However, not every block has an elevator. The government insured itself against the Poles

“Prisoners of the fourth floor” – this was the name given to elderly people who, due to their health condition and the lack of an elevator in a block of flats or tenement houses, were forced to live within four walls. It is estimated that there is a shortage throughout Poland 25 thousand elevators.

It seemed that the government had forced communities and cooperatives to change their situation through regulations. From 2026, elevators will be required to be installed not only in new buildings, but also in existing buildings. However, it turns out that this can be avoided because there is a loophole in the regulations.

The average Pole is 44 years old today. He often lives in a building without an elevator

The problem is not imaginary – according to the Central Statistical Office, people aged 65+ already constitute over 21%. Polish society, and the old age index in 2025 was 148. This means that there are 148 seniors per 100 children in Poland. The average resident of Poland is now almost 44 years old. How many years will he be able to carry his groceries up the stairs without any major problems?

The question is justified because a large number of buildings in Poland were built at a time when practically no one thought about architectural accessibility.

In the times of the Polish People’s Republic, four-story buildings were commonly built without elevators, because the building regulations of that time required the installation of a lift only in buildings with more than four floors above ground (i.e. from five levels and above). Why was such a law passed? From savings.

The regulations allowed climbing on foot to a height of about 15 meters, considering this to be the limit of human capabilities without mechanical support. Moreover, before the political transformation, elevators were very expensive and scarce equipment, so the state and cooperatives deliberately limited the height of blocks to four floors to avoid these costs.

Exceptions to the rule of installing elevators. One type of privileged building

The new regulations introduce the obligation to equip buildings with an elevator:

• generally understood public utility buildings with two or more floors,

• multi-family residential buildings with three or more floors.

So there is a chance to change the unfavorable situation, but there is also a loophole in the regulations. “It will be possible to count on a derogation from the requirement to install an elevator,” the Ministry of Development and Technology informed the National Chamber of Architects of the Republic of Poland.

Owners of buildings where it is not possible to install an elevator in accordance with applicable regulations, such as in historic buildings, will be able to count on such reduced treatment. “Each case of departure from basic technical and construction regulations should be considered individually,” the ministry noted.

Interestingly, according to architects from the Krakow University of Technology, Mrparadoxically, it is easier to install an elevator in pre-war buildings than in blocks of flats from the 1960s and 1970s. In many tenement houses, elevator shafts were designed before the war, or space was left for their later installation. Ttypical four- and five-story blocks of flats turn out to be the biggest challenge. They are structurally rigid, have narrow staircases and landings between floors.

This means that even an added elevator often it doesn’t stop at the apartment leveland access to it still requires climbing stairs.