realise
The scope surprises people. A total FM contract for a mixed-use estate can include all of the following, and each item carries its own examination interval:
- Passenger lifts: examination every 6 months without exception under LOLER 1998
- Platform lifts and stairlifts: person-carrying, 6-month examination interval
- Goods lifts: 12-month examination if goods only; 6 months if persons are permitted to ride
- Dock levellers: assess whether persons ever stand on them during operation; if they do, LOLER applies at 6-month intervals
- Scissor lifts used for maintenance tasks: person-carrying, 6-month examination interval
- Window cleaning cradles and facade access systems: person-carrying when occupied, 6 months
- Vehicle inspection ramps in car parks or fleet maintenance areas: 12-month examination interval
- Patient hoists in healthcare or assisted living facilities: person-carrying, 6-month interval
- Goods hoists including dumbwaiters and kitchen hoists: 12-month interval
Taking on a new FM contract? Your LOLER duty starts on day one.
LOLER compliance cannot be retrofitted at year-end. The duty holder obligation attaches the moment you have operational control. Before a new FM contract starts, you need a full asset register, confirmation of which equipment is in scope, a named competent person for each asset, and verified current examination reports. Starting without those means starting in breach.
The Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) publishes guidance on thorough examination standards and accreditation for competent persons. Referencing LEEA-accredited inspection companies in your FM contracts adds a verifiable quality standard to the examination process.