Four different clocks
A tower crane programme runs on 4 things at once, and a system that only understands one of them will quietly lose track of the others:
- Dates — daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, six-monthly, annual.
- Operating hours — gearbox oil, brake wear and similar, read off the hour meter, not the calendar.
- Events — erection, climbing, dismantling. These fall due when the work happens.
- Expiry dates — engineering inspections, structural NDT, major component inspections, insurance. These lapse rather than recur, and the five-year ones are the ones that catch people out, precisely because they never appear on anything you look at monthly.
The standard's side
| How often | Items |
|---|---|
| Every day it is used | 19 |
| Every week | 12 |
| Every month | 25 |
| Every 6 months | 1 |
| Every year | 10 |
| On erection, climbing or dismantling | 67 |
The manufacturer's side
2 machines, two completely different schedules. Anyone who runs a mixed fleet off one generic checklist is putting the wrong figure on a brake.
| How often | Items |
|---|---|
| Every day it is used | 18 |
| Every week | 3 |
| Every month | 13 |
| Every 3 months | 5 |
| Every 6 months | 10 |
| Every year | 9 |
| On erection, climbing or dismantling | 37 |
| Every 2000 operating hours | 5 |
| Every 21 days | 3 |
| Every 1500 operating hours | 1 |
| Every 2400 operating hours | 1 |
| Every 10 days | 1 |
| Every 400 operating hours | 1 |
| Every 100 operating hours | 1 |
| Every 450 operating hours | 1 |
| Every 3 days | 1 |
| Every 500 operating hours | 1 |
| Every 10000 operating hours | 1 |
| How often | Items |
|---|---|
| Every day it is used | 14 |
| Every week | 8 |
| Every month | 17 |
| Every 3 months | 3 |
| Every 6 months | 4 |
| Every year | 7 |
| On erection, climbing or dismantling | 34 |
| Every 7500 operating hours | 4 |
| Every 100 operating hours | 2 |
| Every 1500 operating hours | 1 |
| Every 10000 operating hours | 1 |
| Every 2400 operating hours | 1 |
| Every 730 days | 1 |
| Every 500 operating hours | 1 |
| Every 2 days | 1 |
| Every 3 days | 1 |
| Every 10 days | 1 |
The two most missed items on any tower crane both fall due after the erection crew has left: the bolt retorque at a set number of service hours, and the bolt check about a month after erecting. Neither is on a calendar when the crane goes up, and neither is anybody's job unless somebody has written it down.
A crane sitting in the yard is not a crane with nothing due
Some items are triggered by time regardless of use. A slewing bearing needs greasing on an interval whether or not the crane has turned. Hydraulic seals have a shelf life. For a rental fleet that matters more than for an owner-operator, because machines spend real time between rentals.
Related guides
- Tower crane inspection requirements in BC — which sections of the Regulation apply, and who is allowed to do the work.
- Tower crane records you have to keep — what to hold per machine, and what a contractor asks for first.