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Used or rented stair lift: what to check before you pay

Buying used from a company or a private person, or renting: guarantee periods, CE marking, contract terms and what to ask in writing. No invented prices.

CasaSemDegraus teamUpdated on 03/11/2026 · 7 min read
A stair lift chair with its seat folded at the bottom of a straight staircase, in a bright hallwayIllustration

In short

  • Buying from a company: 3-year guarantee, which may be cut to 18 months on a used item unless it is refurbished (Decreto-Lei 84/2021, article 12).
  • Buying from a private person: the Civil Code applies; tell the seller within 30 days of seeing the defect and within 6 months of delivery.
  • Rental: a Civil Code contract; describe and photograph the state at handover.
  • For used equipment, ask for the CE declaration, its date and who answers if it is fitted to another staircase.

Some people need a stair lift for only a few months, after an operation, and some cannot afford a new one. This guide shows what the law says when you buy from a company, buy from a private person or rent, and which papers to ask for in writing before you pay. We give no prices and no company names: there is no official source with figures.

Updated on 3 November 2026. General information; it does not replace the opinion of a lawyer or the help of the Directorate-General for Consumers.

The essentials

  • Buying from a company: the legal guarantee is three years, but for a used movable item the parties may agree 18 months. If the item is advertised as refurbished, the period cannot be cut and the invoice must say so (Decreto-Lei 84/2021, article 12).
  • Buying from a private person: that decree does not apply, because it covers contracts between consumers and professionals (article 3). The Civil Code applies, with short deadlines: tell the seller within 30 days of seeing the defect and within six months of delivery (article 916).
  • Rental: it is a Civil Code contract. The owner hands over the item and ensures its use; the person renting returns it in the state in which it was received (articles 1031 and 1043).
  • CE marking: the CE declaration is the manufacturer’s, for the first placing on the market. For used equipment, ask for it, check its date and ask who answers if it is fitted to another staircase.
  • Public help: stair lifts are on the SAPA list as reusable. We found no municipal assistive-device bank that lends them.

Company, private person or rental

From a company. The decree covers “second-hand goods” (article 2, point c)). A defect that appears within two years is presumed to have existed at delivery; if the period was shortened, only one year (article 13). There is no lack of conformity if the company clearly informed you of a feature that departs from the norm and you accepted it separately and expressly (article 7(3)). Ask for that departure in writing. “Refurbished” requires inspection, preparation and testing by a professional (article 2, point e)); advertising an item as refurbished and not writing it on the invoice is a serious administrative offence (article 48).

From a private person. The seller answers if the item lacks the qualities he assured or does not suit its normal purpose (article 913). You may ask for repair or replacement, unless the seller did not know of the defect and was not at fault (article 914). A good-working-order guarantee exists only if agreed or required by custom; with no written term, it ends six months after delivery (article 921). So write down what the seller guarantees and keep the conversation. The Your Europe page says the same at EU level: items bought from private individuals are not covered by the guarantee rules.

Rental. It is the lease of a movable item (Civil Code, articles 1022 and 1023). If the defect existed at delivery and the owner does not prove he did not know of it through no fault of his own, the contract counts as not performed (article 1032). When the owner is a company, the 2021 decree applies “to the lease of goods, with the necessary adaptations” (article 3(1), point b)). Also, with no document describing the state of the item at delivery, it is presumed to have been delivered in good condition (article 1043(2)). Take photos and sign a handover record.

Did you sign at home? In contracts made away from the business premises you have 14 days to withdraw, and second-hand goods count as goods (Decreto-Lei 24/2014, articles 3 and 10). There is no withdrawal for public auction sales, nor for repair or maintenance you asked for at your home (article 17). See the rest in the guide on comparing quotes.

Small print

A company’s standard terms must be communicated in full and in good time, and whoever uses them must explain what is asked (Decreto-Lei 446/85, articles 5 and 6). Terms not communicated, or that go unnoticed, are excluded (article 8). With final consumers, these are banned, among others: terms that exclude liability for damage to life, physical integrity or health (article 18), terms that exclude the seller’s duties for defects in performance (article 21, point d)) and terms in type smaller than 11 or 2.5 millimetres (point i)). Depending on the case, it is also banned to tie the guarantee to not using third parties without justification (article 19, point e)). Before accepting “sold as is”, read what that takes away.

CE marking and used equipment

Directive 2006/42/EC defines placing on the market as the first making available in the Union (article 2, point h)). Decreto-Lei 103/2008, in its original version, has no article on used machinery. Two points:

  • Old equipment. The 2008 decree takes effect from 29 December 2009 and on that date repeals Decreto-Lei 320/2001 (articles 23 and 24). A machine from before then followed the old rule: see which directive the declaration cites.
  • Rules from 2027. Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 applies from 20 January 2027 (article 54). Whoever makes a “substantial modification” to a machine is treated as the manufacturer and must redo the conformity assessment (articles 3 and 18). Products placed on the market before that date may continue to be offered (article 52). It also covers second-hand products imported from outside the Union (recital 10).

Questions to ask in writing

  • Year, model and serial number; instruction manual in Portuguese; CE declaration.
  • How old the battery is and what has been replaced.
  • Who dismantles, transports and fits, and who pays for damage to the stairs or wall.
  • Who guarantees that the rail fits your staircase, or whether it will be remade. See how to measure the stairs and choosing a stair lift or a platform.
  • Who does the servicing, with which parts and at what price.
  • Guarantee: length, what it covers and who provides it. For rental: rent, deposit, minimum term, fitting and collection costs, and a replacement if it breaks down.

For guidance on the type of equipment, use the selection tool.

Public loans

The SAPA list (Despacho 11077/2025) includes codes 18 30 10 and 18 30 11, stair lifts with a seat and with a platform, marked as reusable. SAPA also serves people with a temporary incapacity; the requirements are in the guide on who pays.

We read two municipal assistive-device bank regulations, Porto de Mós (2019) and Nelas (2023). Both lend free of charge and have income criteria. Neither lists stair lifts: the first mentions beds, wheelchairs, walkers and “others”; the second, wheelchairs, adjustable beds and bathroom aids. Ask your municipality.

What we could not confirm

  • Whether the 14-day withdrawal applies to a rental made at home.
  • How SAPA reuses a stair lift in practice (who collects and refits it).
  • Whether adapting a rail to another staircase is a “substantial modification”.
  • The consolidated text of Decreto-Lei 103/2008 (amended in 2011 and 2021): we read the 2008 version. We did not open the Commission’s guide on second-hand machinery.
  • VAT on used equipment: the guide on VAT and income tax does not deal specifically with used equipment and we did not check it.

Sources (read on 3 November 2026)

Questions and answers

Bought from a company, the legal guarantee is 3 years, but for a used movable item the parties may agree 18 months, unless it is advertised as refurbished (Decreto-Lei 84/2021, article 12).

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