How Many Lifts Should a Phnom Penh Condominium Have?

Prepared by the NovAsia Editorial Team

There is no reliable rule stating that a Phnom Penh condominium needs one lift for every 100 apartments. Two towers with the same unit count can perform very differently. One may have fast, high-capacity lifts, a separate service car and intelligent group control. In the other, residents, couriers, cleaners and removals may share three small cars serving forty floors.

The first practical question is whether the building can continue operating normally when one lift is unavailable. In a 35-storey tower with 300 apartments and only two passenger lifts, planned maintenance immediately removes half the capacity. Without a service lift, the remaining car must also carry furniture, refuse and contractors.

A good project does not necessarily install the maximum number of shafts. Every additional lift consumes saleable space and creates maintenance costs. The developer’s job is to provide a financially sustainable system that moves the expected population with acceptable waiting times and reasonable redundancy. The buyer’s job is to confirm that saleable-area efficiency was not achieved by sacrificing daily life.

Why the number of lift cars proves very little

A brochure may advertise eight lifts across a large development. The selected apartment may be served by only two because the remaining lifts belong to other towers, offices, a hotel or parking.

Assess the lift group serving the chosen residential section.

Capacity depends on:

• residential floors;
• apartments per floor;
• likely residents per apartment;
• car speed and size;
• door width and opening time;
• number of stops;
• parking and podium levels;
• control algorithms;
• short-stay or hotel use;
• service and delivery traffic.

A 30-storey building with four large apartments per floor is not equivalent to one with twenty studios per floor. The second tower has a much larger likely population and more frequent calls.

Professional lift planning considers peak demand rather than an average day. ISO 8100-32 addresses planning and selection of passenger lifts in residential, hotel and office buildings, while CIBSE Guide D covers traffic handling, intervals, waiting times and group control. A marketing ratio does not replace this work.

Four useful concepts are:

A simple units-per-lift ratio is useful only as a warning signal. One hundred apartments per lift in a 12-storey building and the same ratio in a 45-storey tower create different results.

Testing a completed building

The best evidence in an operating condominium is observation during busy periods.

Spend 20–30 minutes in the lobby around 7:30–8:30 am and again around 5:30–7:00 pm. Note the time from pressing the button to entering the car, the number of occupants already inside, intermediate stops, queues and how calls from parking are handled.

There is no single acceptable waiting time for every project. What matters is repeated failure: residents allowing full cars to pass, persistent queues, long journeys with stops at nearly every floor or one lift permanently reserved for other tasks.

Speak to residents about breakdown frequency, planned maintenance, generator operation and waiting during the first months after handover.

Assessing an off-plan development

In an unfinished project, request the lift traffic analysis or a clear technical summary. It should state the assumed population, peak-demand scenario, number of cars, capacity, speed, expected waiting and the result when one car is unavailable.

“International lift brand” is not an answer. A high-quality lift can still be undersized or too few in number.

Review a completed development from the same developer where the height, apartment density and lift arrangement are similar. Resident experience may reveal whether earlier assumptions were realistic.

For a multi-tower or mixed-use project, obtain the lift map for the specific tower. Confirm which cars stop at the chosen floor, whether residents change lifts at a sky lobby and whether office or hotel users share the group.

Destination-control systems can improve flow by grouping passengers travelling to similar zones. They optimise existing capacity; they do not compensate for a fundamentally inadequate number of shafts.

The service lift determines whether passenger lifts remain passenger lifts

A residential tower moves far more than residents. Every day, the building carries waste, linen, cleaning trolleys, deliveries, maintenance staff, construction materials, furniture and appliances.

Without a dedicated service or goods-passenger lift, these movements use the passenger group.

The problem is especially visible after handover, when many owners furnish apartments simultaneously. A removal can occupy one car for an extended period, and protective wall panels reduce usable space. In a building with two passenger lifts, residents may effectively be left with one.

A proper service lift supports scheduled removals, separates contractors from residents and reduces damage to passenger finishes. It is particularly important in towers with many units, serviced apartments, hotel functions or short-term rental.

Verify its door width, internal dimensions, load rating, route, access from the loading area and whether it serves every residential floor. A service lift that cannot take a sofa or does not reach the selected tower is of limited value.

Breakdown and maintenance risk

A lift is removed from service not only after a failure. It may be stopped for inspections, door repairs, replacement components and routine maintenance.

In a four-lift group, losing one removes roughly a quarter of nominal capacity. In a two-lift group, it removes half. The remaining cars then stop more frequently and become more crowded, so the real decline can be greater.

The key question is therefore: how many lifts remain usable when one is under maintenance?

