Lift ARD — automatic rescue devices for elevators
One job, done properly: nobody is left standing in a dark car between two floors. On mains failure the ARD takes the lift to the nearest landing, opens the doors, and stops.
- Function
- Nearest-landing rescue, doors open, then shutdown
- Operation
- Automatic on mains failure, no operator input
- Fitment
- Retrofit to an existing lift controller
- Machine rating
- Sized against the machine — send the rating plate
And when it’s the right answer
An ARD — automatic rescue device — is the battery-backed unit that sits with the lift controller and does exactly one thing. When the mains fails it powers the drive long enough to move the car, at reduced speed, to the nearest landing, holds it level and opens the doors. Then it shuts down. It is a rescue device rather than a backup supply, and that distinction is the whole specification.
Without one, a power cut leaves whoever is in the car waiting for somebody to arrive with a machine-room key and wind the brake off by hand. In a housing society at eleven at night that is not a five-minute wait, and for a passenger who is elderly, claustrophobic, or alone with a child it is a genuinely bad experience. The ARD turns it into a short wait and a normal exit through open doors.
We also build the larger answer to the same problem — see the lift inverter, which keeps the lift in normal service at normal speed for hours rather than parking it. The ARD is the smaller and less expensive device, scoped to the narrower question. Most buildings specify the ARD first because it is what the handover checklist names; buildings with long, frequent cuts move up to the full backup, because residents would rather the lift simply carried on working.
Choose the ARD when the requirement is that nobody gets trapped. Choose the lift inverter when the requirement is that the lift keeps running — a hospital, a hotel, a tower where the stairs are twenty floors. The ARD ends the trip; the inverter continues it.
Manual brake release needs a trained person, on site, with the key. It works, and it is what the rules require you to be able to do — but it is a fallback, not a plan. The ARD acts on its own, immediately, every time.
A DG takes eight to fifteen seconds to start and load, assuming it starts at all. If it does not, the car stays where it is until somebody comes. The ARD is independent of both the mains and the generator.
Where these get installed
- Housing societies and residential towers
- Commercial and IT office buildings
- Hospitals — passenger and stretcher lifts
- Hotels
- Schools and institutional buildings
- Industrial goods lifts
Full specification
Typical values for the standard build. Every unit is configured to order — the figures on your general arrangement drawing are the ones that apply.
| Function | Nearest-landing rescue, doors open, then shutdown |
|---|---|
| Operation | Automatic on mains failure, no operator input |
| Fitment | Retrofit to an existing lift controller |
| Machine rating | Sized against the machine — send the rating plate |
| Compatible drives | VVVF geared & gearless, hydraulic |
| Battery type | SMF VRLA, sized to the machine |
| Protection | Overload · over/under voltage · short circuit · battery low |
| Indication | Mains / battery / rescue-in-progress LEDs |
| Enclosure | Wall or floor mount, machine-room rated |
Sectors that buy this
Elevators & Building Services
More than 700 lift backup units installed in Hyderabad, and a growing book across Pune. This is the part of a building where a power cut stops being an inconvenience and becomes a rescue call.
Hospitals & Diagnostics
The load list in a hospital is not one load. Theatres, imaging, ICU and the server room each need a different answer, and the specification has to hold up in an NABH audit.
Lift ARD (Automatic Rescue Device) — questions we get asked
Anything not covered here, call us — most of it is faster to answer on the phone.
What is an ARD in a lift?
ARD stands for automatic rescue device. It is a battery-backed unit wired to the lift controller that detects a mains failure and moves the car to the nearest landing at reduced speed, then opens the doors so passengers walk out normally. Once the doors are open it shuts down — it is not there to keep the lift in service, only to end the trip safely.
What is the difference between an ARD and a lift inverter?
Scope. An ARD gets the car to the nearest floor and opens the doors, then stops — it exists so nobody is trapped. A lift inverter is a full battery backup: the lift carries on in normal service, at normal speed, for hours, and the residents may not even notice the power went. The ARD is smaller, simpler and cheaper. The inverter is what you specify when the lift itself has to keep working. We build both, so we have no reason to push you towards the larger one.
Can an ARD be fitted to a lift that is already installed?
Usually, yes. What we need first is the machine rating, the drive type and the controller make — the interface differs between VVVF controllers and there is no universal wiring. We survey the machine room before quoting rather than assuming.
Is an ARD mandatory for lifts in Maharashtra?
Lift rules are state-administered and requirements change, so check the current Maharashtra Lifts, Escalators and Passenger Conveyors rules and your local lift inspector for what applies to your building. In practice a rescue device is standard specification on new installations and appears on most building handover checklists.
How long does an ARD run for?
It is sized for a rescue trip, not for a runtime figure — the question is whether it can move your machine to the nearest landing and hold the doors, not how many hours it lasts. Send us the machine rating and controller details and we will tell you the operating window for that specific lift. If you want hours rather than a trip, you want the lift inverter instead.
Where we supply and attend
Lift ARD (Automatic Rescue Device) units are built at our Pune works and delivered, installed and commissioned across the city and the industrial belt around it.
Outside these areas we contract individually against distance, and we will tell you honestly if the response time you need is not one we can hold to. All areas served
After it’s installed
We service what we build, and what everyone else builds too.