Lifting Equipment Inspections

"Lifting equipment" is the machinery that raises and lowers loads — from a 50-tonne overhead crane down to a workshop chain hoist. LOLER Regulation 9 imposes a single fundamental duty across the whole range: thorough examination by a competent person at fixed intervals, with a written report retained as proof of compliance.

We provide lifting equipment inspections across Kent, London, Essex, Surrey, Sussex, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and throughout the UK through our network of qualified Engineer Surveyors operating independently of maintenance providers.

LOLER Regulation 9 — The Duty to Thoroughly Examine

LOLER Regulation 9 is the legal anchor for everything we do. It places a duty on the employer to ensure lifting equipment is thoroughly examined by a competent person at each of the following points:

• Before first use, where the equipment has not previously been used, unless it has an EC declaration of conformity made within the previous twelve months (Reg 9(1)).
• After installation or assembly at a new site, and before it is put into service there, where its safety depends on the installation conditions (Reg 9(2)).
• At regular intervals in service, or in accordance with a written scheme of examination (Reg 9(3)).
• After exceptional circumstances liable to jeopardise the equipment's safety — a collision, an overload, a major modification, or a long period out of use.

In practice the regime is supported by HSE's Approved Code of Practice and guidance L113, which sets out how "competent person" is understood and addresses the practical independence expected between thorough examination and the maintenance arrangements for the same equipment.

Examination intervals under Regulation 9(3)

Regulation 9(3) sets the statutory minimum intervals. Which one applies depends on what the equipment lifts:

• At least every 6 months — lifting equipment used to lift people (passenger and goods-passenger lifts, MEWPs, patient and pool hoists, platform lifts, stairlifts).
• At least every 6 months — all lifting accessories. These are a separate category on their own cycle; see our lifting accessories inspection service for slings, shackles, eyebolts, and lifting beams.
• At least every 12 months — all other lifting equipment, i.e. machinery that lifts loads but not people.
• Or in accordance with a written scheme of examination drawn up by a competent person, which may set a different interval based on an engineering risk assessment — it cannot simply be lengthened for commercial convenience.

These are minimums. Heavily used equipment, arduous environments, or a manufacturer's recommendation can all justify examining more often than the default interval.

Thorough examination, inspection, and maintenance are not the same

Three different activities are often confused. A thorough examination is the detailed statutory assessment by a competent person that Regulation 9 requires. An inspection under Regulation 9(4) is a lighter interim check between examinations, carried out where the risk assessment shows one is needed. Maintenance keeps the equipment running and is a separate duty entirely.

Well-maintained equipment can still fail a thorough examination because of latent defects a service visit is not designed to find. For the full distinction — including why the examination is a legal duty in its own right — see our guide on what a thorough examination under LOLER is.

Lifting equipment vs lifting accessories

LOLER draws a clear line between the machine that lifts and the gear that connects the load to it. This page covers the equipment — cranes, hoists, runway beams, lift trucks and the like, on the 12-monthly interval (or 6-monthly where it lifts people). The accessories that go between the equipment and the load — slings, shackles, eyebolts, hooks, lifting and spreader beams — are a separate category examined every 6 months, covered in full on our lifting accessories inspection page. Most sites need both.

Equipment We Routinely Examine

Our Engineer Surveyors cover the full breadth of lifting machinery found in commercial, industrial, and public sector environments. For the full legal definition and a category-by-category breakdown of what the regulations capture, see our guide on what counts as lifting equipment under LOLER:

• Overhead and gantry cranes, jib cranes, and hoist blocks — the workhorses of manufacturing and warehousing, examined on the 12-monthly load-lifting cycle.
• Chain hoists, lever hoists, pull-lifts, and electric or pneumatic hoists — fixed and portable units used across workshops and production lines.
• Runway beams, monorails, and the supporting structure — the track and anchorage a hoist runs on is examined as part of the lifting system.
• Lift trucks, pallet stackers, and platform trucks — powered load-handling equipment within LOLER's scope.
• Dock levellers and tail lifts — loading-bay and vehicle-mounted lifting equipment on distribution and transport sites.
• Patient hoists and ceiling-track systems — because they lift people, these fall on the 6-monthly interval, with particular attention to slings, spreader bars, and the track.
• Pool hoists — accessibility hoists in swimming pools, leisure centres, hydrotherapy suites, and care homes. They lift people (6-monthly), and marine-environment exposure makes corrosion checks especially important.

