Vertical Wheelchair Lifts: Specifying for Safety, Accessibility and Building Needs

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Sponsored by Ascension, a Division of AGM
Karin Tetlow

Wheelchair lift with no access ramp allows user to enter the lift directly at floor level.

Photo: Ascension

 

Portable vertical wheelchair lift

  • Ideal for achieving program access in accordance with ADA requirements that include accessing a stage during events such as graduations or performances. A school facilities specialist in Florida points out that a portable lift eliminated the labor and material costs of building one-time-use ramps for graduations in three different locations. School rehabilitation specialist Thomas Himes with Architect Robert T. Scheeren AIA, Indiana, PA, finds a portable lift is the most viable and economical solution for providing required access, since installing a permanent lift usually involves additional alterations to the structure and many times requires space that is not available.
  • Preeminent solution when clients want the versatility and convenience of a lift for multiple locations. The lift is used when and where it is needed and stored for the rest of the time. A typical compact model requires a storage space of only 48 inches x 66 inches.
  • Immediately available for last minute access to stages.
  • Plugs into the 120V building electrical power source.
  • Requires minimal modifications to the using facility. "We were only required to modify a stair landing and supply an electrical outlet. Without the lift, we would have been forced to modify the whole west side of the gym," says the facility director of a Butte School District in Butte, MT.
  • Storing a lift when not in use decreases maintenance costs for damage incurred when unauthorized people use a permanently installed lift for play.
  • Does not need to meet building code requirements.

Designed to be portable, this model rolls on its own casters, which can be quickly removed. Typical portable higher-end model can be transported by one person.

Photo: Ascension

 

Considerations

  • How portable is portable?
    • Is the portable lift originally designed to be portable, or is it really a fixed lift (i.e., meant to be permanently installed) that has been modified with some type of wheel undercarriage? A portable lift that was not originally designed to be portable may be less reliable than a lift that was designed to be portable from the ground up, because the manufacturer originally based component selection upon the assumption that the lift would always remain in one place. The stresses that a portable lift undergoes during transport between locations are different from the stresses born by a permanently installed lift.
    • Some lifts that are moved by a tip-and-wheel method often need more than one person to safely transport them.
    • A typical higher-end model designed to be portable is easily moved by one person and rolls on its own casters, which are then quickly removed. A lift that is easy to move allows facility staff to set up the lift for last minute accessibility requirements.
  • Can a portable lift be safely used when moved to a new location? Michele S. Ohmes, ADA specialist, whose firm Michele & Associates provides consulting and training on accessibility issues, tells of riding a vertical lift that caught and lifted a flexible stage on its rise up. After seeing the podium wobble, she quickly reversed direction to safety.  Some portable lifts have safety features to prevent a situation like this from occurring.
  • Does the lift have height flexibility to reach the different stage heights within a facility?
    The maximum stage height in most buildings is generally 60 inches.
  • What is the maximum width a portable model can pass through? Many older buildings are constructed with single 36 inch doors?
    • One higher-end model can pass through openings of 48 inches; for smaller openings this unit can be compressed to 33 inches, using a simple tool kit, and pushed on its own casters.
  • Portable lifts should be rugged and durable enough for a variety of applications.
  • Should be weather-hardened for temporary outdoor use.

 

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Originally published in April 2012

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