Builders information pack.

01

Start here.

A smooth install starts long before the truck arrives. Get the slab, openings, power and phone right and the lift itself is the easy part.

This guide sets out what we need from the builder before, during and after an Aussie Lifts installation. It's written for site supervisors and the trades doing the work, so it's practical and to the point. Use it for the how and why; use your customer-specific drawings for the numbers. Every lift we build at Acacia Ridge is designed to the relevant Australian Standards (AS 1735 series) and the National Construction Code. Meeting the requirements here keeps your programme on track and lets us hand over on the day we said we would.

How it all comes together.

1. 01

   Order confirmed

   Your lift goes into our production schedule and we lock in the model, travel, entries and doors.

2. 02

   Site measure and drawings

   We measure the site and issue your customer-specific drawings: slab and set-down, landing openings, power and cabinet position. Check them, sign them off and get them to your trades.

3. 03

   You prepare the site

   Slab poured to the drawings, openings clear and barricaded, power and isolator in, conduit run, SIM card activated. Sections 03 to 11 have the detail; section 12 is the checklist.

4. 04

   Site ready

   Tell us when the checklist is ticked off. We confirm the installation method, access and the delivery date.

5. 05

   Delivery and installation

   The lift arrives and is stood, craned or re-assembled into position, then plumbed, fixed to the slab and connected.

6. 06

   Cladding and finishes

   Once we give the go-ahead you clad the shaft and finish the landings and floors, inside the car and out.

7. 07

   Commissioning and handover

   We test and commission the lift, install and test the emergency phone, and hand over to the owner. From there, regular servicing keeps it safe and reliable.

02

Three ways we install a lift.

How the lift gets to its final position shapes the access we need from you. We confirm the method for your job at the site measure. Here's what each one involves.

Manual: carried in and stood by hand.

Our most economical method. It suits externally mounted lifts, and internal positions with clear, unobstructed access during new construction. The lift arrives on a trailer, is walked to the slab and stood upright by hand. Paired with an external lift, it's a very cost-effective way to add access to an upper level.

Crane-in: complete or in segments.

Our preferred method for internal lifts and for external positions that are hard to reach. A suitably rated crane and a licensed dogger lift the shaft and car into place, either as one complete unit or in segments: the first half of the shaft with the car, then the second half. Crane hire, traffic management and any permits are as set out in your quote.

Dismantle and re-assemble.

For tight sites where neither of the above works. The lift is fully manufactured and tested at our Acacia Ridge factory as normal, then the shaft is dismantled for delivery and re-assembled in position on site.

03

Safety first, no exceptions.

A safe site is a legal requirement, and it's also how we keep your programme on track. Here's what we ask of every builder.

1. 01

   A safe working environment

   By law, the client and/or builder must provide a safe working environment for Aussie Lifts employees and anyone on site at our invitation or request.

2. 02

   Site-specific safety assessment

   Before we start, our team completes a job safety analysis (JSA) for your site. Let us know your site induction requirements before installation day so we can turn up ready.

3. 03

   Paperwork on request

   Need our SWMS, licences, insurances or a copy of our JSA for your site file? Ask and we'll send them through before we arrive.

4. 04

   We stop if it's unsafe

   If we consider conditions unsafe, we'll suspend work until they're fixed to our satisfaction. The same applies if conditions change part-way through. Any suspension will affect, and may extend, our lead time.

5. 05

   Nothing overhead

   No work is to be carried out directly above any member of our installation team while the lift is going in.

6. 06

   Openings protected

   Barricade every landing opening and cover every floor or deck penetration before the lift structure arrives, and keep them protected until handover.

04

Slab and footings.

A sound, level, correctly set-down slab is the foundation of a good install. Every slab detail in this section is an example only: your engineer designs and certifies the slab, and your customer-specific drawings give you the dimensions.

1. 01

   Design and certification is by the builder's engineer

   The layouts and sections in this pack are examples only. Your engineer designs and certifies the slab for the lift shown on your drawings, using the site's soil test.

