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Lifts: who may install them and what must be filed

Last reviewed: September 3, 2026 — VerifiedOGPe

In short

The Joint Regulation devotes a short chapter to lifts, hydraulic lifts and related equipment, and there sits the rule that decides who you may hire: every natural or juridical person whose principal or incidental activity is manufacturing, installing, repairing, altering or maintaining such equipment must register with PROSHA, and equipment installed, altered, repaired or maintained by organisations not registered with PROSHA cannot be certified. Every design and installation certification is filed with OGPe or the autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III. Designers must be professional engineers with current licence and professional-college membership. And there is one concrete prohibition: installing residential-type vertical or inclined lifts at a place of employment is prohibited; those already existing there before 4 March 2005 must comply with the regulation. Inspection, operation and use are regulated by PROSHA through its Regulation No. 18.

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What is it?

It is Chapter 8.6 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, adopted under Act No. 16 of 5 August 1975, known as the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and under Ley 249-2003, which created the Commission for the Oversight of Levy Payment and Cancellation in Construction Works. Its purpose is to regulate the construction, installation, restoration, reconstruction, extension, alteration or remodelling of lifts, hydraulic lifts — what the regulation also calls "pinos hidráulicos" — and their related equipment.

Who can do it?

The chapter applies to every owner, inspector, manufacturer, installer and everyone connected with the construction, installation, repair, alteration, inspection and operation of lifts, hydraulic lifts and related equipment. OGPe or the autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III will hear every application for the construction, installation, restoration, reconstruction, extension, alteration or remodelling of such equipment. In practice, this touches condominium boards, commercial building managers, employers with multi-storey workplaces and any owner about to install or move a lift.

Requirements

Documents you need

Information pending verification.

Cost

Check the current cost with the official agency.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: First: check the PROSHA registration

    This is the rule that saves the most money and the one almost nobody checks before signing. The regulation says every natural or juridical person in Puerto Rico whose principal or incidental activity is manufacturing, installing, repairing, altering or maintaining lifts, hydraulic lifts and related equipment must register with PROSHA — the Assistant Secretariat for Safety and Health of the Department of Labour and Human Resources. And it adds the consequence: lifts, hydraulic lifts and related equipment installed, altered, repaired or maintained in Puerto Rico by organisations not registered with PROSHA cannot be certified. That is: if you hire an unregistered company, the work may be flawless and the equipment still will not be certified. Ask before the contract, not after.

  2. Step 2: Where the certification is filed

    Every design and installation certification for lifts, hydraulic lifts and their related equipment must be filed with OGPe or the autonomous municipalities with hierarchy I to III. And OGPe or the municipality will hear, subject to the chapter, every application for the construction, installation, restoration, reconstruction, extension, alteration or remodelling of such equipment. That is, it is not only new installation: moving, extending or remodelling an existing lift also goes through there.

  3. Step 3: Who may design it

    The chapter is explicit: designers of lifts and hydraulic lifts must be professional engineers with a current licence and professional-college membership to practise. And it imposes two concrete duties on them: the designs must match the site’s existing conditions, and they will be made under the applicable provisions of the regulation itself, the laws, regulations and codes applicable. That first duty — matching existing conditions — is the one that usually fails when catalogue equipment is bought for a shaft that will not take it.

  4. Step 4: The ban on residential lifts at a place of employment

    The regulation states it without qualification: installing residential-type vertical or inclined lifts at a place of employment is prohibited. And it gives a transitional rule with a date: residential-type vertical or inclined lifts already existing at a place of employment before 4 March 2005 must comply with the regulation’s provisions. It is a prohibition that matters to small businesses solving accessibility with domestic equipment; the correct route is equipment fit for a workplace.

  5. Step 5: The codes adopted, and which one wins

    For construction and installation projects for lifts, hydraulic lifts and related equipment, the current technical specifications required by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the National Electrical Code (NEC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTL) and the Puerto Rico Building Code (PRBC) are adopted by reference, along with any standard, circular or interpretation under them. And there is a conflict rule worth keeping to hand: where the applicable standards and regulations conflict with any other code, the standards and regulations of the PRBC in force prevail.

