BS 7121-2 series: Inspection, maintenance and thorough examination

The BS 7121-2 series is the set of British Standard codes of practice for keeping cranes safe in service. This guide covers the parts of the series and what they say about thorough examination.

Overview

What the BS 7121-2 series is

The BS 7121-2 series is the set of British Standard codes of practice for keeping cranes safe while they are in service. A general part sets the approach to checks, maintenance and thorough examination, and further parts add the detail for particular crane types.

In short

The parts are codes of practice, not law. Their recommendations are written with “should”.
Part 2-1 applies to every crane type and is read with the part for the crane in question.
A thorough examination judges whether a crane is safe to take into use or keep using. Maintenance is a separate duty.
The examination intervals come from LOLER; the series explains how to plan the work and what to look for.

Full title	Code of practice for the safe use of cranes – Part 2-1: Inspection, maintenance and thorough examination – General
Reference	BS 7121-2-1:2012, with Parts 2-3, 2-4, 2-5, 2-7 and 2-9
Current editions	Parts 2-1, 2-3 and 2-5: 2012. Part 2-4: 2025. Part 2-7: 2012 with amendments in 2015 and 2022. Part 2-9: 2013.
Publisher	BSI (BSI Standards Limited)
Status	All six parts current
Legal status	British Standard codes of practice. Their recommendations have no legal force of their own.
Intended for	Crane owners and users in the UK, and the people who maintain and examine their cranes

Scope

What the BS 7121-2 series applies to

Each part pairs with a crane type.

Part 2-1	General, for every crane type
Part 2-3	Mobile cranes, including crawler and mini cranes
Part 2-4	Loader cranes, including lorry loaders
Part 2-5	Tower cranes
Part 2-7	Bridge and gantry cranes, including light crane systems
Part 2-9	Cargo handling and container cranes

Part 2-1 counts any machine as a crane when it lifts a suspended load, so it also reaches hoists, derricks, telehandlers, forklift trucks and excavators used that way. It covers checks before use, inspections in service, maintenance and thorough examination, along with the runways and supporting structures. It leaves out construction hoists, mast climbing work platforms, mobile elevating work platforms, jacks and suspended access equipment.

In service

Checks and maintenance between examinations

Part 2-1 sets out three kinds of attention between thorough examinations.

Pre-use check	Before each shift the crane is used, the operator tests its functions and looks for obvious defects from a safe position. The operator needs training and assessment for this.
In-service inspection	A more detailed inspection, weekly to six-monthly, set by how hard and where the crane works and changed as findings come in.
Maintenance	Planned and preventive. The manufacturer’s interval is generally the longest allowed, and heavy use or a corrosive site shortens it.

Defects go to the user, and dangerous ones straight away. Part 2-1 grades them by urgency, and a crane with an outstanding safety-critical defect should not be used until it is put right. With a hired crane, the user may leave inspection and maintenance to the owner but stays responsible for making sure they are done, especially on a long hire.

A green all-terrain mobile crane rigged with a long main boom beside a scaffolded building, under a cloudy sky — An all-terrain crane rigged with a long main boom beside a scaffolded building.

Examination

Thorough examination

A thorough examination is a competent person’s judgement on whether the crane is safe to take into use or keep using. Part 2-1 follows the occasions in LOLER: before first use, after installation where safety depends on it, at least every 12 months, or every 6 months for a crane that lifts people, and after exceptional circumstances such as an overload or a collision. An examination scheme drawn up by a competent person can replace the fixed intervals. A crane that is not fixed in position and works within the scope of its current report does not need a fresh examination at each site.

The examiner can be on the owner’s or user’s own staff, as long as they are competent and had no part in maintaining that crane.
The scope is written in advance for each crane: the parts to examine and the intervals, plus any extra tests such as non-destructive testing or a load test. The examiner may add to it.
The report: the examiner tells the user on the day. LOLER requires the written report as soon as practicable, and Part 2-1 gives 28 days as the normal limit. A dangerous defect keeps the crane out of service, and where it poses an existing or imminent risk of serious injury, a copy goes to the enforcing authority.
Records: owners keep a history file for the crane’s whole life, with every examination and test report.

The law

How the BS 7121-2 series relates to LOLER and PUWER

Regulation 9 of LOLER requires thorough examination at the intervals above, and regulation 10 covers the reports. Regulation 5 of PUWER requires work equipment to be kept in efficient working order and good repair, which is where the maintenance recommendations fit. HSE’s page on thorough examination of lifting equipment points to BS 7121 for further crane inspection recommendations.

The foreword of Part 2-1 names the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 among other legislation, and describes the standard as guidance rather than a specification. Anyone claiming to follow it should be able to justify any point where they did something different. LOLER, PUWER and the 1974 Act apply in Great Britain. Northern Ireland has its own equivalents, such as the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999.

Editions

Editions and related parts

Parts 2-1 to 2-7 replaced BS 7121-2:2003, a single part covering inspection, testing and examination, which BSI withdrew in 2013. Part 2-4 was revised in 2025: BSI says the new edition adds guidance on replacing structural components, clarifies testing, reflects stability monitoring and remote controls, and brings in the inspection and maintenance content of BS 7121-4. Part 2-7 was amended in 2015 and 2022 to bring its testing into line with the European product standards for bridge and gantry cranes.

Each sub-part takes its number from the part of BS 7121 on using that crane type: BS 7121-3 for mobile cranes, BS 7121-4 for lorry loaders, BS 7121-5 for tower cranes and BS 7121-7 for bridge and gantry cranes. Those use parts deal with planning and running lifts, while this series deals with keeping the crane fit for use. There is no Part 2-2, and 2-6 and 2-8 are empty because the derrick and dockside crane parts planned for the series were never published. The general rules for lifts are in BS 7121-1, and Part 13 on hydraulic gantry lifting systems has no inspection sub-part of its own.

Sources and further reading

Questions

Common questions

When does a crane need a thorough examination?

Before first use, after installation where safety depends on it, at least every 12 months, or every 6 months if it lifts people, and after anything that could affect its safety, such as an overload. A written examination scheme can set different intervals.

Who can carry out the thorough examination?

A competent person with the practical and theoretical knowledge to judge the crane’s safety. They can work for the owner or user, as long as they had no part in maintaining that crane.

What happens when the examination finds a dangerous defect?

The crane stays out of service until it is put right. The examiner may leave an interim report on site, and sends a copy to the enforcing authority where the defect poses an existing or imminent risk of serious injury.