Thorough examinations for every crane, hoist and sling, on schedule, on record.
Manage LOLER thorough examinations end to end: 6 and 12-month schedules, defect reporting and the full Report of Thorough Examination ready to issue.
Quick answer
Lifting equipment compliance means keeping cranes, hoists, lifting accessories and equipment used to lift people safe, inspected and properly recorded under LOLER 1998 and PUWER 1998. In practice, that means planning lifting operations, using competent people, maintaining equipment, completing thorough examinations at the right interval, recording defects, and keeping written evidence available for clients, insurers or enforcing authorities.
The duty usually falls on the employer, self-employed person, owner, hirer or person in control of the lifting equipment and how it is used. HSE guidance treats this as a management duty: you must make sure the equipment is suitable, maintained, examined by a competent person, and removed from use where defects create danger.
Unless a competent person sets a different written examination scheme, HSE guidance says thorough examinations are normally due every 6 months for lifting equipment used to lift people and for lifting accessories, and every 12 months for other lifting equipment. Extra examinations may be needed after installation, assembly, damage, long periods out of use or major changes.
Duty holders should keep written thorough examination reports, inspection records, defect reports, next examination dates and relevant Declarations of Conformity. HSE says reports must include the information required by LOLER Schedule 1, including the examination date, next due date and defects that are or could become dangerous.
CertFlow gives inspection firms and duty holders one place to manage LOLER assets, schedules, reports and evidence. Each lifting asset sits in the asset register with its site, location, QR tag, examination history and next due date. Engineers can complete mobile inspections, capture photos and signatures, issue branded certificates, record defects, and keep an audit trail of who changed what and when.
The duty
The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) require that lifting equipment is subject to a thorough examination by a competent person, every 6 months for equipment that lifts people or is a lifting accessory, every 12 months for other lifting equipment, or in line with an examination scheme.
CertFlow keeps every crane, hoist and accessory on a recurring examination schedule, captures defects in the field, and produces the Report of Thorough Examination automatically so nothing slips past its due date.
Your legal duties
Lifting equipment must be thoroughly examined by a competent person at statutory intervals: every 6 months for equipment used to lift people and for lifting accessories, every 12 months for other lifting equipment, or in line with an examination scheme.
Each examination produces a written report identifying any defect that is, or could become, a danger, with the timescale for action. Reports must be kept and made available to an HSE inspector on request.
Lifting equipment must be positioned and installed to minimise risk, clearly marked with its safe working load, and used only by trained, competent people working to a planned safe system of work.
Where a competent person reports a defect that is an existing or imminent danger, the equipment must be taken out of service until it is put right, and serious defects reported to the enforcing authority.
How CertFlow handles it
Lifting Equipment runs on the same platform as every other discipline, so the workflow, the registry and the audit trail are identical, whatever your team inspects.
A built-in LOLER 1998 report template, plus a drag-and-drop builder and bespoke PDF overlay for any client-specific form.
Put every lifting equipment asset on a recurring examination cycle. CertFlow generates the jobs and warns you before anything falls due.
Readings, photos and signatures are captured in the field on mobile, fully offline, and sync the moment a connection returns.
Every lifting equipment certificate is filed in a searchable, exportable compliance registry with a full timestamped history.
From the field
The defects and gaps that come up again and again on lifting equipment inspections, the ones a good system helps you catch before an auditor does.
Why it matters
A missed or overdue thorough examination breaches LOLER 1998 and can invalidate insurance. The HSE can serve prohibition notices, prosecute and secure unlimited fines under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, particularly where a failure causes harm.
Free download: the Lifting Equipment duty-holder guide Hoists and Cranes UK Ltd Zero missed recertifications since go-liveQuestions
LOLER means the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.
Normally every 6 months for lifting accessories and equipment lifting people, and every 12 months for other lifting equipment, unless a competent person sets another examination scheme.
A competent person with the practical and theoretical knowledge to detect defects and judge whether the equipment remains safe to use.
Keep thorough examination reports, defect records, inspection history, next due dates and relevant Declarations of Conformity.
No. LOLER applies to lifting equipment and lifting operations. PUWER still applies to work equipment more broadly, including suitability, maintenance, inspection and training.
Further reading
What the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 actually require of you, in plain English.
References
Links to primary UK legislation and official regulator guidance. CertFlow is independent and not affiliated with these bodies.
Related disciplines
Prove every piece of work equipment is suitable, maintained and safe to use.
EICRs, fixed-wire testing and PAT, captured on site, certified in minutes.
Written schemes of examination and pressure tests, scheduled and certified.
Customers
We were running two sets of compliance records, one for the lifting side and one for height safety. CertFlow put both in one place. Six months in, certificates go out the moment a job is done, nothing slips past its due date, and an audit is a quick export rather than a day lost in folders.
CertFlow has put every lifting asset and every examination date in one place. Our engineers complete reports on site, defects are flagged straight to the client, and nothing slips past its due date. It is the first system that actually fits how a lifting inspection business works.
We used to live in fear of an examination date slipping through a spreadsheet. Now every asset and every date is in one place, reports go out the day we finish, and our clients can see exactly where they stand. It just fits how we work.
See it on your data
We'll set up a live environment with your asset types and branding, then walk you through a LOLER 1998 job end to end.
Get started
See CertFlow on your own data in a 20-minute demo, or start a free trial today.
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