2. 02

   Check the ground first

   Depending on ground conditions, some sites need footings or piers beneath the lift slab. Refer to your soil test and your engineer.

3. 03

   Lay it on solid ground

   The mounting slab is to be laid on solid or suitably certified compacted ground.

4. 04

   Set it down for a flush entrance

   The slab is set down from the surrounding finished floor, path or ground so the lift car floor finishes flush at the entrance. The set-down (pit depth) varies by model: take it from your customer-specific drawings.

5. 05

   Make it 50 mm bigger than the lift

   The slab must be at least 50 mm longer and wider than the lift footprint, 25 mm each side, so our installers can position and plumb the lift.

6. 06

   Allow for a parent structure

   Where a builder-constructed shaft or external structure houses the lift, allow 25 mm clearance all round, 50 mm on the overall width and depth, and increase the slab to match. Without it the lift may not fit.

7. 07

   Fix down to solid concrete

   We anchor the shaft base ring to the slab at each corner with M12 x 150 mm screw anchors (two per corner), as shown on the slab drawing. The slab needs enough density and thickness to hold them, so keep reinforcing steel clear of the anchor zones on the drawing to the depth noted.

8. 08

   Level and cured before we arrive

   The slab needs to be level, clean, dry and cured before installation, to your engineer's specification.

9. 09

   Mark a datum

   Mark a level datum line at the slab and at each landing so our installers and your trades are working to the same finished floor levels.

10. 10

    Termite barriers

    The anchors may penetrate a termite barrier. Any remedial work as a result is the responsibility of the builder or owner.

11. 11

    Drain external slabs

    Fit a drain to any externally located lift slab to carry away water ingress. It protects the lift for the long term.

12. 12

    Keep water out of set-downs

    Any additional trench set-downs must be protected against water penetration or seepage. No plumbing, sump or services in the pit without our written approval.

13. 13

    Keep it clean and dry

    The slab, pit and footings are to be kept free of water, rubbish and builders' waste at all times: before, during and after installation.

05

The machine cabinet.

The cabinet houses the lift's controller (PLC), power supplies and the hydraulic tank and pump. It's a lockable steel cabinet suited to internal or external mounting, and its position is shown on your drawings.

Location.

Keep the cabinet as close to the lift as possible, preferably on the ground floor. In specific situations it can be located remotely at extra cost. A remote cabinet needs custom-length hydraulic hoses and electrical cabling from us, plus conduit supplied and installed by the builder at slab stage, so the decision has to be made before the slab is poured.

One more thing to check before you settle on a position: the emergency phone gateway needs a working mobile signal. Basements, plant rooms, metal-clad enclosures and deep under-stair cupboards can kill reception. Test the signal at the proposed location before the slab goes down.

Access.

The cabinet contains live electrical equipment. It must be accessible at all times, with the 600 x 600 x 2000 mm zone in front of the door kept totally clear. It also needs to stay accessible after handover: our technicians need to get to it for every service, and the owner needs the key.

Penetrations and conduit.

If the cabinet position means hoses and cables have to pass through the slab or any block or brick wall, the builder provides suitable penetrations and conduit for them. Where a wall is fire-rated, the fire collars and sealing to the required fire resistance level (FRL) are also the builder's responsibility.

Keep conduit bends to 45° or less (gradual curves are better than elbows) and use a minimum 90 mm PVC pipe. The hoses and cables leave the cabinet through a Ø100 mm hole in the rear.

Termite barriers.

If any termite barrier or treatment is compromised during the installation, the builder arranges and pays for the reinstatement of the barrier or treatment.

06

Lift shaft, openings and penetrations.

Our lifts arrive with a self-supporting shaft, so no load-bearing walls are needed. The flip side: the shaft can't carry any of the building's loads, and it needs clear room to go in and be clad.

Structure, whichever way we install.

