Firefighting and evacuation lifts: EN 81-72, EN 81-73 and BS 9999 in practice

Three different lift behaviours under fire — don't confuse them

There are three distinct things a lift can do in a fire, and the standards treat them separately. They are often conflated in tenders and in maintenance scopes, which causes real compliance problems:

• Behaviour in the event of fire (EN 81-73): every lift, on receipt of a fire signal, returns to a designated evacuation level and parks with its doors open. Cannot then be called by the public. This is the default behaviour every modern lift should have.
• Firefighting lift (EN 81-72): a specially-built lift the Fire and Rescue Service can take control of to fight a fire from above. Protected shaft, dual power supply, water-resistant electrics, mandatory communication to the firefighter, intumescent landing doors. Not for public evacuation.
• Evacuation lift (BS 9999 Annex G / BS 8899): a lift designated for the evacuation of mobility-impaired occupants under managed procedures. Often the firefighting lift fulfils this dual role, but it requires specific operational and management provisions beyond EN 81-72.

EN 81-72: what a firefighting lift actually needs

BS EN 81-72:2020 sets the additional requirements that distinguish a firefighting lift from an ordinary passenger lift. The key provisions are technical and operational:

• Protected shaft and machinery space, with fire-rating to match the building's fire strategy (typically 120 minutes for high-rise).
• Two independent power supplies — primary plus a secondary supply protected from the fire (usually a dedicated rising main or generator feed on a fire-resistant cable route).
• Water protection: shaft drainage at the pit, water-resistant fixtures and cable routing to handle firefighter hose water without disabling the lift.
• Firefighter control panel at the designated access level (usually ground), with a key-operated switch that gives the FRS exclusive control once activated.
• Two-way voice communication between the car, the firefighter control panel and the machinery space.
• Travel time: from the fire-service access level to the topmost floor within 60 seconds under fire-service control.
• Landing doors intumescent and rated to the building's fire-resistance requirement.

EN 81-73: the default fire-recall behaviour

BS EN 81-73:2020 specifies how an ordinary passenger lift must behave when it receives a fire alarm signal. The lift cancels all calls, returns under priority to a designated landing (normally the building's main evacuation level, sometimes an alternate if the alarm originated there), opens its doors and parks. The light and ventilation in the car stay on so anyone still inside can step out safely.

This is achieved by a hard-wired input from the fire alarm panel to the lift controller. The interface must be tested as part of the building's fire alarm system commissioning, and re-tested under BS 5839 service intervals. A surprising number of lifts in older buildings either lack this connection or have it wired but never tested end-to-end.

Evacuation lifts under BS 9999 and BS 8899

An evacuation lift is one designated and managed for the evacuation of mobility-impaired occupants, typically under the control of trained marshals as part of a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) framework. BS 9999:2017 sets out the design and operational basis; BS 8899:2016 provides specific guidance on evacuation lift management.

Critically, an evacuation lift need not be a firefighting lift, but it must have: a protected shaft, an independent or otherwise protected power supply, a manual override controlled by trained staff, and written operational procedures. The decision to evacuate using the lift sits with the building's responsible person, not the public.

For Higher-Risk Buildings (residential >18 m or >7 storeys) the Building Safety Act 2022 and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 have effectively raised the bar — evacuation lifts and PEEP arrangements are now expected to be documented, tested and included in the building's safety case.

Inspection, testing and the monthly firefighter check

EN 81-72 requires a routine functional test of the firefighter control system. In UK practice — and as referenced in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 risk-assessment regime — this is monthly: the responsible person (or competent representative) operates the firefighter switch, confirms the lift recalls correctly, confirms the firefighter-control mode functions, and logs the test in the building log book.

The annual LOLER Thorough Examination of a firefighting lift should also test the EN 81-72 specific provisions — communications, secondary power, recall time, water protection — and report against them, not just the generic lift safety items. If your reports do not address EN 81-72 provisions specifically, ask the inspecting engineer to add them.

Documentation a duty-holder should hold

• Original lift Declaration of Conformity referencing EN 81-72 and/or EN 81-73 as applicable.
• Fire strategy document showing the designated evacuation level, firefighting lift designation and protected shaft rating.
• Wiring schedule and test certificate for the fire alarm to lift controller interface (BS 5839 and EN 81-73).
• Monthly firefighter test log for any EN 81-72 firefighting lift.
• Annual LOLER Thorough Examination report explicitly addressing fire-related provisions.
• Written Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans for any building using lifts in the evacuation strategy.
• For Higher-Risk Buildings: the lift entry in the building safety case, including the secondary power supply arrangement and the inspection-and-test regime.