Lift and Elevator Codes and Standards in Chile
Ley 20.296 (2008) added article 159 bis to the Ley General de Urbanismo y Construcciones: lifts, goods lifts, funiculars and escalators/moving ramps must be installed and maintained per the manufacturer's specifications and the Ordenanza General de Urbanismo y Construcciones (OGUC). The Ministry of Housing and Urbanism (MINVU, via its Seremis) keeps a national register of installers, maintainers and certifiers; the municipal Dirección de Obras grants building permits. Owners (or the building administrator) must contract monthly maintenance and periodic certification by a registered certifier; certified installations carry a visible label.
Who regulates lifts
Ministerio de Vivienda y Urbanismo (MINVU) — Ditec / Seremis; municipal Direcciones de Obras Municipales
Periodic inspection
Monthly maintenance by a registered maintainer; certification by a registered certifier every 2 years for residential buildings and every 1 or 2 years for other buildings depending on transport capacity (MINVU leaflet, Jan 2023).
Installer and maintenance licensing
Yes — installers, maintainers and certifiers must be in the Registro Nacional de Instaladores, Mantenedores y Certificadores de Ascensores (Ley 20.296; regulation D.S. 22/2009 V. y U.).
Laws, codes and standards
- Ley 20.296 (2008) — Law laying down provisions for the installation, maintenance and periodic inspection of lifts and similar installationsMandatory · Congreso Nacional / MINVU
- Ley 21.492 (2022) — Law amending Ley 20.296 on actions to prosecute infringements of the rules on installation, maintenance and operation of liftsMandatory · Congreso Nacional
- D.S. N° 22/2009 (V. y U.) (2009) — Regulation of the National Register of Lift Installers, Maintainers and CertifiersMandatory · Ley 20.296 · MINVU
- OGUC art. 4.1.11 — Universal accessibility — at least one lift car of minimum internal dimensions 1.10 m x 1.40 mMandatory · MINVU
- OGUC art. 4.3.8 — Fire safety — buildings over five floors with lifts need automatic transfer to an emergency generator so at least one lift can run in firefighter modeMandatory · MINVU
- OGUC art. 5.9.5 — General Ordinance of Urbanism and Construction — lift provisions (permit and final-reception documents, incl. conformity certificate and maintenance contract)Mandatory · Ley General de Urbanismo y Construcciones art. 159 bis · MINVU
- NCh 2840 — Elevators — Inspection procedures — Electric and hydraulic liftsVoluntary · INN
- NCh 3362 (2014) — Seismic requirements for liftsVoluntary · INN
- NCh 440/1 (2014) — Lifts — safety rules for construction and installation — electric liftsReferenced by law · OGUC (lift provisions) · INN (Instituto Nacional de Normalización)
- NCh 440/2 (2015) — Lifts — safety rules for construction and installation — hydraulic liftsReferenced by law · INN
Lift associations and bodies
Last verified 2026-10-17. Standards are copyrighted: we list which one applies and its legal status, not its text.