Validity of DSTU EN 81-1:2003 extended for another year

From the beginning of 2018, Ukraine introduced the provisions of a new Technical Regulation on lifts and safety components, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. The document was developed to bring Ukrainian lift safety requirements closer to European rules, particularly Directive 2014/33/EU. The new regulation was intended to improve the safety, reliability and quality requirements applied to lift equipment and support further alignment of the Ukrainian market with European practice.

Adapting to European requirements: objectives and challenges

The adoption of the new Technical Regulation on lifts in June 2017 marked an important step towards aligning Ukrainian lift equipment requirements with those of the European Union. Directive 2014/33/EU sets requirements for the safety of lifts and safety components. The main purpose of the new regulation was to provide a high level of user safety and establish a regulatory framework consistent with the European approach to lift conformity assessment.

However, a transition period of around six months proved insufficient for the industry to adapt fully to the new requirements. Manufacturers, component importers and installation companies had to review equipment designs, update certain components and adapt their conformity assessment procedures. As a result, at the end of January 2018 the validity of DSTU EN 81-1:2003 was extended until 1 January 2019. This gave the industry additional time to move towards the new requirements without abruptly disrupting ongoing manufacturing and installation activities.

At the same time, the parallel application of older and newer regulatory requirements could create additional complexity. Manufacturers and conformity assessment bodies had to take different regulatory documents into account, making certification procedures and the transition to updated technical requirements more demanding.

At that stage, the industry remained in a transition period. One of the main priorities for manufacturers and other market participants was to ensure a gradual move to the new standards while maintaining the required level of lift equipment quality and safety.

Challenges for manufacturers: modernisation and certification

The new Technical Regulation on lifts required manufacturers to adapt both their products and production processes. This included reviewing lift designs and safety systems, using components that met the updated requirements, and revising technical documentation and conformity assessment procedures.

For manufacturers, this meant investing in new technical solutions, upgrading production processes and training personnel. Additional testing and verification also became an important part of the transition to the revised regulatory framework.

Euroformat and the implementation of new requirements

As one of Ukraine’s leading lift manufacturers, Euroformat began adapting its products to the new requirements before the end of the transition period. In December 2017, the company carried out a conformity assessment in Poland for one of its lifts against DSTU EN 81-20:2015. The experience became an important step in preparing Euroformat to work under the updated European requirements and in supporting the further modernisation of its production processes.