Equipment Verification and Compliance
This domain tests whether the crane and its documentation match the configuration being used and whether required safety devices actually work.
Configuration and document verification
Verify the crane's serial number and configuration against the load chart and inspection records. Confirm the chart is present, legible, and for the exact boom, jib, and outrigger configuration. Check that capacity-limiting and indicating devices, anti-two-block, boom angle and radius indicators, level indicators, and outrigger controls are functional, not merely installed. Safety devices must not be bypassed. Verify that the annual inspection is current, repairs are documented and approved by the manufacturer, and wire rope, hooks, and slings have traceable certification or tags.
Compliance checks often missed
Confirm fire extinguisher, access and egress, guards, control markings, warning decals, and the operator's manual. Verify outrigger beams, floats, and blocking. For construction cranes, 29 CFR 1926.1412 requires shift, monthly, and annual inspections with records; OSHA 1910.180 applies to general industry. A calibration sticker is evidence of calibration, not proof that the device operates correctly, so functionally test it.
Worked example
A 100-ton crane arrives with an annual inspection dated 14 months earlier, a load chart for a 60 ft boom while the crane is rigged with a 90 ft boom plus jib, and the anti-two-block bypassed. The inspector does not accept the prior annual as coverage for the current configuration and places the crane out of service until the correct chart, current inspection, and functional anti-two-block are restored. Reasoning: capacity and safety-device configuration are machine-specific and cannot be inferred.
Traps that cost marks
Accepting a chart that does not match the serial number or boom; treating a sticker as a functional test; missing bypassed safety devices; failing to verify repair approvals and record currency; and checking the crane but not the ground support or blocking.