Applicable law

The application since 1 April 2005 of the Order of 1 March 2004 relating to checks on lifting equipment and accessories – NOR: SOCT0410464A J.O. no. 77 of 31 March 2004) has defined for France a set of checks that must be made by the owners of lifting equipment in order to ensure compliance.

The inspections must be carried out in accordance with a protocol and are intended to ensure preventive maintenance aimed at detecting any damage or defectiveness liable to result in a danger.

For the other countries, the users are required to comply with the standards in force in their own country.

CHECKS WHEN COMMISSIONING

• The suitability test consists of checking that the equipment is entirely suitable for the work that the user plans to carry out and that the installation is complying with the terms of use defined by the manufacturer. This must be provided by the user in writing.
• The assembly and installation test involves ensuring that the equipment is safely assembled and installed in accordance with the manufacturer's instruction manual.
• The operating test carried out under load, with safety tests.
• The static test and the dynamic test: on receipt by a testing organisation. The coefficients to be applied are as follows :
  
  • Manual equipment : Dynamic coefficient of 1.1 - Static coefficient of 1.5
  • Electrical equipment: Dynamic coefficient of 1.1 - Static coefficient of 1.25

GENERAL PERIODIC CHECKS

The general periodic checks on lifting equipment must take place every twelve months, without fail. However, this frequency varies from 6 to 3 months for some of the equipment listed in the law. They are recorded in the single safety record.

They involve:

• The inspection of the state of preservation, consisting of checking that the equipment has been kept in good condition, has nothing missing or added, and still complies with the requirements.
• The operating test carried out under load, with safety tests.

CHECKS WHEN RETURNING TO SERVICE

By definition a return to service applies when the equipment has been moved, modified, dismantled and then reassembled or repaired or after any accident caused by the failure of an essential part of the equipment.

The checks to be made include:

• The suitability test.
• The assembly and installation test.
• The inspection of the state of preservation.
• The operating test.
• The static test and dynamic test.

From April 1st 2005, under the provisions of the decree dated March 2nd 2004, the manager must create a maintenance booklet for lifting equipment and keep it up to date. This new obligation concerns equipment commissioned from that date and also equipment already in service. For the latter, the various documents relating to maintenance carried out in the past should be attached to the maintenance booklet.

The following must be recorded in the maintenance booklet:

• maintenance operations carried out in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations,
• all other operations:
  
  • inspection,
  • maintenance,
  • repair,
  • replacement,
  • or modification
  carried out on the equipment.

For each operation, the following details are given:

• the date of the work,
• the names of the people and, where appropriate, the companies that carried it out,
• the nature of the operation and, if it is a regular operation, its frequency.
• If the operations involve the replacement of certain components of the machine, the references of these components must be indicated.