LOLER thorough examination: how often is it required?

Under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER), lifting equipment used to lift people — and all lifting accessories — must have a thorough examination at least every 6 months. All other lifting equipment must be examined at least every 12 months. As an alternative to these fixed periods, a competent person can draw up a written examination scheme with intervals based on how the equipment is actually used.

The intervals at a glance

• Every 6 months — lifting equipment used for lifting people (passenger lifts, MEWPs, man-riding baskets) and lifting accessories (chains, slings, shackles, hooks, eyebolts).
• Every 12 months — all other lifting equipment (cranes, forklift trucks, hoists, vehicle tail lifts and similar).
• Per examination scheme — a competent person may instead set out equipment-specific intervals in a written scheme, which can be shorter or, where justified, longer than the standard periods.

An examination is also required before first use in certain cases (for example after installation or reassembly at a new location) and after events that could affect safety, such as damage or a long period out of use.

Who counts as a competent person?

LOLER does not name a qualification. A competent person needs enough practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the specific equipment to spot defects and judge their significance — and enough independence and impartiality to make objective decisions. In practice most duty holders use an engineer surveyor from an inspection body or their insurer's engineering arm. Using your own maintenance fitter to examine equipment they also maintain is generally discouraged, because they would be marking their own work.

Reports and record keeping

After each examination the competent person must produce a written report within 28 days — sooner if defects require it. If they find a defect involving an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, they must tell you immediately and send a copy of the report to the enforcing authority (HSE or the local authority).

Keep the reports where an inspector can find them:

• Reports of periodic thorough examinations — at least until the next report is made.
• Reports on lifting accessories — at least 2 years.
• The report from the first examination of installed equipment — for as long as you use that equipment.

What an overdue examination costs

Equipment with an expired thorough examination should simply not be used — most principal contractors and clients will refuse it at the gate, which means downtime while you arrange an urgent examination. If HSE finds the gap first, the tools range from an improvement notice (fix it by a deadline) to a prohibition notice (stop using the equipment now), with prosecution under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 available for serious breaches. After an incident, the examination record is among the first documents both HSE and your insurer will ask for.

Keeping the dates in view

The awkward part of LOLER is not the rule but the volume: a modest firm can easily have dozens of accessories on a 6-month cycle and several machines on a 12-month cycle, all expiring on different dates. A spreadsheet works — as long as someone actually opens it every week. Automatic reminders remove that dependency: Certly tracks each item's next examination date and emails you 90, 60 and 30 days before it falls due, which is comfortably enough time to book the examiner. The same overview can hold your operators' tickets too — see how long an IPAF licence stays valid and what the forklift refresher rules actually say. More guides in the knowledge base.