Our team of engineers is the largest, most respected group in the industry and has worked closely with our customers over the years, so we know what our customers look for in a wheelchair lift.

The PL-RA offers our residential customer:

• A stylish, compact design that blends in with - not overwhelms - your home's living environment
• Maximized functionality and lift space no matter what size wheelchair is used
• Powerful performance with a lift rating of 550 pounds!
• Peace of mind with an amazing number of safety features you'd only expect to get in a wheelchair lift that costs thousands of dollars more
• Customization options to meet your unique needs
• A hard-working, low-maintenance accessibility tool that sets the standard for residential wheelchair lifts
• And much, much more!

Your PL-RA can be a more cost-effective alternative to space-hogging ramps, and you'll never have to shovel snow and ice down a slippery slope.

 

More reasons thousands of homeowners have chosen the PL-RA:

And remember that this tiny titan lifts a rated load of up to 550 lbs. and operates on a standard household current. It is designed for indoor or outdoor use. Should your needs require a taller lifting height than 6'3", we offer other commercial models that travel over 14'.

 

Safety Features:
There are multiple safety features built into each lift. Highly sensitive sensors detect when an object is blocking the lift's path, helping prevent damage to the item or lift. Once the path is cleared, the lift continues to your destination.

 

Technical Features and Warranty:
The PL-RA is backed by a solid two-year drive train/one-year parts warranty. It is designed and built to the specifications established by the ADA guidelines and carries the prestigious Underwriters Laboratories label.

PL-S

PL-TG

PL-ENC

PL-EZE

PL-RA Residential

Rated Load

750 lbs

750 lbs

750 lbs

750 lbs

550 lbs

Max. Lifting Height

171"

52"

171"

170"

75"

Max. # of Landings

3

2

3

3

2

Speed

Ballscrew drive: 9-12 fpm
Hydraulic drive: 18-21 fpm

9-12 fpm

Platform Sizes

36x48 Std.
36x56 Opt.
36x60 Opt.
42x60 Opt.

36x60 Std.
36x48 Opt.

36x60

36x60

36x48 Std.
36x54 Opt.

Platform Configurations

Warranty

2 years drive train, 1 year parts

ADA FAQs

What is the ADA and how does it affect our lifts?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that went into effect in 1991. The law is designed to eliminate any discrimination because of disabilities. The ADA covers many different areas of discrimination but what affects our products is how the ADA addresses accessibility. Under Section 504 of the ADA, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, also known as "Access Board" was required to develop and issue guidelines which would become the final ADA accessibility standards. The American with Disabilities Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) was written and went into effect in January of 1992. These guidelines were written to try and clarify how architectural barriers should be eliminated and still comply with the intent of the ADA. The ADA identifies what needs to be accessible and refers back to ASME standards as to what equipment can be used. Over the passed few years, a committee has been working on updating ADAAG so that it is more consistent with available technologies and with the ASME standard. The recommendations for the new ADAAG have been published and submitted to the Access Board for adoption.

The NEW ADAAG has a couple of changes on the acceptable use of platform lifts to remove barriers but most important it new recognizes ASME A17.1-2000, Part 5.2 for LU/LA elevators.

Does ADAAG permit platform (wheelchair) lifts as a means of providing access?
Yes. Platform lifts are defined in Section 3.5 as an accessible route and are covered in Section 4.11.

Are platform lifts allowed in new construction?
Yes. Platform lifts complying with 4.11 and with local codes may be used to provide accessibility to a performing area in an assembly occupancy, to comply with the wheelchair viewing position line-of-sight and dispersion requirements of 4.33.3, in incidental occupiable spaces and rooms which are not open to the general public and which house no more than five persons, including but not limited to equipment control rooms and projection booths or to provide access where existing site constraints or other constraints make sue of a ramp or an elevator infeasible.

Will every building require an elevator, ramp or lift?
No. Existing buildings require only what is readily achievable and can not cause a financial hardship on the building owner. If a new or altered building has fewer than 3 stories or is less than 3000 square feet per floor, it does not need to be equipped with an elevator. This exception does not apply to shopping malls or offices of heath care providers. The ground floor, however, must be accessible. If an elevator is installed it must meet the ADAAG requirements.

Does ADAAG require any special requirements on platform lifts?
Yes. A minimum clear floor or ground space of 30" x 48" is required on vertical and inclined platform lifts. The new ADAAG also requires platform lifts where the lift does not allow a user to pass through the lift to have power openers on the gates or doors.

Do inclined platform lifts comply with the ADA?
Yes. The goal of the ADA is to improve accessibility. If the inclined lift is the best alternative tot he building owner, then that option should be taken. The inclined platform lift provides unassisted entry and exit from the lift and can physically be operated by the rider.

Does the ADA allow key operation?
Yes. The ADA recognizes the need for keys. While Section 4.11 still stipulates that platform lifts shall facilitate unassisted entry, operation and exit from the lift, the preamble states that this does not preclude the use of a key to operate a lift as long as the key is readily available and allows for unassisted operation.

Are all of our lifts ADA approved?
No. The ADA does not approve anything! The ADA is a civil rights law and the only way to get a ruling is if someone files a complaint with the Attorney General.

Independent test laboratories such as UL or ETL now inspect and test accessibility equipment to comply with ASME standards. Any equipment that displays one of these labels shows that the equipment has been inspected and tested to these standards and has passed. Many states require an independent laboratory label to be on equipment and many states will relax their inspection requirements if the equipment is labeled. There is a great expense to have the equipment listed, but if it allows our equipment to be more widely accepted and adds to the creditability of quality, it is well worth the added expense.

