The Risks of Do-It-Yourself Stairlift Installation

Nowadays, there are a huge number of people who purchase home stairlifts and assemble the equipment themselves. This is pushed by residential lifts dealers involved in marketing the products online.
According to these companies, customers will save them money and it is what most customers want. However, there is a growing cause of alarm from many organizations about do-it-yourself installation of lifts.

According to the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA), handicapped people are endangering themselves by installing the stairlifts themselves. Most handicapped individuals belong to the low-income bracket and have the belief that they will save cash by setting up the lift on their own. However, the savings could be temporary only but in the long run they will pay more.

David Jenkins, a product safety consultant for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents believes that the effects of improper installation of the lift would not only be monetary but also injury or death. This is a growing concern in the United States as well.

According to the Accessibility Equipment Manufacturer’s Association (AEMA), no person can determine whether they have correctly assembled a home stairlift unless they are qualified professionals. Likewise, they would have no idea whether the equipment conforms to local and national codes requirements. The AEMA also believes that such practices could be illegal. If wires need to be connected to the main power supply, many states in the United States prohibits such practice unless undertaken by a certified technician.

Although lifts may look simple, they are complicated equipments using current technology. Only qualified individuals can conduct installation of these machines.

In addition, many dealers like customers to install the lift themselves because they cannot be blamed if anything goes wrong. They can always wash their hands and use incorrect installation as an excuse. Aside from that, consumers are ignoring the warranty of the product by doing self-installation.

The elderly and the handicapped are the usual victims of this practice. Thus, when buying stairlift, choose a company which insists that they assemble the equipment. This is an indication of their concern for the customer. Also, this is a safety measure should something go wrong with the lift.

Purchasing stairlifts can be costly. A qualified installer can set up the equipment within a few hours. The cost of installation compared to the total cost is generally minimal. Reliable suppliers always advice customers not to do the installation themselves because the risks could be greater than the savings.

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