Why Lift Planning Should Start Before the First Slab

Ten years ago a lift in a four-floor rebuild was a luxury; today its absence discounts the upper floors materially. Yet lifts are still routinely treated as a line item to be resolved late, which is how narrow shafts, undersized machines and orphaned service contracts happen.

Decisions that belong at design stage

Shaft position decides the floor plan around it. Shaft dimensions decide which machines fit, and machine-room-less designs have their own clearances. Power provisioning, backup integration and drainage at the pit level are simple in drawings and expensive in concrete.

Modernisation of existing buildings

For standing buildings, modernisation ranges from replacing the controller and doors to a full machine swap in the existing shaft. The right scope depends on the building’s wiring, the shaft’s true plumb, and how the residents share cost, and it starts with a survey rather than a brochure.

A2S advises on shaft planning for new rebuilds and coordinates comparable quotes for modernisation, with the service contract negotiated alongside the machine.