The Automotive Lift Institute – The Trusted Resource of Today’s Lift Industry
Founded in 1945, the Automotive Lift Institute, Inc. (ALI) in cooperation with the National Bureau of Standards sponsored the first standard governing automotive lifts (CS142) in 1947. By 1988 ALI welcomed members from Canada as well as North American based marketers of automotive lifts produced and distributed globally. Today’s Institute remains diligent with regard to lift safety as a primary activity and pursues a mission of promoting the safe design, construction, installation and use of automotive lift products. Credentialed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a Nationally Recognized Standards Development Organization and as an Accredited Product Certification Program Provider, ALI sponsors several national safety standards and offers a Third Party Certification Program for automotive lifts that includes independent testing and verification by an OSHA accredited Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL). In keeping with ALI’s Conflicts of Interest Policy – ALI, the Certification Program Administrator and the testing laboratories supporting the ALI Lift Certification Program do not supply, recommend, design or manufacture lift products.
The Institute fulfills its mission by interacting to support the lift industry’s stakeholders through the development and maintenance of the only Nationally Recognized Safety Standards defining Automotive Service Lift Safety Requirements for Construction, Testing, and Validation (ANSI/ALI ALCTV-2006); Automotive Lift Safety Requirements for Installation and Service (ANSI/ALI ALIS-2000); and the Safety Requirements for Operation, Inspection, Training, and Maintenance (ANSI/ALI ALOIM-2008). The mission of ALI is also fulfilled through the development and distribution of lift safety related materials, general information provided on the ALI website and through interaction when contact is initiated by stakeholders such as lift specifiers, corporate health and safety officers, endusers (technicians/owners/ supervisors), installation, distribution, service, and training companies and a growing number of municipal code enforcement and other local, state, federal, or provincial authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs).
With an increase in the number of North American AHJs such as building code and occupational healthand safety regulators moving to align with the lift safety related requirements of the OSHA’s General Duty Clause, International Building Code (IBC), Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, and Worksafe BC; the current editions of ANSI/ALI ALCTV and ANSI/ALI ALOIM are quickly becoming a compulsory means of demonstrating to the AHJ that both electrical and mechanical compliance with known product safety standards and regulations has been appropriately addressed. Currently 14 manufacturing Member Companies and 4 manufacturing Non-Member Participants are recognized as having earned the right to produce certified lift models and accessories as found on the ALI web based Directory of Certified Automotive Lifts. Together these Lift Certification Program Participants and ALI Member Companies represent more than 1,500 variations of independently certified automotive lift models and accessories. ALI Manufacturing Member Companies actively engage in supporting the mission of the Institute and agree to produce and market vehicle lifts of which a minimum 75% of all lifts distributed within North America must fully comply with the current American National Standard. In addition to those lift manufacturers who are currently identified as “members in good standing” and those 4 Manufacturing Non-Member Participants; there are currently 12 additional lift manufacturers or marketers formally recognized by ALI as “Non-Member Lift Certification Program Participants”. Since these manufacturers do not currently produce ALI certified automotive lifts and, may or may not actually be progressing toward the fulfillment of required design and quality related milestones associated with obtaining ALI certification; claims of ALI/ETL certification, compliance with ANSI and/or OSHA specifications as well as promises of impending certification are meaningless and should not be relied upon to determine the certification status of an automotive lift model or accessory. ALI maintains a web based Directory of ALI Certified Automotive Lift Models (updated daily) which identifies the vehicle lift models by responsible Participant, capacity, and other searchable criteria of interest the stakeholder community. If and when a lift should become de-certified, the listing is immediately removed from the ALI website and the Participant is no longer eligible to label or advertise the model as compliant. Since it is likely web upkeep and print advertising within the distribution chain may be out of the direct control of the Participant of record, a safety minded lift specifier or other stakeholder may find it appropriate to insist on written confirmation of certification in accordance with ANSI/ALI ALCTV (current edition) at the time of order processing; or to rely on ALI’s website listing information and confirm the information for their records by printing the content associated with the model(s) of interest; or when available, rely on participation in an alliance styled purchasing or bid specifications that provide a level of assurance that the bidder is both responsible and held accountable for the representation of models submitted as a currently certified automotive service lift. The Washington State sponsored “Western States Contracting Alliance” is an appropriate example.
Finally, accredited product certification programs within North America require that the certification file as well as the actual certification authorization representing a specific model, be issued in the name of the certification program participant of record. Contractually designated “Authorized Production Facilities” (APFs), distributors, and resellers of automotive service lifts are not eligible to hold or maintain certification in their company name as they do not control the design and quality control aspects of producing, recalling, and/or decertifying automotive lift models.
More information regarding standards and other ALI sponsored safety activities can be found throughout the Institute’s website located at www.autolift.org.
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