  6. Step 6: Who is responsible and who inspects

    The chapter spreads responsibility in several directions. Every manufacturer, importer, distributor, service company or seller of lifts, hydraulic lifts and related equipment to be used within Puerto Rico’s jurisdiction must ensure the equipment meets the regulation’s requirements. Installing or operating such equipment at a place of employment is not permitted unless it has been designed and built under the codes in force. Where alterations are made, the inspections and tests set by the adopted codes will be required. And since such equipment directly affects the daily safety of users and operators, the chapter applies to every owner, inspector, manufacturer, installer and everyone connected with its construction, installation, repair, alteration, inspection and operation. Inspection, operation and use are regulated by PROSHA through its Regulation No. 18, of 30 November 2004, titled Regulation for lifts and related equipment.

  7. Step 7: What this chapter does not say

    It is worth saying plainly. Chapter 8.6 is short and does not contain the technical rules on periodic inspection, operation or use: it refers them to PROSHA and its Regulation No. 18 in force, which we did not read for this guide. Nor does it set a fee or a processing term, which is why we publish no cost or time. If what you need is the inspection frequency, the certificate’s contents or the load tests, that is PROSHA’s regulation and you have to go to it.

Where to do it

The design and installation certification is filed with OGPe or with the autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III, which also hear applications for construction, installation, restoration, reconstruction, extension, alteration or remodelling. Registration of the company manufacturing, installing, repairing, altering or maintaining the equipment is done at PROSHA, the Assistant Secretariat for Safety and Health of the Department of Labour and Human Resources, which also regulates inspection, operation and use through its Regulation No. 18.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

Before signing with anyone, ask for the PROSHA registration of the company that will manufacture, install, repair, alter or maintain the equipment: if it is not registered, the equipment cannot be certified and the money is wasted. Ask too for the current licence and professional-college membership of the professional engineer signing the design, and that the design match the site’s existing conditions rather than a catalogue. If you are going to alter an existing lift, count on the inspections and tests the adopted codes require. If the equipment goes at a place of employment, rule out residential-type vertical or inclined lifts: they are prohibited there, and those already existing before 4 March 2005 must comply with the regulation. If a conflict between standards arises, the rule is that the Puerto Rico Building Code in force prevails. And if what you are looking for are the periodic inspection and operation rules, they are not in this chapter: they are in PROSHA’s Regulation No. 18, which this chapter names and which we did not read here. Two caveats: we publish no cost or timeframe because the chapter fixes none; and the file the Board links is named "Reglamento Conjunto de Emergencia", but the document inside is Joint Regulation No. 9473 of 16 June 2023.

Common mistakes

  • Hiring a company not registered with PROSHA: the equipment cannot be certified.
  • Accepting a design signed by someone who is not a professional engineer with current licence and college membership.
  • Buying catalogue equipment that does not match the site’s existing conditions.
  • Installing a residential-type vertical or inclined lift at a place of employment.
  • Altering a lift without the inspections and tests the adopted codes set.
  • Not filing the design and installation certification with OGPe or the municipality.
  • Looking in this chapter for the periodic inspection rules, which are in PROSHA’s Regulation No. 18.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know the company may do the work?

It must be registered with PROSHA. The regulation says every natural or juridical person whose principal or incidental activity is manufacturing, installing, repairing, altering or maintaining such equipment must register there, and that equipment worked on by unregistered organisations cannot be certified.

Who may design a lift?

Designers of lifts and hydraulic lifts must be professional engineers with a current licence and professional-college membership to practise, and their designs must match the site’s existing conditions.

Can I put a residential lift in my business?

No. The regulation prohibits installing residential-type vertical or inclined lifts at a place of employment. Those already existing at a place of employment before 4 March 2005 must comply with the regulation’s provisions.

Where is the certification filed?

With OGPe or with an autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III. Those same bodies hear applications for the construction, installation, restoration, reconstruction, extension, alteration or remodelling of lifts, hydraulic lifts and related equipment.

Which code governs if there is a conflict?

The regulation adopts by reference the current specifications of ANSI, ASME, NEC, OSHA, NRTL and the Puerto Rico Building Code, and provides that where the applicable standards and regulations conflict with any other code, the standards and regulations of the PRBC in force prevail.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

September 3, 2026

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