Lift and Elevator Codes and Standards in Yemen

Yemen's Building Law No. 19 of 2002 (Article 37) requires at least one lift in every building of five or more storeys, the number of lifts to suit the building's size, occupancy, use and number of floors, and no building permit is issued unless the drawings show the lifts' location and size; it leaves the technical conditions, operation, inspection and licensing of lifts to an executive regulation, whose text we could not find. The standards body YSMO (Law No. 44 of 1999) can adopt foreign and regional standards, and Yemen has been a GSO member since 2010: YSMO's online store lists GSO EN 81-20:2025 (lifts) and GSO EN 115-1:2023 (escalators), but nothing seen says they are mandatory in Yemen. The ministry for building law is Public Works (named 'Public Works and Urban Development' in the 2002 law); the country is split between authorities in Sana'a and Aden, so who enforces what today is unclear.

Who regulates lifts

Ministry of Public Works (named Ministry of Public Works and Urban Development in Building Law 19/2002); local building offices issue permits

Periodic inspection

Building Law 19/2002 Art. 37 delegates lift inspection to the executive regulation; no inspection rules or regime were found.

Installer and maintenance licensing

Art. 37 delegates lift licensing (الترخيص بها) to the executive regulation; no licensing scheme for lift installers or companies was found.

Laws, codes and standards

Law No. 19 of 2002 (Building Law), Article 37 (2002) — Building Law
Mandatory · Law of the Republic of Yemen, issued 9 June 2002, published in the Official Gazette issue 11 of 2002 · President of the Republic / House of Representatives
Law No. 44 of 1999 (Standards, Metrology and Quality Control) (1999) — Law on Standards, Metrology and Quality Control
Mandatory · Law of the Republic of Yemen, 13 October 1999, Official Gazette issue 19 of 1999 · President of the Republic
Law No. 5 of 1995 (Labour Law), Chapter 9 (Arts. 113-121) (1995) — Labour Law - Occupational Safety and Health
Mandatory · Republican Decree-Law No. 5 of 1995, amended 1997, 2001, 2003 · President of the Republic
Law No. 61 of 1999 (Care and Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons), Article 10 (1999) — Law on the Care and Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons
Mandatory · Law; executive regulation by Prime Minister Decision No. 284 of 2002 (seen in search results only) · President of the Republic
GSO EN 115-1:2023 (2023) — Safety of escalators and moving walks - Part 1: Construction and installation
Voluntary · Gulf Standard (based on EN 115-1:2017), listed in the YSMO standards store · GCC Standardization Organization (GSO)
GSO EN 81-20:2025 (2025) — Safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts - Part 20: Passenger and goods passenger lifts
Voluntary · Gulf Standard (based on EN 81-20:2020), listed in the YSMO standards store; no Yemeni text making it mandatory was seen · GCC Standardization Organization (GSO)

Lift associations and bodies

Ministry of Public Works (Public Works and Urban Development / Public Works and Roads)
GCC Standardization Organization (GSO)
Yemen Standardization, Metrology and Quality Control Organization (YSMO)

Last verified 2026-10-18. Standards are copyrighted: we list which one applies and its legal status, not its text.