Periodic inspection and maintenance of crane and lifting gear — the law behind the routine
Why inspection is not bureaucracy, but what finds the fault before it becomes an accident
Introduction
A crane can look fine and still carry a defect no one can see from the outside: a cable with internal breaks a hydraulic hose about to burst or a load limiter no longer warning correctly. That's why periodic inspection of cranes and lifting equipment is not something you can skip or postpone because the task is urgent. It's a legal requirement and one of the most important barriers against serious accidents in the field.
The law behind the inspection
The requirements for inspecting cranes are in the Danish Working Environment Authority's Executive Order on the use of technical equipment (BEK no. 428 of 05/04/2022). For technical equipment for lifting loads — including cranes — the requirement is clear: a main inspection by a competent person at least every 12 months (§ 58). The manufacturer's instructions determine what the inspection must cover and may require a shorter interval — but never a longer one. The rule «at least every 12 months if the manufacturer has not specified an interval» is the general rule for other technical equipment (§ 25). After every main inspection the crane must have a static load test at 125 % of the maximum permitted working load (§§ 70-71), and the results are entered in the crane's log (§ 72).
Who may perform the inspection?
Inspection must be carried out by a competent person — meaning someone with sufficient knowledge, education and experience to be able to assess the condition of the crane. It can be an internally trained employee in a large company or an external testing firm, but it can never be a random colleague who just thinks the crane 'looks fine'. The requirement for a competent person is there precisely because the assessment must be able to withstand scrutiny if something later goes wrong.
- 01Wires, chains and hooks for wear, breakage and deformation
- 02Hydraulic hoses, cylinders and seals for leaks and damage
- 03Brakes, safety couplings and emergency stop
- 04Load limiter and other electronic safety equipment
- 05Load-bearing parts and welds for cracks and corrosion
Daily inspection is your responsibility
The periodic inspection by the expert does not replace your own daily eye on the crane. Before you put the crane in motion you look through the wires hooks and visible hoses yourself test that emergency stop and load limiter respond as they should and listen for unusual sounds. It is a quick but important check — it is often here that a new damage or a forgotten error from the last shift is discovered before the lift begins.
| Type of inspection | Who performs it | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Daily check before use | The crane operator themselves | Each day/shift |
| Main inspection + static test at 125 % | Expert person | At least every 12 months |
| 10-year inspection (outdoors, over 1,000 kg) | Expert person | No later than at 10 years, then at least every 10 years — instead of that year's main inspection |
Why it is not bureaucracy
An inspection form a signature and a date might seem like paperwork taking time from the 'real' work. But it is precisely this kind of documentation that shows whether a fault was known and overlooked or arose without warning. A crane nobody has inspected in years is a crane where you guess that everything still holds. The inspection is what removes the guessing.
“The error you never see is the one that does damage. Inspection is how it gets found while there's still time to correct it.”