CEN TC 10 - Lifts, escalators and moving walks

The lift sector is an oligopolistic market dominated by four companies, each accounting for 10% of the market share. 10-15 mid-size companies account for over 1% each of the market. There are over 3000 small companies. The sector employs 120.000 people. SMEs are mostly specialised in installation, maintenance, reparation and providing spare parts as well as in lifts for special users.
Giuseppe Iotti, appointed expert of NORMAPME in CEN TC 10, owns a lift company, and is supported by EFESME, the recently created European umbrella association representing SMEs in the lift sector.
Mr Iotti works in 3 working groups at CEN TC 10: WG1, which currently works on standard EN 81 ½ (Safety of new lifts, electric and hydraulic). The standard is in force in the edition of 2008, but a complete revision is in due course. The revision, expected to be finished within 2012. Mr Iotti also works in WG6 on prEN 81-76 (Evacuation using lifts). The risk analysis is under study within this group.
Concerning WG10, which focuses on EN 81-80 (Safety of existing lifts),     the standard, published in 2004, should be asked for a revision or integration, possibly with the approval of Efesme and Normapme.
Another important and recent standardization item dealt with by TC10 is PESSRAL (Programmable Electronic Systems in Safety Related Applications for Lifts) as part of the annex A1 of EN 81-1/2. The document allows multinational lift manufacturers to introduce electronic devices in their product in order to control the operation of the lifts. According to NORMAPME, lift manufacturers should provide access to these devices to maintainers and installers SMEs. Should this not be possible, installers and maintainers would not be able to perform maintenance or reparation.