EWP & Crane Inspections

The right inspection depends on why you need it. Routine and annual inspections keep a machine in service against its standard. Major inspections apply when a unit reaches the 5-year or 10-year milestone, depending on its equipment class, and involve a far deeper strip-down. Pre-purchase inspections give a buyer an independent view of a machine before money changes hands, and post-repair or post-incident inspections confirm a unit is fit to return to work after significant work or an event. Elevated work platforms are assessed against AS 2550.10, and cranes against the applicable parts of the AS 2550 series and AS 1418.

An inspection goes faster, and the report is more useful, when the machine's paperwork is on hand. Useful items include the compliance plate or serial details, the logbook and most recent inspection report, service and repair records since that inspection, any load chart or manufacturer documentation, and notes on the machine's duty: hours, environment and anything operators have noticed. Missing paperwork does not prevent an inspection, but the report will say so.

Each report identifies the machine, the standard it was assessed against and the scope of what was examined. Findings are listed with photographs and a severity rating, separating items that must be addressed before further use from items to be scheduled and from observations for the record. The report states the inspector's conclusion on the machine's condition. Any repair that follows is a separate, quoted job, and the return-to-service decision after that repair remains a distinct step with its own record.