How often do construction site cranes need thorough examination?
Most cranes used for loads only carry the 12-monthly LOLER interval. Cranes used to lift persons — including those with man-cage attachments — drop to 6-monthly. Tower cranes may also have a Written Scheme of Examination specifying additional examinations after erection, dismantling, jib changes, or significant repair.
Construction sites concentrate more high-consequence lifting equipment than almost any other environment. Tower cranes lifting structural steel, mobile cranes positioning prefabricated units, telehandlers moving materials across uneven ground, MEWPs taking trades to height, lifting accessories under constant cycle load — every piece of equipment is on its statutory inspection clock, every duty holder is on the line if the paperwork lapses. The CDM 2015 coordination overlay adds project-level discipline but doesn't replace the equipment-level LOLER duty.
Construction firms are one of the sectors EIS works with. We provide independent LOLER, PUWER and PSSR thorough examinations for construction firms, principal contractors, and civil engineering contractors across Kent, London, Essex, the Thames Gateway, and nationwide. Reports satisfy HSE compliance, insurer audit, CHAS / SafeContractor / Constructionline SSIP scheme requirements, and integrate into the wider CDM evidence inventory.
Lifting and pressure equipment commonly found on construction sites
- Tower cranes — fixed, climbing, or self-erecting. 12-monthly LOLER baseline; WSE may specify additional examinations on erection, height change, or after significant repair. See our crane inspection service.
- Mobile cranes — all-terrain, rough-terrain, and city cranes. 12-monthly LOLER unless used to lift persons.
- Loader cranes (lorry-mounted / hiab-type) — 12-monthly LOLER for goods; 6-monthly with man-cage.
- Crawler cranes and lattice-boom cranes — 12-monthly LOLER, with WSE provisions common for heavy-duty configurations.
- Telehandlers — 12-monthly when used to lift loads; 6-monthly when fitted with man-cages for personnel lifting. See our mobile plant service.
- MEWPs (scissor lifts, cherry pickers, boom lifts) — 6-monthly LOLER because they lift persons. See our work-at-height equipment service and our cherry-pickers LOLER guide.
- Excavator quick-hitches and lifting attachments — LOLER applies when the excavator is used as lifting equipment (pipes, kerbs, drainage channels). 12-monthly.
- Site hoists and scaffold hoists — material hoists 12-monthly; scaffold hoists used for personnel 6-monthly.
- Chain blocks, lever hoists, slings, shackles, eyebolts — lifting accessories. 6-monthly LOLER. See our lifting equipment service.
- Abrasive wheels and powered hand tools — PUWER, not LOLER. Inspected at risk-based intervals; outside our typical scope but PUWER thorough examination can be coordinated where required.
- Site air compressors and pressure systems — PSSR for receivers above 250 bar-litres. See our PSSR service.
CDM 2015, principal contractors, and the LOLER duty allocation
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) coordinate health and safety across the construction project lifecycle. The principal contractor under CDM 2015 carries duties around planning, managing, and monitoring construction-phase H&S — but that's a project-level coordination duty, not a blanket statutory equipment ownership.
LOLER places the equipment duty on whoever controls the equipment. That can be the principal contractor where they own or hire the equipment directly; it can be the subcontractor where they bring their own kit; it can be the hire company where the equipment is on a contract-hire arrangement that retains the LOLER duty. The allocation should be explicit in the construction contract — not assumed.
The common pattern we see is the principal contractor commissioning a site-wide LOLER inspection programme that covers principal-contractor-owned and hired equipment, with subcontractors expected to provide examination evidence for kit they bring themselves. That works as long as the contracts are clear and the site H&S file captures who's responsible for what.
Hire-fleet inspection responsibility
Most construction site equipment is hired rather than owned. Hire arrangements split into three patterns, each with different LOLER duty implications:
- Short-term hire (dry hire) — equipment arrives with current Report of Thorough Examination; the hirer becomes the duty holder for the hire period. If the examination lapses during the hire, the equipment must come out of service.
- Operated hire / contract hire — the hire company typically retains the LOLER duty alongside operating the equipment. Worth verifying in the contract because the practice varies.
