Approved inspection body (zugelassene Überwachungsstelle). State-approved inspection organization that inspects installations subject to monitoring, such as elevators and pressure equipment.
An approved inspection body (zugelassene Überwachungsstelle, ZÜS) is an inspection organization approved to inspect installations subject to monitoring. The BetrSichV means the bodies listed in Annex 2 Section 1 (§ 2(14)). Approval follows the German Act on Installations Subject to Monitoring and additional requirements in the Ordinance. These include liability insurance with a coverage of at least 2.5 million euros, a quality assurance system with regular internal audits, impartial inspectors, and a pay system in which inspectors' pay depends neither on the number nor on the outcome of their inspections.
For elevators, the ZÜS inspects before first commissioning, after modifications that require an inspection, and at regular intervals, in the main inspection and in the intermediate inspection halfway through the cycle. The interval may not exceed two years. For other installations subject to monitoring, Annex 2 allows a person competent to carry out inspections to do the job in certain cases. The ZÜS issues an inspection certificate for the result (§ 17). In an elevator car, an inspection sticker must be clearly visible showing the month and year of the next inspection and the inspecting body.
For cost and scheduling, this means the fees for the inspection and any follow-up inspection are separate items. Whether the maintenance contract covers them is often found only in the fine print. The operator, not the service company, orders the inspection and watches the deadline. For elevators, an inspection still counts as on time if it takes place no later than two months after the due date. Anyone who misses the deadline is running the installation without a valid inspection, and that is open to attack the moment something happens.
What matters
- Order the inspection well before the due date. It is tracked by month and year.
- Check whether the maintenance contract covers inspection fees, accompanying the inspector and fixing defects.
- Keep the inspection certificate and the technical documents, for elevators including the emergency plan, at the operating site.
- Ask for the deadline to fix any defect and plan a follow-up inspection if the report calls for one.
Suppose the intermediate inspection of an elevator is due in March. In January the operator sees that last year's report lists a defect on a shaft door and that nothing documents the repair. He asks the service company for proof before the inspector arrives and so avoids having the same defect appear in the report again.
In the original wording
“The inspections under paragraph 1 must be carried out by an approved inspection body under Annex 2 Section 1.”
Unofficial translation
“Elevator installations within the meaning of number 2 must be inspected at regular intervals by an approved inspection body (main inspection). […] The inspection interval may not exceed two years.”
Unofficial translation
Related regulations
In vi
- Inspection reports & defects: Every defect becomes a ticket with a deadline