Backup electricity also needs a precise answer. A generator may support every lift, one car in each group or only an emergency return function. Ask which cars operate, how quickly power transfers and whether water pumps, stair lighting and access control remain available at the same time.

Regulation and maintenance documentation in 2026

Cambodia strengthened its lift framework in early 2026. Prakas No. 008 introduced lift-use certification requirements, while later rules addressed licensing for companies installing, repairing or modifying lifts.

For a buyer, the practical documents include:

• a valid use or operating certificate where required;
• the maintenance contract;
• inspection and service records;
• emergency response arrangements;
• contractor qualifications;
• generator testing records;
• records of repeated faults.

Certification relates to lawful and safe operation. It does not establish that the lift group has sufficient traffic capacity. Both issues must be checked separately.

The equipment brand does not cure a poor design. A respected manufacturer can supply equipment that is too slow, too small or too limited in number if that is what the project specifies.

Lift costs and the building budget

Owners pay for preventive maintenance, emergency call-outs, electricity, communications, ventilation, door drives, electronic boards, cables or belts and major replacement work.

More lifts increase routine costs. Too few lifts create a different cost by harming rental demand, making high floors less attractive and increasing the likelihood of special levies after major failures.

A sustainable project needs a lift system that is both adequate and financially maintainable.

Ask whether future lift modernisation is included in the sinking fund. An unusually low service charge may simply postpone the expense.

How to assess a project before buying

Create a vertical profile containing:

• residential floor count;
• apartments per floor;
• likely population;
• passenger lifts in the selected section;
• service lifts;
• capacity and speed;
• parking stops;
• backup-power operation.

Then review four groups of evidence:

A low-rise building with 60–100 apartments and two passenger lifts may have reasonable redundancy. The same two cars in a 35–45-storey tower with 300–400 units are a much greater concern, especially without a service lift.

A 500-unit project with four passenger lifts may work where separate sections have independent groups. It may be overloaded where all four serve every floor of one high-density tower.

This is why a universal “one lift per 80 units” rule is unreliable. The ratio is a prompt for further investigation, not a conclusion.

What to look for in the traffic analysis

The model should disclose its assumptions: residents per unit, the proportion moving during peak periods, floors served, parking demand and whether a hotel or short-term rental component has been included.

A low assumed occupancy can make a weak system appear adequate. This is particularly relevant where the project contains family apartments but the model assumes studio-level occupancy.

Check the car’s usable size as well as its stated kilogram rating. Door width and boarding time influence performance. A narrow entrance slows pushchairs, luggage and deliveries.

High nominal speed matters in a tall tower, but fewer stops and good group control can matter more. Ask for expected peak waiting and journey time, not only metres per second.

Zoned lifts and sky lobbies

High-rise projects may divide floors into low and high zones or use a sky lobby. Zoning reduces stops and can improve handling capacity, but it introduces transfers and a more complicated route for visitors, luggage and deliveries.

Confirm how residents reach parking, amenities and the lobby, and whether access remains straightforward during a partial shutdown.

Practical red flags

Investigate further where:

• lift numbers are quoted only for the entire development;
• two passenger lifts serve a tall tower with several hundred units;
• there is no service lift;
• residents and hotel or office users share the same group;
• the developer refuses to provide a traffic summary;
• backup power supports no usable lift to the selected floor;
• maintenance records or certificates are unclear;
• the current service charge leaves no reserve for major components;
• lift doors or call buttons frequently fail during viewings;
• one car has remained out of service for an extended period.

Conclusion

The correct number of lifts cannot be derived from apartment count alone. Height, density, speed, car size, service traffic, group control and backup arrangements all determine the resident experience.

The most important test is resilience. A building should remain usable during routine maintenance or a temporary failure. For buyers of upper-floor apartments, lift quality is not a minor amenity; it is part of the apartment’s daily access and future liquidity.

Sources

1. ISO 8100-32 — planning and selection of passenger lifts.
2. CIBSE Guide D — transportation systems in buildings and lift traffic analysis.
3. Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction — Prakas No. 008 on lift-use certification, January 2026.
4. Cambodian rules on licensing companies that install, repair and modify lifts, March 2026.
5. Technical guidance from major lift manufacturers on destination control, capacity and maintenance.

Frequently asked

How many lifts are needed for 300 apartments?

The apartment count alone is not enough. Building height, car capacity, speed, tower layout, service lifts and a professional traffic analysis all matter.

Are two lifts always too few?

Two may be adequate in a smaller building with 60–100 apartments. In a tall tower containing several hundred units, the same arrangement creates a high risk of queues and serious disruption when one car stops.

What should a buyer request from the developer?

Ask for the lift plan by tower, traffic analysis, speed and capacity, service-lift arrangements, backup-power provision, maintenance contracts and commissioning or use certificates.