Lifts Directive 2014/33/EU: CE marking, EU declaration of c…

If a national market surveillance authority opens our lift technical file tomorrow, do we have what Directive 2014/33/EU demands — or are we facing withdrawal, recall and penalties?

Directive 2014/33/EU has applied since 20 April 2016, and any lift placed on the EU market without a complete EU declaration of conformity, CE marking and 10-year technical file (Art. 7(2)–(3), Art. 8(2)–(3)) can be withdrawn, recalled and sanctioned under nationally set effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties (Art. 43) — the installer and manufacturer must verify the dossier first.

Short Answer

Directive 2014/33/EU is the recast Lifts Directive aligned with the New Legislative Framework (Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 and Decision No 768/2008/EC). It covers permanently installed lifts and the safety components listed in Annex III, requires conformity with the essential health and safety requirements of Annex I [Art. 5], and routes installers, manufacturers, importers and distributors through distinct obligations [Art. 7–11]. Conformity assessment for safety components follows one of three modules in [Art. 15], conformity assessment for lifts follows [Art. 16], and CE marking plus the notified body identification number is governed by [Art. 18 and Art. 19]. Penalties are set in national law [Art. 43] and may include criminal sanctions for serious infringements; non-conformity can also trigger withdrawal, recall and the safeguard procedure under [Art. 38]. **Legal status update:** Art. 6 (EU) 2024/2749 (Omnibus Directive for the Single Market Emergency Instrument SMEI) amends the Lifts Directive — new definitions for "crisis-relevant goods" and "internal market emergency mode" (referencing Art. 3 (EU) 2024/2747), common specifications for emergencies and emergency procedures in conformity assessment.

Who is affected

Installers placing lifts on the Union market and manufacturers, authorised representatives, importers and distributors of safety components for lifts listed in Annex III, as defined in [Art. 2(6)–(11)]. The Directive applies to lifts permanently serving buildings or constructions and used to transport persons, persons and goods, or goods alone with an accessible carrier and inside controls [Art. 1(1)]; it does not apply to lifting appliances at ≤0,15 m/s, construction site hoists, cableways, military or police lifts, mine winding gear, escalators or mechanical walkways [Art. 1(2)]. Importers and distributors that modify a safety component or place it on the market under their own name take on the manufacturer's full obligations [Art. 12].

Deadline

Permanent compliance: applicable since 20 April 2016 [Art. 48 and Art. 45(1)]. Operationally relevant continuing duties include affixing the CE marking before each lift or safety component is placed on the market [Art. 19(2)], retaining the technical documentation, EU declaration of conformity and approval decisions for 10 years after placement [Art. 7(3), Art. 8(3), Art. 10(8)], and immediately notifying competent national authorities of any non-conforming lift presenting a risk [Art. 7(8), Art. 8(8)].

Risk

No EU-wide ceiling — [Art. 43] requires Member States to lay down effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties, and explicitly allows criminal penalties for serious infringements. In addition, market surveillance authorities can require corrective action, prohibit or restrict making available, withdraw or recall a non-compliant lift or safety component under the safeguard procedure [Art. 38] and respond to formal non-compliance such as missing or incorrectly affixed CE marking, missing EU declaration of conformity or missing technical documentation [Art. 41].

Proof

Legal status

• In force
• as of 2026-05-10
• Original version of 26 February 2014 (OJ L 96, 29.3.2014, p. 251); consolidated text available on EUR-Lex; Directive (EU) 2024/2749 (Omnibus SMEI — emergency procedures).

Primary sources

• EUR-Lex — Full text
• European Commission — Lifts — Harmonised standards

What to do now

Legal / DPO

•Confirm in writing how the company is classified along the supply chain — installer, manufacturer, authorised representative, importer or distributor under [Art. 2(6)–(11)] — and check whether any modification or own-brand placement triggers the manufacturer's full obligations under [Art. 12].
•Map the national transposition and penalty regime in every Member State where lifts or safety components are placed on the market: [Art. 43] requires effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties and explicitly allows criminal sanctions for serious infringements, with the level set in national law (transposition deadline was 19 April 2016 under [Art. 45(1)]).
•Hold liability and defence files — EU declaration of conformity, technical documentation, notified body certificates, traceability records under [Art. 13] — for at least 10 years after placement on the market in line with [Art. 7(3), Art. 8(3) and Art. 10(8)], so the dossier survives the full retention window during which authorities can demand it under [Art. 7(9)/8(9)].

Compliance

•Verify that for every lift placed on the market the conformity assessment procedure under [Art. 16] has been completed, an EU declaration of conformity following the model in Annex II has been drawn up [Art. 17], and the CE marking has been affixed before placing on the market in line with [Art. 18 and Art. 19(2)] — followed by the notified body identification number where [Art. 19(3)] requires it.
•For safety components for lifts listed in Annex III, select and document one of the three conformity assessment modules in [Art. 15] (EU type examination plus random checking, EU type examination plus product quality assurance, or full quality assurance) and ensure the CE marking carries the notified body identification number where required by [Art. 19(4)].
•Operate a corrective-action and notification process so that any lift or safety component believed to be non-conforming is immediately brought into conformity, withdrawn or recalled, and the competent national authorities of the affected Member States are informed under [Art. 7(8), Art. 8(8), Art. 10(7) and Art. 11(4)]; treat formal non-compliance findings under [Art. 41] (missing CE, missing declaration, missing identification) as block-and-fix items.