• No timber stud walls are to overhang the mounting slab, set-down or pit.
• No bottom plates are to be left across where a lift door will be located. This applies to every landing.
• No temporary bracing or struts are to run through the lift shaft area.
• The shaft cannot be used to support any vertical or horizontal loads or forces.
• No bearers, joists or supporting beams are to be fixed to, or supported by, the lift shaft.
• If you're building a shaft or external structure around the lift, allow 25 mm clearance all round (50 mm on the overall internal width and depth) and keep it plumb and square. A tight or out-of-square shaft is one of the most common causes of a delayed install.
• Headroom at the top landing and the overall shaft height for your job are on your customer-specific drawings. Check them against your ceiling and roof framing early. Headroom is very hard to find later.
• Where the NCC requires the shaft to be fire-rated or smoke-sealed, that work is the builder's, and we'll need to know before manufacture so the structure and door frames suit.

Landing openings.

• Provide a clear opening at each landing, sized to your customer-specific drawings. No stud or block walls are to be built in or around the lift entrances.
• Protect every opening with barricades before the lift structure is installed.
• If automatic door operators are selected, run a conduit with a draw wire from the lift shaft to each remote station location. Secure the conduit at the station end and mark it clearly LIFT CONTROL.

Floor and deck penetrations.

• Penetrations in the upper floors must line up vertically with the concrete set-down in the lift slab.
• Provide hoarding, barricades or covers to every floor and deck penetration so there is no access.

Ceiling and roof.

• Keep all rafters, ceiling joists and similar members clear of the lift shaft.
• Absolutely no services are to be placed in the lift well or above it without prior written approval from Aussie Lifts.
• Fit barrier protection in the roof cavity over the lift shaft, and sheet the top of the shaft so no person, animal or object can fall down it.

Landings.

• No work is to be carried out around the lift landings, and lift flashings are not to be covered over, until final commissioning and handover are complete.
• Flashing and weatherproofing where the lift meets your cladding, roof or external walls is builder's work unless your quote says otherwise. Check your quote and ask us early: it's a common gap on external lifts.

Cladding the shaft.

The shaft comes with integral aluminium battens, so cladding fixes straight on with no extra framing.

• Externally located lifts are most commonly clad in weatherboard, fibre cement planks or COLORBOND® steel sheeting in a range of profiles. Fibre cement or polystyrene sheet with a rendered and painted finish is also very effective. All of these fix directly to the battens.
• Internally located lifts not inside a builder-constructed shaft can be clad directly in plasterboard, fibre cement, MDF or plywood. Again, everything fixes to the battens on the shaft.
• Some models are supplied with steel cladding fitted at the factory. Your quote and drawings will say so.

Have the cladding material on site and the fixings sorted, but leave it stacked. Once the shaft is plumbed, fixed and signed off by our team, you'll get the go-ahead to clad, usually the same day.

07

Power supply.

Your licensed electrical contractor installs the supply and isolator; our installers connect the tail to the machine cabinet. Everything below must be complete, certified and live before installation starts.

08

Emergency phone: sort the SIM early.

Every lift has an emergency phone in the car. We supply a wireless gateway in the machine cabinet, so no hardwired phone line is needed, but the gateway needs an activated SIM card before we can hand over.

The SIM card.

• A standard-size SIM card, activated and on site before commissioning day. Check the SIM size with us before you buy.
• From a carrier with proven coverage at the site. Check the coverage map before you buy: the lift doesn't get a second chance in an emergency.
• Compatible with our 4G gateway. The old 3G networks have been switched off across Australia, so make sure the SIM and plan are 4G-capable.
• Prepaid is fine, provided the SIM stays active without regular use and someone keeps the credit topped up.
• Simplest option: an inexpensive call-only, month-to-month plan in the owner's name, so it doesn't lapse when the build wraps up.

Hardwired alternative.

If the owner doesn't want the wireless gateway, the electrical contractor must supply a dedicated phone line terminating at the machine cabinet with a minimum 5 m tail. Our team connects it to the lift controller. The lift phone is an analogue handset built for a conventional analogue (PSTN-style) connection.

