What a Crane Major Inspection Actually Involves

Beyond a service

A major inspection isn't a bigger service. It's a structured assessment of a crane's structure, mechanisms and safety-critical systems to confirm it's safe for continued use — the point where fatigue, wear, cracking and load-bearing components are examined in detail and the machine's remaining life is assessed.

The standards

Major inspections sit under the AS 2550 series (safe use of cranes), read with AS 1418 (design). Non-destructive testing is done to AS 3998 or equivalent, and the assessment is carried out or supervised by a competent person — often a Chartered (CPEng) or Registered Professional Engineer (RPEQ), independent of routine maintenance.

What's assessed

Structural integrity and fatigue; mechanisms (winches, slew drives, gearboxes); wire rope, hooks and brakes; hydraulics; electrical and safety systems including the LMI; and the machine's maintenance and duty history.

The output

A defensible report an auditor, insurer or regulator will accept — with a suggested inspection interval and any rectification required. The value is in what happens next: at KDI, we fix what we find in-house, so you don't get handed a defect list to chase elsewhere.