What Is a Vehicle Lift and How Does It Work? | Shop Lifts Explained

Whether you’re a weekend DIYer or run a professional shop, a vehicle lift is the difference between lying on your back under a jack stand and standing upright with the whole underside at eye level. Before you invest in one, it helps to know exactly what these machines do, how the lifting mechanism works, and which safety standards govern their use. Here’s the practical breakdown.

How a Vehicle Lift Works

A vehicle lift operates on a straightforward hydraulic principle. An electric or pneumatic pump pressurizes hydraulic fluid, which pushes a piston inside a cylinder. That piston movement raises the lift arms and the vehicle sitting on them. When you lower the lift, a release valve opens to let fluid flow back to the reservoir. Gravity does the work, and the valve controls the speed so the descent stays smooth and controlled.

Once the lift reaches working height, mechanical safety locks or latches engage to hold the load in place. These locks are the critical safety feature, because they keep the vehicle supported even if hydraulic pressure drops.

What Standards Apply to Vehicle Lifts?

The standards landscape matters if you’re buying a lift for a commercial shop or installing one at home. Several consensus standards govern different aspects of design, installation, and use in North America and internationally.

For installation and service, the current standard is ANSI/ALI ALIS: 2022, which ANSI approved on February 4, 2022. It covers car lifts, truck lifts, automotive hoists, and vehicle lifts throughout North America. This standard outlines the safety requirements installers must follow when setting up the equipment.

Design and construction fall under ANSI/ALI ALCTV-2011, which sets requirements for the testing and validation of automotive lifts, whether manually driven or power driven, stationary or mobile.

For day-to-day use, ANSI/ALI ALOIM: 2020 is the standard covering operation, inspection, and maintenance for automotive lifts. OSHA-related materials reference this as the consensus standard shop owners should follow.

Internationally, EN 1493:2022 applies to stationary and mobile vehicle lifts used for examination and maintenance. Notably, this standard explicitly does not apply to lifts designed to raise people.

The OSHA Question: What Rules Apply?

Here’s where a lot of misinformation shows up. OSHA does not have a specific standard that applies to automotive lift users. The agency states this plainly. It also clarifies there are no certification requirements for automotive lifts under its standards.

That doesn’t mean OSHA ignores the hazard. Under the General Duty Clause, employers must still protect workers from recognized hazards, and an unmaintained or improperly used lift qualifies. The practical takeaway: OSHA expects your lift to be safe, but you won’t find a dedicated OSHA regulation with detailed lift rules. Instead, the agency points to the ANSI/ALI consensus standards as the baseline for safe operation.

Safety Rules That Actually Matter

A vehicle lift is only as safe as the person using it. State safety bulletins referencing the industry standard emphasize a few non-negotiables:

• Qualified personnel only: operation, inspection, and maintenance should be performed by someone qualified for the task.
• Continuous-pressure controls: lift controls should require continuous pressure to raise or lower and should spring back to neutral when released. If your lift lets go of the button and keeps moving, that’s a problem.
• Mechanical locks engaged: never work under a vehicle supported only by hydraulic pressure. The mechanical locks must be engaged.
• Follow manufacturer instructions: California’s regulation, for example, requires new lifts to be installed per the manufacturer’s instructions and to meet specific design and testing provisions.
• Know what you’re buying: a portable jack or vehicle support is not a lift, and the applicable safety guidance differs. Don’t confuse the two.

If you’re shopping and want to compare the main types before committing, our roundup of the best types of vehicle lifts for home shops breaks down the options side by side.

Two more practical cautions worth remembering. First, don’t assume a lift rated for one job handles another: EN 1493 excludes lifts meant to raise people, and using shop equipment outside its scope is how accidents happen. Second, if you’re buying a used lift, verify which standard it was built to. California’s regulations distinguish lifts by manufacture date, tying older equipment to earlier ANSI/ALI versions. A lift that predates current standards isn’t automatically unsafe, but it deserves a closer look before you trust it with a car.