Worth knowing: the old copper network has been switched off across most of Australia, so a true analogue line is rarely available any more. Where phone service runs over the NBN or VoIP, a suitable analogue interface with battery backup is needed to keep the lift phone working in a power outage. The owner's network installer or service provider can advise. On almost every new build the wireless gateway is the practical choice.

09

Floor finishes.

The lift car floor is set to finish flush with each landing, which only works if the floor finishes are known and in place.

• Lay all floor coverings inside and outside the lift before commissioning. It removes trip hazards and lets us set the car floor flush with each landing.
• Lock in floor covering thicknesses before the final measure. Any change to thickness after the final measure will put the car floor out of alignment with the landings.
• Sequencing, since these two pull against each other: lay the floor finishes up to and across each landing threshold before we commission, but don't work around the landings or cover the lift flashings afterwards. In short, finishes in first, then leave the lift alone.

10

Site access, work area and amenities.

Our installers need room to work and a site that's ready for them. Here's the short list.

• Access for delivery and for standing the lift on site, to suit the installation method: manual, crane-in, or dismantle and re-assemble (see section 02).
• A clear working area for access to and around the lift shaft on every level.
• The area directly in front of the machine cabinet left totally clear.
• A 230 V general-purpose outlet adjacent to the machine cabinet for our installers' tools.
• Protection of the lift, cabinet and controls from dust. Sanding, dry grinding, sawing and masonry cutting near the shaft all need to be managed.
• Access to on-site waste bins for our rubbish.
• Clean toilets and water for washing available to our team.

11

Insurance, approvals and protecting the lift.

Once the lift is delivered it's a valuable piece of equipment sitting on a busy site. Here's how the responsibilities fall.

Protecting the lift.

• From the moment it's delivered to site, the lift is the builder's responsibility to protect.
• Damage caused by others, whether malicious, accidental or by acts of nature, is not covered under the Aussie Lifts warranty. The cost of repair sits with the responsible party.
• Take out an insurance policy from the day the lift lands on site. It should cover, but not be limited to, damage from trades, fire, storm, flood, vandalism and construction defects.
• Home warranty insurance: in Queensland this is administered by the QBCC (formerly the BSA). Talk to us about how it applies to your job.

Council and approvals.

• Aussie Lifts makes no allowance for council approvals, site drawings, or council fees and charges that may apply.
• Any relaxation for encroachment onto property boundaries is handled by the builder, architect or owner.
• Tell us early what your building certifier needs for the lift, so we can have the paperwork ready at handover.
• Some lifts and some building classes need registration or additional documentation under work health and safety law. Tell us the building classification and we'll confirm what's needed for your job.

12

Ready for us? Run the checklist.

Tick these off before you call to confirm the delivery date. Every item is covered in this guide, with the section number alongside.

All ticked? Call 1800 287 543 or email info@aussielifts.com.au and we'll lock in the date. Too easy.

13

Handover and beyond.

Commissioning is where it all comes together. Here's what to expect on the day, and what keeps the lift running well afterwards.

At commissioning.

• We test every safety system and run the lift through its full travel, stopping at each landing.
• We install and test the emergency phone with the activated SIM card or connected line.
• Floor finishes inside and outside the car, landings and flashings need to be complete. Don't cover flashings or work around the landings until we've finished.
• We hand over to the owner and run through operating the lift, the emergency phone and what happens in a power outage.

After handover.

• Servicing: residential lifts are serviced every 12 months, commercial lifts every 6. Our technicians inspect, test and report on every safety system. No stress, no worries.
• Warranty: our industry-leading warranty covers the lift from handover, on the terms in your quote. It doesn't cover damage by others or use during construction.
• Support: 1800 287 543, or info@aussielifts.com.au. Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
• At handover you'll get the operating instructions, the compliance and commissioning paperwork, and the keys. Pass them to the owner and keep a copy for your certifier.
• What costs extra: return visits because the site wasn't ready, cladding fitted before we've given the go-ahead, work suspended because the site was unsafe, and repairs to damage caused by others. We'd all rather avoid these, so run the checklist in section 12 before you call us in.