What the Regulation asks for
Section 4.9 of Part 4 of the OHS Regulation sets the general rule for records of inspection and maintenance, and section 14.14 applies it to cranes. The short version: if a qualified person inspected or maintained the machine, there has to be a record of it, and it has to be available.
What to keep, per machine
- The inspection and maintenance record — what was done, when, by whom.
- The annual inspection, and the operational test that goes with it.
- Rope inspections, and any rope change with the details of what went on.
- The engineered foundation certificate for the site it is standing on.
- Erection, climbing and dismantling records, including the 2 checks that fall due after the crew has left.
- The crane logs, which stay with the machine rather than in the office.
- Certificates with dates on them — engineering inspection, structural NDT, major component inspection, insurance.
- A signed entry on every shift from the operator — section 4.9(2)(b) requires it by name.
- On a rental, inspection findings, repairs and corrective actions filed at the crane's location, for as long as the crane is there.
The ones measured in years are the ones that lapse. A five-year item never turns up on anything you look at monthly, which is exactly why it is the one that is out of date when somebody asks.
What a general contractor will actually ask for
Rarely all of it. In practice: the current annual inspection, the operational test, the foundation certificate, proof of insurance, and — increasingly — evidence that the maintenance programme exists at all rather than a promise that it does.
An out-of-date certificate does not stop the crane working. It stops it working for anybody who checks, which is every contractor worth working for.
How long
Section 4.9(3) answers this outright: detailed reports of inspection, maintenance, repairs and modifications must be kept for the duration of the service life of the machine. Not until the next inspection, not 7 years — the whole life of the crane. Anything connected to an incident should be kept beyond that. If you are deciding whether to throw something away, do not.
Related guides
- Tower crane inspection requirements in BC — which sections of the Regulation apply, and who is allowed to do the work.
- Notice of Project for a tower crane in BC — what has to exist before the first section leaves the yard.