Most people have never heard of this machine, and then they meet one in a school or a church and wonder why nobody mentioned it.
What it is
A platform that travels along a rail fixed to a staircase, carrying a wheelchair and its occupant. The user drives on at the bottom, rides up the slope of the stairs, and drives off at the top. When parked, the platform folds flat against the wall so the stairs stay usable.
It is not a stairlift, which carries a seated person and cannot take a chair. It is not a vertical platform lift, which travels straight up rather than along. It occupies the space between them.
Where it makes sense
Public and commercial buildings first. A church with steps to the sanctuary, a school stage, a historic building where a ramp cannot be built and a shaft cannot be cut. The Access Board guide covers when a platform lift may be used in place of a ramp under the ADA Standards, and inclined lifts appear in exactly those situations.
Homes, occasionally. Where somebody uses a wheelchair, the staircase is the barrier, and there is no room for a vertical lift or an elevator. It is the least common of the options and sometimes the only one.
What it needs
- Stair width. More than a stairlift, because the platform is wider than a seat. A narrow domestic flight frequently rules it out.
- A wall or structure to carry the rail, which takes more load than a stairlift rail does.
- Landing space at both ends to drive on and off.
- Power and, in most installations, a permit.
Why it is rare in houses
Honestly: width and cost. Domestic staircases are usually too narrow to leave a usable walking route once a folded platform is on the wall, and the machine costs more than a stairlift while doing a narrower job.
Where a household has somebody in a wheelchair and a staircase, we more often end up at a vertical platform lift in a different location, a ground-floor rearrangement, or an elevator. Our platform lift page sets out how those compare.
Regulation
Treated as a lift rather than a stairlift in most states, which usually means licensed installation and periodic inspection. In a public building there is normally an annual inspection and an operating certificate as well.
That varies more than anything else in this trade, and our state pages set out the position where we work.
Living with one
Slow and deliberate, by design. Constant-pressure controls mean it only moves while a control is held. Landing gates with interlocks so nothing opens mid-travel. A sensitive edge under the platform that stops it on contact.
Annual service is not optional, and in a commercial setting a maintenance log may be a legal requirement rather than good practice. Our service page covers what a visit involves, including on equipment somebody else installed.
The question to settle first
Does the person stay in the chair? If they can transfer onto a seat, a stairlift is cheaper, faster and less disruptive, and we will say so. If they cannot, this is one of three real options and worth pricing against the others rather than assuming.
All consultations, estimates and scopes of work are free of charge with no pressure or obligation. Smaller equipment ships free from our online shop.
Straight or curved, here too
The same distinction applies as with stairlifts. A straight flight takes a straight rail. A flight that turns needs a rail built to it, which means survey, manufacture and a lead time measured in weeks rather than days.
Curved inclined platform lifts exist and are substantially more expensive again, which is part of why they are uncommon outside public buildings with budgets to match.
What it costs to run
More than a stairlift. Annual service at minimum, and in a public building an annual inspection and an operating certificate as well, plus a maintenance log that may be a legal requirement rather than good practice.
Budget for that at the outset. It is the part that surprises congregations and small schools a year in.
Before specifying one
Have somebody measure the stair width at the narrowest point, with the handrail in place, and check what is left when a folded platform sits on the wall. If that number leaves no usable walking route, the answer is no before anything else is discussed.
All consultations, estimates and scopes of work are free of charge with no pressure or obligation, and our service page covers what a service visit involves on equipment we did not install.
Questions to put to any supplier
- What clear stair width is left when the platform is folded?
- What is the rated capacity, and does it cover the chair as well as the rider?
- Straight or curved rail, and what is the lead time for each?
- What inspection regime applies in this building, and who arranges it?
- What does annual service cost, and is a maintenance log required?
A supplier who answers all five without hesitating is one who has installed these before. A great many have not.