Sector statutory inspections

Statutory Inspections for Construction & Plant Hire

LOLER, PUWER, PSSR and COSHH LEV compliance from one independent inspection body.

Hiring the plant does not hire out the duty. HSE guidance is explicit that hire firm and user share responsibility, a contract cannot move a statutory duty, and a report that was in date at the depot can lapse mid-hire with the user holding the consequences.

SEIS examines plant on site for contractors and across the fleet for hire companies, with every report tracked against the machine it belongs to.

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Independent & impartial
Competent engineer surveyors
Reports issued promptly

6-monthly

Cycle for MEWPs, hoists and anything lifting people

12-monthly

Cycle for cranes and plant lifting loads only

Shared duty

Hire firm and user both hold LOLER responsibilities

Mid-hire

A depot-valid report can expire during a long hire

Site and fleet cover

Main contractors, groundworks and housebuilders
Plant hire fleets examined between hires
Site visits fitted around the programme
Reports that travel with the machine

What needs inspecting

What needs inspecting on site

Site lifting runs on the two LOLER clocks: every 6 months for anything that lifts people and for every accessory, every 12 months for equipment lifting loads only. The complication construction adds is ownership: most of the kit is hired, and the duty follows the work, not the logbook.

Equipment	Regime	Statutory position	What you receive
Tower and mobile cranes	LOLER	Every 12 months, or every 6 months where used to lift people	Report of Thorough Examination
Construction hoists and mast climbers	LOLER	Every 6 months where they carry people	Report of Thorough Examination
MEWPs, boom and scissor lifts	LOLER	Thorough examination at least every 6 months	Report of Thorough Examination
Telehandlers and site forklifts	LOLER	Every 12 months lifting loads, every 6 months with a platform	Report of Thorough Examination
Excavators used for lifting	LOLER	Thorough examination where used for object handling	Report of Thorough Examination
Chains, shackles, slings and accessories	LOLER	Every 6 months, each item individually identified	Report of Thorough Examination
Site compressors	PSSR	Written Scheme of Examination, report within 28 days	Written Scheme certification and examination report
Small plant and site machinery	PUWER	Inspection at risk-based intervals, no fixed statutory date	Written record of inspection

PUWER inspections generate a written record rather than any certificate, kept at least until the next inspection. Where an excavator lifts only as an incident of excavation, check the position with the competent person; where it handles suspended loads, LOLER applies in full.

Sector compliance

The duty that stays when the plant is hired

The HSE's guidance on LOLER addresses long term hire directly: the user must ensure the equipment is thoroughly examined at appropriate intervals, whoever arranges it, and enforcement history shows contract terms do not move that duty an inch.

For contractors: the mid-hire lapse

A machine can arrive with a valid report and quietly fall out of date in week nineteen of a six month hire. The user carries the safe use duty throughout, so the practical control is simple: log the next-due date from the report when the machine arrives, and agree in writing who arranges the mid-hire examination.

Accessories cause the second lapse. The hired crane's report does not cover your own chains and shackles, which run their own 6 month cycle whoever supplied the crane.

For hire companies: the fleet programme

A hire fleet lives or dies by examination availability: a machine without a current report cannot go out. We run examinations between hires and at the depot to a programme built around utilisation, so reports are renewed before they cost a hire rather than after.

Every report is issued against the machine's serial and travels with it through the client portal, so the paperwork question at the site gate is answered from a phone. Because SEIS sells and services nothing, the report is impartial evidence, not a workshop's opinion of its own repair.

Related services

MEWP examinations6 month thorough examinations for boom and scissor lifts Lorry mounted crane examinationsThorough examinations for loader cranes LOLER inspection servicesInspection, testing and certification for all lifting equipment LOLER regulations explainedDuty holders, intervals and the hire duty split

Common questions

Construction & Plant Hire inspection FAQs

Do you inspect on live construction sites?

Yes. Our engineer surveyors attend sites nationwide with the inductions, PPE and RAMS your gate requires, and we also run depot programmes for hire fleets between hires.

How quickly can you attend?

Usually within a few working days, and faster where a machine is standing because its report has lapsed. Call 0330 043 8191 with the site postcode and the plant list.

Who is responsible for LOLER on hired plant?

Both parties, concurrently. The hire company must supply the machine with a current thorough examination; the user is responsible for safe use and for making sure the examination does not lapse during the hire. A contract clause cannot transfer the statutory duty. Our LOLER guide covers the split in detail.

What happens if the report expires mid-hire?

The machine must not be used for lifting until it is examined. Agree in writing at the start of the hire who arranges any mid-hire examination, and log the next-due date the day the machine arrives.

Does an excavator need a LOLER examination?

When it is used for lifting operations such as handling suspended loads, yes. HSE guidance on lifting equipment duties is at hse.gov.uk.

How often do MEWPs need examining?

At least every 6 months, because they lift people. That covers boom lifts, scissor lifts and mast climbers, hired or owned, alongside the pre-use checks your operators already do.

Are our own slings covered by the crane's report?

No. Accessories are examined in their own right every 6 months, each item individually identified. A hired crane's report covers the crane, not the tackle you rig beneath it.

Can you cover a whole hire fleet?

Yes. We build a programme around your utilisation so examinations happen between hires, with reports issued against serial numbers and available through the portal wherever the machine is working.

Book statutory inspections for your Construction & Plant Hire operation

0330 043 8191 Request a quote