Different engineers specialise in different work. The right experience depends on the equipment and the task, not simply the job title.
Service, repairs and installation.
Service engineers carry out planned maintenance and investigate reported faults. Repair teams undertake agreed remedial work, which may need parts, more time or additional people. Installation engineers work on fitting and commissioning equipment.
Responsibilities can overlap, but no individual should be assumed to cover every type of lift or specialist task. The National Careers Service role profile describes the broader profession.
Understanding the fault.
The information you provide can help an engineer prepare. Describe what happened, when it started and whether the problem is intermittent. Report what you observed rather than trying to identify a failed component.
Older controls and newer systems can call for different knowledge and diagnostic approaches. At Forge, control boards and drives can also be assessed for in-house electronic repair, case by case.
Making the visit useful.
Nominate a site contact, arrange authorised access and share relevant records before attendance where possible. Tell the engineer about building restrictions and any previous advice to keep the lift out of service.
Afterwards, look for a record that identifies the lift and explains the findings, work completed and any proposed follow-up. Further repairs or parts may require a separate quotation; ask what is needed before the next visit.
A service visit is not a LOLER examination.
Maintenance and thorough examination have different purposes. Forge works with independent third-party examination providers and does not carry out LOLER examinations in-house.
Our guide to the LOLER examiner’s role explains the distinction. For a condition review or planned project, a consultant may have a separate advisory brief.
What to share when booking.
- Site address, lift ID and a contact who can arrange access.
- Whether anyone is trapped or needs urgent assistance.
- A plain description of the symptoms and when they occur.
- Any displayed message, recorded from a safe public position.
- Recent repair or examination reports, where relevant.
Use the phone for urgent call-outs. Do not enter restricted lift areas or attempt to release passengers yourself.
Interested in this work as a career?
Our separate guide to becoming a lift engineer covers training routes and questions to ask a prospective employer.
For building support, explore maintenance or repairs to find the service that matches your need.