Wheelchair Lifts - Lifts VS. Ramps

Wheelchair Lifts offers the solution to a wide variety of your accessibility problems

Imagine that you arrive for work one day and your office building is suspended several feet above the ground. As you look upward, a feeling of helplessness overwhelms you because there is not a way for you to enter the building.

Sound far-fetched? Actually, it's not. This is the real-life dilemma disable people and people with mobility challenges confront on a daily basis. Buildings that do not provide access alternatives for people with disabilities might just as well be suspended 10 feet above the ground.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law on July 26, 1990, is changing this situation. Effective January 26, 1992, commercial facilities were required by law to be accessible to people with disabilities. To accomplish this goal, most buildings in the United States have several options - vertical platform (wheelchair) lifts, ramps or elevators. When selecting one of these alternatives, several factors should be considere3d: cost, space limitations, aesthetics, upkeep, ease of use, achieveability, building size and travel distance.

Elevators are a viable solution in certain applications, such as heavy-duty, multi-level, interior settings. However, for shorter vertical rises, whether they are interior or exterior, they are often too costly and space prohibitive. Because such settings represent a large share of the accessibility problems in the real world, we have limited the following comparison to lifts and ramps.

A closer look at both ramps and lifts identifies some key differences.

Lifts Versus Ramps
While ramps may seem to provide a simple, straightforward solution to any accessibility problem, upon further analysis it becomes clear that in most cases the reverse is actually the case.

Whether it is an interior or an exterior accessibility compliance issue, ramps like elevators, require extensive space, are expensive, are hard for disabled people to use and can have poor aesthetics.

The ADAAG (Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines) are very specific about the use of ramps, and federal, state and local regulations governing the use of ramps abound. For instance, the angle of a ramp is referred to as the "slope." The slope is defined by the ratio of the vertical rise to the horizontal run. Since the slope of a ramp may not exceed 1:12 in order to comply, for every inch a ramp rises, it must include at least 12 inches of run or surface.

In addition, all landings must have a minimum clear length of 60 inches, and where a ramp changes direction, the landing must provide for at least 60 x 60 inches of clearance. Landings must be provided every 30 feet of ramp run for resting, at each turn, and at the top of the ramp to assist in the negotiation of doors and entrances.

Platform lifts, on the other hand, are better than ramps in nearly all areas - cost, space efficiency, maintenance and aesthetics. With a host of design and format options available, lift systems can be installed in anything from woodframe enclosures, like small elevators, to free-standing, attractive, atrium-style enclosures.

A Well-kept Secret
An often-asked question is, "If wheelchair lifts are so good, why aren't they more widely known?" There are two major reasons for this misconception.

First, few people are aware that platform lifts exist. Secondly, most people do not understand how lifts can be used and integrated into a variety of architectural surroundings.

The fact is that lifts have been successfully solving accessibility problems in the United States for more than 20 years, in a wide range of applications. As more and more people become aware of the important benefits that wheelchairs lifts deliver in a great many different applications, the popularity of these versatile and efficient system will grow accordingly.

Even those who are aware of wheelchair lifts often incorrectly assume that ramps would be less expensive. The accompanying graph (Figure 1) shows the initial costs of a wheelchair lift as compared to that of a ramp. Initial costs include all materials and estimated labor of installed lifts and ramps.

As the graph demonstrated, the initial costs of lifts are far easier to control than those of ramps. As the vertical rise increases, initial ramp costs quickly outpace those for a wheelchair lift.

Ramp costs are bases on a standard concrete ramp structure with steel handrails, built to ADAAG specifications. Lift costs are based on a "toe-guard telescoping" style wheelchair lift.

 

The "Before" illustration, Figure 2, represents a typical commercial facility with an obvious accessibility problem of stairs leading to a facility entrance. Figure 3 shows how a concrete ramp with steel handrails could be installed at the facility; while Figure 4 represents a wheelchair lift in the same setting.More specifically, Figure 4 shows a telescoping style wheelchair lift. A series of panels surrounds the lift on the outside and remains on the ground. A second series of panels surrounds the platform, raising and lowering with the platform as the user travels. While a variety of lifts are available, a telescoping style wheelchair lift is used in this example because it is the type most often specified for its superior versatility, attractive appearance and all-around operating efficiencies.

Figure 5 compares not only the initial costs, but also the other major considerations of space, aesthetics and upkeep in making an accessibility decision. Here again, the advantages that lifts have over ramps are plain to see.

The Best Overall Solution
People evaluating accessibility alternatives need to keep in mind that the wheelchair lifts they consider should be manufactured to meet the ADA, as well as specific federal, state and local codes. While cutting corners to provide a "quick fix" may appear attractive up front, the ongoing implications of such an approach can prove to be detrimental. Considerable thought should be given to committing the necessary resources from the very beginning, in order to provide the best and most cost-effective short-term as well as long-term results.

When all factors are considered, more and more people are realizing that wheelchair lifts are indeed the best solution to accessibility problems in almost all situations.

 

Wheelchair Lifts

Ramps

Initial Cost

Space Required

Aesthetics

Maintenance

When considering an accessibility solution, space requirements, aesthetics and maintenance, as well as initial costs, should all be considered in order to arrive at the most effective short-term and long-term solution. The comparison above is based on a 30 inch vertical rise.

ADA - Compliance or Defiance