FAQ's about lifts
We are sure you've ever thought 'how useful it is to have an elevator at home.' We appreciate having one when we arrive from shopping, push a baby carriage or when you have disability.
'We have an aging housing stock'. This statement is common in Spanish Real Estate: Spain has a housing stock with an average of 44 years as Idealista shown. This fact coexists with being a world leader in elevators per person, as Eninter remembers.
Ten things you've always wanted to know about lifts in Spain:
1. What types of lifts exist?
Two: electromechanical and hydraulic. Electromechanical lifts are driven by electricity and consist of a cabine and a counterweights both driven by a motor. The hydraulics work with a pump coupled to an electric motor. The ascent of the cabin is achieved by injecting oil through valves, which allow to regulate speed .
What information must be visible inside them?
All the contact data of the maintenance company. Elevator Rules', the maximum number of people and weight that it can resist, finally, the number of Registry of Devices Elevators that is unique for each device: to know the RAE is essential to process any documentation of the elevator.
3. How often routine checks and periodic inspections must be done in our elevators?
We must distinguish between routine checks and periodic inspections.
According to the order EMO 254/2013 of the Department of the 'Generalitat de Catalunya' - it develops the Royal Decree 88/2013- the routine checks must be carried out by the company authorized and approved by the Administration monthly in multi-family buildings.
The periodic inspections are also compulsory but their deadlines change according to the type of building we see:
In industrial buildings and in public buildings: every 2 years.
In buildings with more than twenty dwellings, or with more than four floors served: every 4 years.
In buildings not included in the previous cases: every 6 years.
Obviously the Owners' Community' must have hired a maintenance service with the same company.
4. What is the maximum time that the company can take to make a repair?
24 hours in which the conservative company must: send the approved maintenance technician to identify and repair the malfunction.
5. Can the elevator maintenance be hired in a 'permanent' contract?
Not never. In fact, Spanish Supreme Court has just issued a ruling stating that maintenance contracts may not exceed three years of duration.
6. Should the landings of each floor be illuminated?
Yes, it is compulsory to guarantee natural or artificial light in each one.
7. Can an elevator be left 'out of service'?
Yes, by the company responsible of maintenance detects a risk of an imminent accident or documents serious or very serious incidents (both situations must be fixed in 6 months time).
8. What you shouldn't do in an elevator?
Basically avoid to: jumping in it, carrying it too much things, throwing objects through the hole, allowing children to travel in it or smoking. In addition to install emergency telephones is mandatory in blocks of houses, offices and public buildings of all kinds.
9. What majority is nedded to install an elevator in my owners' community? Does the neighbor on the ground floor have to pay for the installation of the elevator?
The first question has a clear answer: the majority of neighbors who have to vote in favor of installing the elevator must be 3/5 parts (60%) of the owners'. However, the majority of approval goes down to be simple (50.1%) in case of that in the community are living people over 70 years old or disabled.
In the ground floor you do not need the elevator to arrive to your home. From this point it steems the doubt of if the residents in this floor should pay for it However, it should be paid by the whole community. Here comes the part where we have to be precise: ordinary expenses will not have to be faced by the neighbors of the basement. However, according to the Supreme Court the installation and the extraordinary expenses should be paid by all the owners.
10. Should elevators be accessible to disable people?
Yes: social awareness continues to increase. Here's how to make them more accessible:
1. The minimum measures for a person in a wheelchair and a companion of average constitution to fit in it are 1 meter wide by 1'25 meters deep (then the comfort to turn will depend on the size of every whilechair).
2. The buttons must be 2.2*2.2 cm. and of simple activation must also be more than 40 cm. from any corner. They must also be marked with Arabic and Braille numbers, without forgetting that the alarm button must be marked with a bell.Do you want to know more about accessibility? We would like to thank CasaGnial for authorising us to enrich our content with its information in Spanish.
In Feliu we know that there are still too many communities without elevators, for this reason, we encourage their installation in those where it is possible.