An accessibility lift is procured like equipment and lives like a structure. That gap is where most problems begin: the unit is chosen by dimensions and price, and only during installation does it emerge that the building, the power supply or the approach route will not accommodate it.
Two types, and they are not interchangeable
A vertical platform lift raises a user straight up between levels. It needs a footprint at the bottom and a clear opening at the top, and it suits a building where such a space exists or can be created.
An inclined platform lift travels along an existing staircase on a rail, folding away when not in use. It suits buildings where no vertical shaft can be created — often older buildings and those with protected structure.
The choice is dictated by the building, not by preference. A staircase that is too narrow, too winding, or unable to carry the rail loads rules out the inclined option regardless of budget; the absence of a footprint rules out the vertical one.
What to measure before asking for a price
- Travel height between levels, and the number of stops.
- The staircase: width, turns, landing dimensions, and what the structure is made of.
- The approach route — a lift a wheelchair cannot reach solves nothing.
- Doorways and turning space at both ends.
- Indoor or outdoor: outdoor units need weather protection and a different specification.
- The power supply available at the installation point.
Photographs of the staircase and the approach are worth more than a paragraph of description, and shorten the specification process considerably.
Capacity is not calculated from the person
A frequent underestimate: the rated load must carry the user, the wheelchair — which can weigh a great deal in powered form — and an accompanying person where the platform is designed for one. Sizing to body weight produces a unit that is technically working and practically unusable.
Platform dimensions follow the same logic: it must accept the actual wheelchair in use, not a nominal one, with room to enter and turn.
What is usually missing from a quotation
- Installation work — foundations, fixings, structural preparation, making good afterwards.
- Electrical connection from the point where power actually exists.
- Commissioning and handover, with instruction for the people who will operate it.
- Documentation — this is equipment carrying people, and the paperwork matters both for compliance and for the next inspection.
- Delivery and access to the installation point, which on some sites is the hardest part.
A quotation containing only the unit price is not cheaper — it is incomplete, and the difference appears later as unplanned cost.
Service matters more than it appears
A lift that stops working is not an inconvenience but a barrier restored: the person it was installed for is once again unable to enter the building. Scheduled maintenance, response time and spare-part availability belong in the contract, not in a verbal assurance. Ask who performs the service, how quickly, and what happens if the unit fails outside working hours.
We supply, install and service accessibility equipment for public and commercial buildings, and take the installation and documentation as part of the delivery rather than as an extra. Send photographs of the staircase and the levels — we will tell you which type fits and what the complete works comprise.