Every day, people use tens of thousands of lifts in locations including office buildings, car parks and residential complexes. For lifts to be used safely, they must undergo periodic maintenance and re-inspection.
'A lift must be safe for both user and lift technician. That is why it is mandatory to have a space above and below the lift to prevent entrapment.'
Scope of the sector
There are 89,677 lifts in the Netherlands registered with inspection bodies (figure as at 31 December 2025).
| Certificate | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate still valid (as at 31 december) | 92,564 | 89,178 | 89,677 |
| Certificate issued | 68,199 | 68,815 | 72,436 |
| Certificate refused | 4,566 | 8,126 | 7,627 |
| Certificate revoked | 18 | 6 | 10 |
A certificate is refused where technical shortcomings are identified, for example because of wear to components.
| Rejected or approved | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rejected | 394 | 462 | 474 |
| Approved | 1,765 | 1,413 | 1,517 |
A newly built lift will be rejected if it does not comply with the essential safety requirements.
Risks in the system
The Netherlands Labour Authority investigates potential risks relating to lifts every year. It examines both new lifts and lifts already in use. The Netherlands Labour Authority has not identified any risks in the system for assessing the safety of new lifts. However, it has identified risks relating to lifts already in use:
Some lifts do not undergo periodic re-inspection. This is often because the owner is unaware that re-inspection is mandatory or has failed to monitor the inspection deadline.
Some lifts do not comply with the safety requirements and therefore do not receive a certificate following re-inspection. These lifts must be repaired and re-inspected.
Approach
To ensure that lift owners are better informed about the mandatory periodic re-inspection requirement, the Netherlands Labour Authority has developed a brochure (Dutch) containing the key information about re-inspection.
The Netherlands Labour Authority carries out periodic inspections into compliance with the mandatory periodic re-inspection requirement for lifts.
Each year, the Netherlands Labour Authority checks around 20 to 30 lifts that have been taken out of service to ensure they are not still being used. If the Netherlands Labour Authority finds a lift taken out of service by a CAB is still being used in practice, it takes the lift out of operation and seals it until the problems have been resolved.
Each year, the Netherlands Labour Authority handles around 10 applications to deviate from the rules governing the installation of new lifts. In around 10 percent of these cases, safety cannot be guaranteed and the Netherlands Labour Authority refuses the application.
Result
Accidents involving lifts occur very rarely.
- In 2022, the Netherlands Labour Authority carried out inspections of lifts whose re-inspection deadline had expired and for which no re-inspection appointment had been arranged. A total of 60 lift owners received a warning and immediately arranged an appointment for re-inspection. Compliance with the inspection requirement has improved in recent years. While the Netherlands Labour Authority had to take enforcement action in 38 percent of cases during comparable inspections in 2016, this had fallen to 11 percent in 2022.
- In 2023, the Netherlands Labour Authority carried out on-site inspections of 62 lifts belonging to 47 lift owners on the basis of a risk analysis. These inspections concerned lifts whose owners or managers had not responded to the Netherlands Labour Authority's request for information in 2022. The enforcement rate within this group, consisting mainly of property managers and owners' associations, was 46 percent. In total, 22 warnings were issued and 1 penalty report was drawn up. Comparable inspections in 2016 resulted in a similar enforcement rate of 49 percent.
The enforcement rate within this group remains consistently high. The Netherlands Labour Authority has drawn the attention of the scheme manager and the CABs to the re-inspection requirement, particularly in relation to this group.