- Plant hire with maintenance — the hire company maintains and examines the equipment as part of the agreement. The hirer's duty is to operate it within the limits set out by the examination evidence.
Whatever the arrangement, the duty holder must have the current Report of Thorough Examination accessible on site, retained per LOLER Reg 11, and ready to produce in response to an HSE site visit.
Tower crane examinations — pre-erection, post-erection, configuration change
Tower cranes carry the most operationally-complex examination cycle. LOLER Regulation 9(2) requires thorough examination after assembly at a new site or after significant change to the installation conditions. A Written Scheme of Examination is typical for tower cranes, specifying:
- Pre-erection examination of jib sections, tower sections, slewing rings, and structural components
- Post-erection examination of the assembled configuration including counterweight, ballast, and base structure
- Re-examination after height changes (telescoping up or down)
- Re-examination after jib changes or significant repair
- The standard 12-monthly cyclical examination across the operational life on site
- Dismantling sequence verification where applicable
We coordinate tower crane examinations around the project's lift planning rather than imposing a generic calendar cycle. The WSE is the document that drives the inspection programme; we draft and review WSEs alongside the examinations themselves.
Frequently asked questions
How often do construction site cranes need thorough examination?
Tower cranes, mobile cranes, and loader cranes used for loads only are 12-monthly under LOLER. Cranes configured for personnel lifting (basket attachments, man-cages) drop to 6-monthly. Tower cranes may also have a Written Scheme of Examination specifying additional examinations after erection, dismantling, or significant repair.
Who is the duty holder on a construction site — principal contractor or sub?
Under LOLER, whoever has control of the equipment. In practice that's typically the contractor who hired or owns the equipment for the duration. The principal contractor under CDM 2015 carries broader health-and-safety coordination duties but isn't automatically the LOLER duty holder for every piece of equipment on site — the responsibility allocation should be explicit in the contract.
What about hire-fleet MEWPs and cranes?
Hire equipment arrives with its own Report of Thorough Examination. The hire contract specifies who carries the LOLER duty during the hire period — most short-term hire arrangements transfer the duty to the hirer, while contract hire often leaves it with the hire company. The thorough examination should be in date for the duration of the hire.
How does CDM 2015 interact with LOLER?
CDM 2015 is a project-level coordination regulation; LOLER is an equipment-level statutory regime. They run in parallel. CDM imposes duties on the client, principal designer, principal contractor, contractors, and workers; LOLER imposes duties on whoever controls each piece of lifting equipment. CDM doesn't replace LOLER — every lifting machine on site still needs its own thorough examination evidence.
Are excavator quick-hitches and lifting attachments LOLER equipment?
Yes, when used for lifting. An excavator with a quick-hitch and a lifting eye used to position pipes, beams, kerbs or drainage channels is operating as lifting equipment, and that lifting operation falls under LOLER. The interval is 12-monthly for loads only; 6-monthly if used to lift persons (rare but possible with a man-cage).
What about site air compressors and pressure systems?
Construction site compressed air systems serving pneumatic tooling fall under PSSR 2000 where the air receiver is above 250 bar-litres. The Written Scheme of Examination defines the interval (typically 26 months for site compressors). See our PSSR inspection service for detail.
Can EIS do pre-erection or post-dismantling tower crane examinations?
Yes. Significant changes to a tower crane configuration — erection at a new site, change of height or radius, jib extension — trigger a thorough examination requirement under LOLER 9(2) for the new installation conditions. We coordinate these examinations around the lift planning rather than imposing standard cycles.
Are construction firms a sector EIS works with?
Yes. Construction firms are one of our claimed client sectors. We provide LOLER thorough examinations on tower cranes, mobile cranes, MEWPs, telehandlers, loader cranes, lifting accessories and site lifting equipment across the South East and nationwide.
Quote a construction site inspection programme
Send us the site address, the equipment register (or rough breakdown by cranes / telehandlers / MEWPs / lifting accessories / air receivers), and the project's lift planning context. We'll quote against the actual scope, with multi-site contractor volume effect where relevant.
Request a quoteFor the regulatory deep-dive on MEWPs and cherry pickers see cherry pickers LOLER guide and MEWP inspection frequency. For cranes specifically: crane inspections. For multi-site contractor context: facilities management.