EN 81-20 and EN 81-50: The European Lift Safety Standard
EN 81-20 and EN 81-50 are the harmonised European standards that define the safety requirements for the construction and installation of passenger and goods lifts. Together they replaced EN 81-1 and EN 81-2 and are the reference most European tenders and modernizations are measured against.
What EN 81-20 covers
EN 81-20 sets the safety rules for the lift itself: car and landing doors, door protection, car strength and lighting, balustrades and toe guards, machinery space access, unintended car movement protection (UCMP), and ascending car overspeed protection. It tightened door mechanical strength, lighting, and access compared with the older EN 81-1/2.
What EN 81-50 covers
EN 81-50 defines the design rules, calculations, and type tests for safety components — buffers, safety gears, overspeed governors, ascending car overspeed protection, and UCMP devices. Where EN 81-20 says what must be safe, EN 81-50 sets out how the components are calculated and verified.
Why it matters for modernization
Most ageing lifts in Europe were built to EN 81-1/2 or older national codes. Bringing them toward EN 81-20/50 typically drives door upgrades, UCMP retrofits, new safety gear or governors, lighting, and guarding. Scoping these correctly at tender stage separates a compliant upgrade from a project that fails inspection after handover.
How Vertisk helps
Vertisk lets estimators extract modernization requirements from tender documents, map them to the right controllers, drives, door gear, and safety components, and benchmark line items against real parts and bid data — so EN 81-20/50 upgrade scope is priced with confidence.
Frequently asked questions
Is EN 81-20 mandatory?
EN 81-20/50 is the harmonised standard giving presumption of conformity with the EU Lifts Directive 2014/33/EU for new lifts. National rules and the owner contract usually set how far an existing lift must be brought toward it during modernization.
What replaced EN 81-1 and EN 81-2?
EN 81-20 (construction and installation) and EN 81-50 (design, calculations, tests of components) replaced EN 81-1 (traction) and EN 81-2 (hydraulic) from 2017.