Owners and managers of buildings where lifts frequently break down could soon find themselves being charged for assistance from firefighters.
The London Fire Brigade says that from next month it will make use of legal powers to charge to attend non-emergency calls to release people from broken down lifts.
Brian Coleman, Chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, stressed the Brigade would “always attend genuine emergencies where people are shut in lifts and other means of rescue are not available” but said firefighters are often “called repeatedly to release people from the same buildings and that is simply not acceptable.”
Coleman added: “Lift owners need to make proper provisions for their lifts – not firefighters”.”
When receiving 999 calls about a person shut in a lift operators will ask callers a series of questions to determine whether or not a fire engine needs to attend.
The brigade says it will now charge £260 + VAT from the tenth lift release at the same building within a twelve month period and for all calls where a lift is empty. The move is designed to ensure those responsible for lifts within buildings make suitable arrangements for their maintenance and to reduce the number of calls to the Brigade.
Number of lift incidents in year up to September 2009 by borough
Barking & Dagenham 273
Barnet 196
Bexley 157
Brent 224
Bromley 197
Camden 1,310
City 297
Croydon 203
Ealing 313
Enfield 337
Greenwich 406
Hackney 959
Hammersmith & Fulham 599
Haringey 229
Harrow 95
Havering 93
Hillingdon 117
Hounslow 238
Islington 725
Kensington & Chelsea 566
Kingston 95
Lambeth 664
Lewisham 499
Merton 99
Newham 321
Redbridge 154
Richmond 80
Southwark 1,543
Sutton 49
Tower Hamlets 1,688
Waltham Forest 115
Wandsworth 299
Westminster 1,355
Source: London Fire Brigade