Warehouse and distribution sites that run dock levellers and chain hoists almost always have static storage to keep compliant too. Pallet racking is storage equipment rather than lifting equipment, so it sits outside LOLER — but it carries its own duty to inspect, and we also offer pallet racking inspection for the same sites.

Insurance inspection of lifting equipment

Buyers often arrive at this page looking for an "insurance inspection" of their lifting equipment, then find that what's described here is a LOLER thorough examination. In practice these are the same thing. UK engineering insurance policies covering lifting equipment typically specify "thorough examination by a competent person at the statutory interval" — which is the wording LOLER Regulation 9 uses verbatim. The HSE-defined competent person carrying out a LOLER thorough examination produces the report your insurer needs to see, and the report you keep as the legal record under LOLER Regulation 11. If a policy schedule references "engineering insurance inspection", "competent person inspection", "lifting equipment inspection", or "thorough examination" — these are all describing the LOLER Regulation 9 work covered on this page.

What Our Engineer Surveyors Check

A lifting equipment thorough examination is a statutory safety audit, not a service. On every visit, the surveyor verifies:

• Structural condition of load-bearing components, including welds and pinned joints
• Condition of chains, wire ropes, and rope terminations forming part of the equipment
• Operation of braking, locking, and limit-switch systems
• Security of anchor points and the supporting structure
• Legibility and accuracy of Safe Working Load (SWL) markings and identification numbers
• Where applicable, operation of overload protection and emergency descent systems

The report — and what it must contain

Every thorough examination is followed by a written report of thorough examination, dated and signed by the competent person. It records the particulars required by Schedule 1 to LOLER: the equipment examined and its identification, the safe working load, the date of the examination and of the last one, any defects found and whether they involve a risk to people, whether the equipment is safe to operate, and the date by which the next thorough examination must be carried out.

The report is the legal record that LOLER Regulation 11 requires you to keep available for inspection — for lifting equipment, until you cease using it or the next report supersedes it. We issue reports digitally so they can be filed, shared with insurers, and retrieved during an HSE visit without delay.

When a defect is found

Where the competent person identifies a defect that is, or could become, a danger to people, LOLER Regulation 10 sets out what happens next. A defect involving an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury must be reported to you immediately, and a copy of the report sent to the relevant enforcing authority — the equipment must be withdrawn from service until the defect is put right. Defects that are not yet serious but could become so are recorded with a timescale for repair. Acting on the report is the duty holder's responsibility, not the inspector's.

Who is the duty holder?

LOLER places its duties on the person who has control of the lifting equipment in connection with a business — usually the employer, and in shared premises often the building owner or managing agent. The duty holder must ensure equipment is thoroughly examined at the right intervals, keep the reports, act on defects, and make sure the equipment is only used within its safe working load and by suitably trained people. Arranging an independent competent person to carry out the examination is part of discharging that duty — it does not transfer it.

Lifting Equipment Inspections by Location

We deliver lifting equipment thorough examinations across the South East:

• Kent Lifting Equipment Inspections
• London Lifting Equipment Inspections
• Essex Lifting Equipment Inspections

Lifting equipment inspection by sector

Independent of any maintenance contractor — see why independence matters in statutory inspection for the structural case under LOLER Reg 9 + HSE L113.

Sector-specific patterns for the equipment above:

• Care Homes — patient hoists, bath lifts, stairlifts, ceiling-track systems
• Warehousing & Logistics — dock levellers, chain hoists, and the lifting accessories that go with them
• Facilities Management — multi-site lifting equipment portfolios
• Construction — site hoists, gantries, and lifting gear
• Theatres & Entertainment Venues — counterweight flying, performer flying, scenic hoists. See our dedicated theatre and stage equipment inspection service.

Frequently Asked Questions