Commercial wheelchair lifts
Commercial wheelchair lifts for businesses and offices
A few steps at the front door or a split-level sales floor turns customers and patients away, and the ADA expects businesses to remove those barriers where it is readily achievable. A commercial platform lift does it in a footprint of about five by six feet, for far less than an elevator, and we handle the Pennsylvania state permit and the witnessed inspection so the lift is legal to use on the day it is finished.
Businesses that call us
Medical and dental practices in converted houses with a porch and four steps. Law and accounting offices on the second floor of a downtown building. Restaurants with a raised dining room. Retail storefronts in rowhome blocks where the sidewalk is too narrow for a ramp. Fitness studios, funeral homes, veterinary clinics, and rental offices with a half flight at the entrance. The common thread is one or two level changes in an existing building and no sensible place to build an elevator shaft.
We installed an enclosed two-stop commercial Savaria V-1504 for a building like that: an outdoor enclosure on a pad beside the entrance steps, interlocked doors at the sidewalk and the landing, permitted through the Department of Labor and Industry and inspected before it opened to customers.
Under the ADA, businesses open to the public are expected to remove architectural barriers in existing buildings when it is readily achievable, and to provide an accessible route in alterations and new construction. A platform lift is one of the solutions the ADA Standards recognize for existing buildings. Federal tax incentives exist for small businesses that remove barriers; your accountant can confirm what applies.
Why business owners choose us
Legal to use on day one
State permit approved before the order, acceptance test witnessed, Certificate of Operation in hand before the first customer rides.
Open while we work
Two to five days of installation planned around your hours. Entrance lifts rarely block the door for more than a day.
A ramp when a ramp is right
Under about 30 inches of rise we will tell you a modular ramp is the lower cost answer, and install it.
Commercial lifts in place
V-1504, indoor split level 
Clarity, outdoor entrance 
Enclosed V-1504, Harrisburg, PA 
Enclosed V-1504, lobby
Lift options for commercial buildings
Entrances: an enclosed outdoor Savaria V-1504 on a concrete pad, 750 lb, weather rated, with interlocked doors. The Ascension Clarity is the finished-glass alternative for a storefront that cares about the look.
Indoor split levels and second floors: the V-1504 in a framed hoistway, or the Prolift where the owner wants an enclosed cab with automatic doors that rides like a small elevator. Up to 14 feet of travel. The Prolift HD carries 1,400 lb for practices that move equipment.
Short rises indoors: an Ascension Virtuoso or Protege for a raised dining room or a platform up to 60 inches, with no pit.
A straight stair with no floor space: the Savaria Delta inclined lift, which folds flat so the stair keeps its width.
Under about 30 inches of rise: a modular aluminum ramp is usually the lower cost answer, and we install those too. The ramp versus lift post explains the tradeoff.
What it costs, and the case against an elevator
Owners often assume accessibility means an elevator and the price that comes with it. A LULA or passenger elevator needs a hoistway with a deep pit, a machine room or machine space, fire-rated construction, and a long build. A commercial platform lift needs a shallow pit or a short ramp, a 120V circuit, and an enclosure or a simple framed hoistway, and it is installed in two to five days. It is nearly always the lower cost alternative to a LULA for a one or two level building, and the lift itself arrives from the factory mostly assembled.
Commercial lifts cost more than residential porch lifts, which typically run in the low to mid five figures installed, because of the enclosure, the doors, and the permit and inspection. The number depends on travel, landings, and indoor or outdoor placement, and we put it in writing within 24 hours of the site visit with the state permit and initial inspection as their own line. Financing is available for businesses as well as homeowners.
Permits and inspection for a business lift
Pennsylvania adopts ASME A18.1, the platform lift safety standard, through the Uniform Construction Code. For a commercial building that means a Department of Labor and Industry permit with plan review before the lift is ordered, a local building permit from the municipality, installation, an acceptance test performed by our technician and witnessed by a certified elevator inspector, and a Certificate of Operation before the first customer rides. Periodic inspections continue afterward.
We file the state permit and drawings. For the local permit we prepare the package and the owner or the general contractor files it, since fees and forms vary by municipality; if there is no contractor on the project we assist directly. The ADA Standards also shape the lift: it must operate without an attendant, with unassisted entry and exit, and controls reachable from a wheelchair, and we specify the lift to meet that from the start. More in our post on permits for a wheelchair lift.
Installation with the business open
Most business lifts are installed in two to five days with the business open. Pad, pit, or hoistway work is done beforehand by your contractor from our drawings, or by ours. Outdoor entrance lifts rarely block the door for more than a day. We schedule early starts or quiet days where it helps, and we walk the manager through the controls, the key switch if one is fitted, manual lowering, and the emergency stop.
From Etters we cover Harrisburg, Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg, Carlisle, York, Hanover, Lancaster, Lebanon, Hershey, Gettysburg, and Chambersburg routinely, plus Westminster, Frederick, and Hagerstown in Maryland. Service calls after the install are a flat rate plus mileage, never hourly, and a service plan bundles the periodic state tests. City pages: Harrisburg, Lancaster, York.
Our own installs
Recent platform lift installations
Our own platform lift installations, residential and commercial, pulled live from the jobs we finished most recently.
Google reviews
What customers say after the install
Pulled live from our Google Business Profile. We show the name the reviewer used, shortened to a first name and initial.
Start at the overview: commercial wheelchair lifts covers the lineup, the code, and the permit process in one place.
Other building types
- Wheelchair lifts for churches
- Wheelchair lifts for schools
- Wheelchair lifts for municipal buildings
- Inclined platform lifts
Commercial lifts by city
- Commercial wheelchair lifts in Harrisburg, PA
- Commercial wheelchair lifts in Lancaster, PA
- Commercial wheelchair lifts in York, PA
Residential lifts are on the vertical platform lifts page and the full lineup on all platform lifts. Related reading: what a vertical platform lift is, ramp versus platform lift. Or call (717) 219-7976.
Straight answers
Businesses: common questions
Does my business have to install a wheelchair lift?
Businesses open to the public are expected under the ADA to remove barriers in existing buildings where it is readily achievable and to provide an accessible route in alterations and new construction. Whether a lift, a ramp, or another solution fits depends on the building. We look at it with you at a free site visit.
Can a platform lift go at the sidewalk of a downtown storefront?
Often, with an enclosed V-1504 on a pad beside the steps and interlocked doors at the sidewalk and the landing. Where the sidewalk is too tight, an indoor lift just inside the door or an inclined lift on the stair is the alternative. We measure before recommending.
How much does a commercial lift cost compared with a small elevator?
A fraction of it. No deep pit, no machine room, two to five days of installation instead of months of construction. We give the exact number in writing within 24 hours of the site visit.
Will the lift feel safe for patients and customers?
Yes. Commercial lifts have interlocked doors that will not open unless the platform is at the landing, obstruction sensors, an emergency stop, and battery lowering. The Prolift adds an enclosed cab with automatic doors for riders who prefer not to see the floor move.
Who files the permits?
We file the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry permit and perform the witnessed test. We prepare the local building permit package; the owner or general contractor files it, or we assist when there is no contractor on the job.
Planning a lift for your building?
Call and tell us the rise, where it sits, and what the building is used for. We will come measure and send a written quote within 24 hours with the state permit and inspection included as their own line.