Before you buy a lift

Four things settle almost every lift purchase, and two of them are about your building rather than the lift.

• What ceiling height do you need? — More orders are cancelled over this than over price. Measure to the lowest obstruction, which is almost never the ceiling.
• Concrete requirements for a two-post lift — The slab is a structural component of the lift and it is the one the manufacturer did not supply.
• Two-post vs four-post — Wheels-free service against drive-on storage. Most people arrive certain and leave having changed their mind.
• ALI certification — What the gold label covers, why it attaches to a model rather than a brand, and how to check a claim yourself.