Issue 3/2008


05/02/08

ELA 2008 Conference in Budapest

The 2008 ELA annual Conference was held at the Meridian Hotel in Budapest, this year’s event was titled “Lift Modernization for the 21 Century”. The conference was attended by 100+ delegates which was above expectation. Amongst the delegates were; Joaquin Calvo Basaran from the European Commission, DG for Enterprise; Yuri Radin and Lev Volf-Trop from Russia and a number of local government officials from Hungary. As would be expected there were also many Lift Association representatives from all over the community along with Code specialists, Company lawyers and The Trade Press.
Category: Issue 3/2008
Posted by: Editor

To open the conference Kornel Apatini, representing the Hungarian Elevator Association welcomed the 102 registered delegates to Budapest. Apatini expressed the hopes and expectations of Hungary, a Middle European Country which is making tremendous strides forward to become a valued, dynamic member of the European community. However, he admitted that it was a difficult time and that the changes required to bring Hungary in line with the rest of the community are hard to implement both in terms of the legislation, financial disciplines and communicating the initiatives to the Hungarian public.

    

William Orchard illustrated the need, background information and the economic indicators that preceded the safety initiative in Europe. Orchard enticed the audience by showing that for 2004-2007 the average economic growth for new member states had been 3.75 % whilst for the 15 older members it was 2.50 %. He then presented a graphic showing the predicted areas for real GDP growth, which were basically middle European countries. These growing elevator markets are important and Orchard stated that even if you allow for the new lift market moving to Asia (China=120,000 new lifts per year) the European sector significantly accounts for over 4 Million lifts. Add to this the fact that the new market for lifts in Europe is still growing at 115,000 per year you can clearly see it is by far the largest market for lifts and escalators in the world.
Orchards introduction closed by stating the main priorities for the lift sector in Europe;
1. Safety of existing lifts –
  • Upgrading, modernizing and repairing.
  • Bring 60 % of lifts older than 20 years up to same level of safety and comfort as that of modern elevators.
2. Better Accessibility
  • Access to people with disabilities.
  • Ageing population to be helped stay in their family home.
3. Global harmonization of standards
  • The agreement ELA-NEII-PALEA is to harmonize for the world (Global Technical Barrier-Free Trade), based on EN 81-1/2 and will involve ISO, as soon as CEN has revised EN 81-1/2 with Asian, North American and Russian observers.
4. Energy efficiency
  • Work is in progress with the European Commission regarding the E4 project.
Marek Oppeln-Bronikowski, from the Polish Lift Association focused on the Limitations of Modernization in Eastern European Countries. The featured countries were Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary; Marek highlighted the Macro economics statistics comparing the GDP and inflation figures from 2005–2007. These demonstrated the varied economic performances of these countries. He stated that the age of the lift stock was significant with units of between 15 to 35 years numbering 110,000 and those over 35 years 70,000. Particularly important was the fact that 110,000 units manufactured between 1970 and 1990 were considered as imports without car doors. Following on from that statistic was the information that 81 % of lift accidents in Poland occurred on units installed between 1970 and 1990.
We were then informed about the implementation of the SNEL initiative. This is certainly well underway but in Poland the elimination of hazardous situations has been substantially increased and will now not be fully implemented until 2023 – 2028. The reason for this situation is mainly financial as in Poland alone 2 Billion Euros will be needed for this modernization. In closing this presentation Marek identified three key points that were needed to assure the ‘next step’ is taken;
1. Get local SNEL Regulations in place.
2. Promote the awareness of SNEL in Local Markets.
3. Secure funding for the early start of Modernizations.
Peter Gunther, of VDMA showed the conference the Germany route to modernization. He first gave an overview of the potential of the lift modernization market and the underlying statistics including the yearly projected construction expenditure up to 2015. The phrase ‘Legislation stimulates modernization’ sums up the strategic approach in Germany but Gunther explained that there was no obligation to modernize lifts, however, since the end of 2002 the German Ordinance on Industrial Safety (BetrSichV) has required operators and owners ensure their installations are state-of-the-art (EN 81) compliant in terms of safety.
The following guidelines clearly indicated the key points that are encountered as the process develops.
1. The operator wants to modernize his installation:
  • BetrSichV requires modernization according to the state of the art legal obligation.
  • If he carries out the modernization according to the Modification Checklist or TRBS 1121, the state of the art is considered to be fulfilled.
2. The operator performs hazard assessment according to BetrSichV:
  • If safety defects are identified during the hazard assessment, these must be rectified.
  • If a modification to the installation is necessary for this purpose, this must be carried out in accordance with the Modification Checklist or TRBS 1121.
Following this situation the VDMA has issued the following recommendation to all lift operators:
  • Performance of hazard assessment – preferably on the basis of DIN EN 81-80.
  • Examine the result and discuss possible solutions with your manufacturer or maintenance company.
  • Rectify any serious safety defects present immediately.
  • Plan the necessary investments for all further points, as applicable.
  • Modernize your lift installation as soon as possible! Safety should always take priority.
  • Only rely on qualified specialists for maintenance and modification, who work on the basis of DIN EN 13015.
  • A new inspection may be necessary after structural modifications in the area of the lift installation or technical modifications to the lift installation.
In conclusion, German legislation does not directly oblige the operator to carry out retrofitting or modernization. However, it holds him accountable with regards to safety. For the future the VDMA recognises the need to make a contribution to reducing environmental pollution and to increasing energy efficiency in the lift sector. For this purpose, it supports the goals of the EU Directive. If this initiative is to work an implementing measure for lifts must take account of the fact that a substantial contribution to increasing energy efficiency lies in the modernization of existing lifts.
Michel Chartron, presentation was titled “The French Case”.
In this the growth and size of the French modernization sector was clearly identified. This modernization phase is likely to remain during 2008 as 60 % of lifts in France are over 20 years old. Indeed maintenance and modernization sales in 2006 totalled 1,540 Million Euros alone.
Chartron then illustrated what has happened in the French lift sector by means of a timeline which started at 2001 and is as follows.
In closing Chartron stated that a number of points were key to a successful implementation of the initiative. These were:
  • A willingness and an allocation of sufficient time to reach a consensus on reasonable and realistic law requirements along with mandatory requirements and time milestones.
  • The implementation should be controlled by inspection made by independent third party inspectors.
  • All the work done at EU level; recommendations 95/216/EC, SNEL and harmonized standards, has greatly speeded up the definition of the requirements.
  • Reliable statistics supplied by the lift industry are an important element needed to achieve meaningful discussions with governments and informative communication to the media.
  • Finally and most importantly a continuous dialogue occurs between all the stakeholders and interested bodies.
The whole of this initiative is a very positive challenge for the French industry, but one that has to be embraced.
The seminar then closed after a short question and answer session. During which all the speakers admitted the implementation was not easy and required funding and commitment.
Anyone wanting more information on this topic can contact the ELA at www. ela-aisbl.org
Xavier Lightfood
3/2008

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