How Long Does a Home Lift Take to Install? Survey to Handover (2026)

Installation · 11 home lift makers checked · 7 October 2026

A home lift takes one to three days to fit and six to twelve weeks to arrive. We read the installation claims of 11 UK home lift makers on 7 October 2026. All eleven publish a fitting time. Only five say how long you wait for the fitters, and the most famous one-day claim leaves out cutting the hole in your ceiling.

Survey to handover: the home lift installation timeline

No maker publishes a full survey-to-handover timeline. This one joins up what they do publish, stage by stage. Every timing in the labels is a maker’s own published figure or GOV.UK’s; where nobody publishes one, we say so.

1. Day 0 · timing up to you

   Enquiry and home survey

   A surveyor or sales manager visits to find a spot for the lift and price it. Wessex sends an area sales manager; Aritco’s certified reseller visits “to have a look at the prerequisites”; Morgan Ellis also offers a video survey that takes “10-15 minutes of your time”. No maker publishes how long you wait for a survey slot. Check the lift will fit first with our space guide.

2. Your decision

   Quote, order and deposit

   The clock on every published lead time starts here, at the order. Morgan Ellis asks for a 50% deposit when you accept the quote. If you are applying for a Disabled Facilities Grant, the council approves the grant before you order, and that adds its own wait.

3. After you order

   Drawings and technical survey

   The lift is designed to your floor positions, finish and door side. Stiltz describes “a detailed technical survey once you proceed”. Morgan Ellis sends drawings for you to approve, then a project manager visits to check measurements before final sign-off. No maker gives a separate time for this stage; it sits inside the lead times below.

4. At least 2 days before work

   Building notice

   Cutting a floor opening falls under building regulations, not planning. Stiltz says only “a standard building notice application” is needed. In England, GOV.UK says “You can start work 2 days after your notice has been submitted”. A full plans application is slower, with a decision expected within five weeks (GOV.UK). See planning permission and home lifts.

5. 3 to 12 weeks from order

   Manufacture

   The lift is built to order. Cibes quotes three weeks of manufacturing; Morgan Ellis “up to 8-10 weeks following approval” of the drawings; Companion told us eight to ten weeks for its through-floor lifts. This is the longest stage of the job.

6. Before fitting day

   Building work and the ceiling opening

   Stiltz and Lifton fit their lifts once “the aperture in the ceiling has been prepared by a qualified builder”. Aritco’s resellers recommend “craftsmen who will prepare your home”. Morgan Ellis’s project manager visits “around 2-4 weeks prior” to check the preparation is done. Concrete floors or steelwork take longer; see what installation costs.

7. 1 to 3 days

   Fitting and commissioning

   The lift is assembled, wired, tested and commissioned. Gartec’s two days for a platform lift covers being “installed, tested and commissioned”, and it needs a 20 amp electrical supply “from the first day”. The full maker-by-maker list is in the table below.

8. Last day

   Handover

   You are shown how to use the lift and its emergency lowering, and given the manual, warranty and test records. Book the first service now; our servicing guide covers the cost.

How long each home lift maker says installation takes

We read each maker’s FAQ, product and buying pages on 7 October 2026 and recorded every figure for fitting time and for the wait from order.

Read in a browser on 7 October 2026. “Not published” means we found no lead time on the maker’s website; ask for one in writing. Lifton is part of the Stiltz group and publishes the same figures.

What happens to your floor and ceiling

A through-floor lift needs a rectangular opening cut between the two floors. The builder cuts the opening, trims back the joists that cross it and fits a frame around it so the floor carries its load as before. When the lift is upstairs, its base closes the opening. There is no shaft and, for most domestic models, no pit. Opening sizes for 29 lifts are in our space guide. Concrete floors, steel beams or a shaft build add time and cost; installation cost covers what that work involves.

Walls rarely need to come down. Where the lift opens onto a new doorway, or a soil pipe or beam sits where the opening should go, the survey should find it. A clash found on fitting day is the usual reason a date slips.

How to prepare for fitting day

• Clear both rooms where the lift will stand and the route from the front door. The lift arrives in sections.
• Keep parking free near the door for the installers’ van.
• Check the power. Ask what supply the lift needs and where the socket goes. Gartec asks for a 20 amp supply from the first day of fitting.
• Plan for the noisy part. Cutting the opening is the only dusty, noisy stage; pets and anyone sensitive to noise may be happier out for it.

How a home lift is tested before you use it

Before handover the engineer runs the lift through its safety checks: the door or gate interlocks, the safety edges and underside sensors that stop the car if it meets something, the battery lowering for a power cut, and the overload cut-out. Keep the commissioning record and declaration of conformity with your warranty; your home insurer may ask for them. For the standards behind the checks, see how safe home lifts are.

Questions to ask your installer about timing

• How many weeks from order to installation, and is that in writing?
• Who cuts the ceiling opening, when, and is it in the price?
• Who submits the building notice?
• How many days will your fitters be on site, including testing?
• When is the deposit due, and is the balance due on handover?
• If you miss the date, what happens?

To bring the price down before you order, check 0% VAT relief and the Disabled Facilities Grant. If you are spreading the cost, see home lift finance.

Home lift installation: questions

How long does it take to install a home lift?

The fitting itself takes one to three days. Stiltz, Lifton, Wessex and Companion quote one or two days, Gartec and Cibes two to three, and SWIFT two to four for platform lifts. The wait before that is longer: the five makers that publish one quote 3 to 12 weeks, and Stiltz says six to eight weeks from order to a finished project.

How long is it from survey to a working home lift?

Allow six to twelve weeks once you order. Stiltz and Lifton quote six to eight weeks from order to project completion, Stannah’s Uplifts 12 weeks from order to installation, and Morgan Ellis up to eight to ten weeks of production after you approve the drawings. The time between the survey and the order depends on how quickly you compare quotes and decide.

Can a home lift really be installed in one day?

The lift can, the job usually cannot. Stiltz and Lifton both say one day once a qualified builder has prepared the ceiling opening, and Stiltz’s home lifts page footnotes its one-day claim with “Excluding time required to cut aperture”. Ask who cuts the opening, when, and whether it is in the price.

Why is there a wait before a home lift is installed?

Home lifts are built to order once the size, finish and floor positions are fixed. Before fitting day there are drawings to approve, a technical survey, any building work and the ceiling opening, and in England a building notice to your building control body. Stannah says its 12 weeks gives time for drawings, building works and cutting the aperture.

Does building control approval add time to a home lift installation?

Not much, if a building notice is used. Stiltz says only a standard building notice application is needed for its lifts, and in England GOV.UK says you can start work two days after your notice has been submitted. A full plans application takes longer: a decision is expected within five weeks, or two months with your consent.

How long does a platform or cabin lift take to install?

Longer than a through-floor lift. Gartec says about two days for a two-stop platform lift, plus a day for each extra floor, and about three days for a cabin lift. Cibes says two to three days and SWIFT two to four days for platform lifts.

Which home lift is quickest to install?

On published figures, Stiltz and Lifton through-floor lifts are fitted in one day, though that excludes cutting the ceiling opening. For the whole wait, Cibes publishes the shortest manufacturing time, three weeks, and Stiltz and Lifton the shortest order-to-completion time, six to eight weeks.

Compiled by the UK Homelifts research team. Maker installation claims checked 7 October 2026. We recheck them every quarter.