IT / Security

•Provide an access-controlled records management system that preserves the EU declaration of conformity, technical documentation and notified body approval decisions for the full 10-year retention period after placing on the market required by [Art. 7(3) and Art. 8(3)] and is auditable by the market surveillance authorities to whom files must be supplied under [Art. 7(9) and Art. 8(9)].
•Implement supply-chain traceability data required by [Art. 13] — identifying the upstream economic operator that supplied each safety component and every downstream economic operator to whom it has been supplied — with audit logs covering the same 10-year window so the chain can be reconstructed on demand.
•Document that any connected diagnostic, telemetry or remote-monitoring add-on attached to a lift does not alter the essential health and safety characteristics under [Art. 5]; modifications affecting compliance shift the manufacturer's obligations under [Art. 8] onto the modifier per [Art. 12], so change-control records must capture every firmware or controller update.

Product / Engineering

•Confirm the product is in scope of [Art. 1(1)] — a lift permanently serving a building or construction and transporting persons, persons and goods, or goods alone with an accessible carrier and inside controls — and is not excluded under [Art. 1(2)] (e.g. lifting appliances at ≤0,15 m/s, construction site hoists, cableways, mine winding gear, escalators).
•Choose the conformity assessment route deliberately: for lifts under [Art. 16] and for safety components under [Art. 15], factoring in production volume, design changes and notified body capacity — the technical documentation under [Art. 7(2) or Art. 8(2)] must support the chosen module across Annexes IV to XII.
•Where harmonised standards covering the essential health and safety requirements of Annex I are listed in the Official Journal, design to those standards to claim presumption of conformity under [Art. 14]; otherwise document explicitly how each requirement of Annex I is met under [Art. 5].

Key Terms

Lift: A lifting appliance serving specific levels, with a carrier moving along rigid guides inclined at more than 15° to the horizontal, or a lifting appliance moving along a fixed course even where it does not move along rigid guides, as defined in [Art. 2(1)].
Safety component for lifts: A component listed in Annex III of the Directive, used in lifts within the scope of [Art. 1] and subject to the essential health and safety requirements of Annex I and the conformity assessment procedures of [Art. 15].
Installer: The natural or legal person who takes responsibility for the design, manufacture, installation and placing on the market of the lift [Art. 2(6)]; obligations are listed in [Art. 7], including drawing up the EU declaration of conformity and affixing the CE marking.
EU declaration of conformity: The document drawn up by the installer for a lift or by the manufacturer for a safety component, stating that the essential health and safety requirements of Annex I are met; it follows the model in Annex II and may be a single declaration covering several Union acts [Art. 17].
CE marking: The marking by which the installer or manufacturer indicates conformity with applicable Union harmonisation legislation [Art. 2(21)]; affixed under [Art. 18 and Art. 19] and subject to the general principles of Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.
Notified body: A conformity assessment body that has been notified to the Commission and the other Member States by a notifying authority under [Art. 28], having satisfied the requirements of [Art. 24], to perform the conformity assessment tasks under [Art. 15] and [Art. 16].
Harmonised standard: A harmonised standard within the meaning of point (c) of point 1 of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 [Art. 2(13)]; conformity with such a standard whose reference is published in the Official Journal confers presumption of conformity under [Art. 14].

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Directive 2014/33/EU apply to platform lifts that operate at no more than 0,15 m/s?

No. [Art. 1(2)(a)] expressly excludes lifting appliances whose speed is not greater than 0,15 m/s; such platform lifts are typically covered by the Machinery Directive instead and must not carry CE marking under Directive 2014/33/EU.

Who has to draw up the EU declaration of conformity for a lift permanently installed in a building?

The installer, defined in [Art. 2(6)] as the natural or legal person who takes responsibility for the design, manufacture, installation and placing on the market of the lift, draws up the declaration after the conformity assessment procedure under [Art. 16] and affixes the CE marking [Art. 7(2)].

How long must we keep the technical file and the EU declaration of conformity?

10 years after the lift or safety component has been placed on the market: [Art. 7(3)] for installers, [Art. 8(3)] for manufacturers, [Art. 10(8)] for importers, and [Art. 9(2)(a)] for authorised representatives — covering both the technical documentation and any approval decisions issued by notified bodies.

We modify a CE-marked lift safety component before reselling it. Are we still a distributor?

No. Under [Art. 12], any importer or distributor who modifies a safety component for lifts already placed on the market in such a way that compliance with the Directive may be affected is treated as a manufacturer and assumes the full obligations of [Art. 8], including conformity assessment under [Art. 15].

Are penalties for non-compliance harmonised across the EU?

No. [Art. 43] requires Member States to lay down rules on penalties applicable to infringements that are effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and may include criminal penalties for serious infringements; the actual amounts and types are set in national transposition law.

Does the Directive cover ongoing inspection and maintenance of installed lifts?

No. The Directive regulates placing on the market, putting into service and free movement; under [Art. 3(3)], Member States retain the right to lay down national requirements ensuring the safe use of installed lifts, and Recommendation 95/216/EC addresses safety improvements of existing lifts.

When must the CE marking be affixed and what number must follow it?

The CE marking must be affixed visibly, legibly and indelibly to each lift car and each safety component before placing on the market [Art. 19(1) and (2)], and is followed by the identification number of the notified body involved in the conformity assessment procedure under [Art. 19(3)] for lifts and [Art. 19(4)] for safety components.

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