Introduction 序論

1. This GUIDE TO APPLICATION OF THE LIFTS DIRECTIVE (hereafter Lifts Guide or Guide) is intended to be a manual for all parties directly or indirectly affected by Directive 2014/33/EU, commonly referred to as the Lifts Directive, applicable from 20 April 2016, replacing the previous Directive 95/16/EC.

2. This Guide supersedes the “Guide on the application of Lifts Directive 95/16/EC” of May 2007 (last modification October 2009). The documents which have been issued explaining the Lifts Directive 95/16/EC and referred in this Guide are valid under the Directive 2014/33/EU provided that they are not in contradiction with Directive 2014/33/EU.

3. The Lifts Guide refers only to aspects specific to the application of Directive 2014/33/EU unless otherwise indicated.

4. Readers’ attention is drawn to the fact that this Guide is intended only to facilitate the application of Directive 2014/33/EU and that only the text of the Directive and the national laws transposing the Directive are legally binding. However, this document does represent a reference for ensuring consistent and harmonised application of the Directive by all stakeholders.

5. This Guide is intended not only for the use of Member States’ competent authorities, but also by the main economic operators concerned, such as installers, manufacturers, importers and distributors and their trade associations, notified bodies and bodies in charge of the preparation of standards in support of the Lifts Directive. The Guide has also relevance for workers as it clarifies what kind of instructions should be available to do the installation and maintenance operations healthily and safely. The Directive is a total harmonisation Directive contributing to different areas of issues:

- internal market: economic operators shall comply with the applicable conformity assessment procedures; lifts and safety components should comply with the

14 essential health and safety requirements applicable to them; and end users expect that the product can be used safely and healthily;

- level playing field: all economic operators, conformity assessment bodies (notified bodies) and maintenance providers shall be treated in a fair way and be subject to equivalent requirements;

- working conditions: workers shall be protected by ensuring a high level of health and safety when carrying out installation and maintenance work and have instructions available.

6. This Guide is not exhaustive; it focuses on certain issues only, which, in the light of the accumulated experience, are of direct and specific interest for the application of the Lifts Directive. This Guide should be used in conjunction with the Directive itself and with the European Commission’s document “The Blue Guide on the implementation of EU product rules”. The Blue Guide provides guidance on horizontal terms and principles of EU product rules, which further explains concepts such as “placing on the market”, “manufacturer”, “authorised representative”, “importer”, "distributor", etc.

7. The structure of the Lifts Guide follows the structure of the Lifts Directive 2014/33/EU itself. Comments and explanations are given to each Article and Annex of the Directive.

8. This Guide has been prepared by the competent services of the Directorate- General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW) of the European Commission in cooperation with Member States, European Standardisation Organisations, notified bodies, lifts industry and other relevant sectorial stakeholders.

9. This information is:

of a general nature only and is not intended to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual or entity;

not necessarily comprehensive, complete, accurate or up to date;

sometimes refers to external information over which the Commission services have no control and for which the Commission assumes no responsibility;

not professional or legal advice.

10. Further guidance, especially concerning specific types of products, can be found on the European Commission's website on EUROPA regarding Lifts directive: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/mechanical-engineering/lifts/index_en.htm

Any query can be addressed to the GROW LIFTS functional mailbox GROW-LIFTS@ec.europa.eu.