BS EN 14439: Tower cranes

BS EN 14439 is the European product standard that tower cranes are designed and built to. This guide covers what it applies to, its 2025 edition and how it fits with UK law.

Overview

What BS EN 14439 is

BS EN 14439 is the UK edition of the European product standard for tower cranes. It sets the safety requirements a manufacturer designs and builds a tower crane to, from the structure and mechanisms to the limiters, the instructions and the marking.

In short

BSI withdrew the 2006 edition on 1 July 2025, and the 2025 edition is now current.
In Great Britain it is a designated standard under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008.
Using a tower crane on site falls under LOLER, and BS 7121-5 is the British Standard guidance.
Cranes made before CEN published the 2025 edition are outside it.

Full title	Cranes — Tower cranes
Reference	BS EN 14439:2025
Current edition	BSI’s current issue is dated 31 March 2026, and a tracked changes version is dated 31 July 2025. It replaced BS EN 14439:2006+A2:2009.
Publisher	BSI
Status	Current
Legal status	Designated in Great Britain under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008. Using it is voluntary.
Intended for	Manufacturers of tower cranes

Scope

What BS EN 14439 applies to

The standard covers tower cranes for construction work, both those erected from parts and self-erecting cranes. Annexes deal with mobile self-erecting tower cranes and with climbing systems. It is written for cranes working outdoors between -20 °C and +40 °C.

Mobile, loader, bridge and gantry, harbour and offshore cranes each have product standards of their own. BS EN 14439 does not deal with permanently installed yard cranes or grab cranes, and lifting people is outside it apart from climbing systems. It applies only to cranes made after CEN published it.

A yellow tower crane standing over a building site with steel frame and scaffold, under a blue sky with white cloud — A tower crane standing over a building site.

Requirements

What the requirements cover

BSI sells the full text, and its free preview shows the contents list. The requirements sit under these headings.

Structure	Load-bearing structure and mechanical equipment, with trolley stops and protection against falling parts
Limiters and indicators	Devices that limit loads and motions and show the driver what the crane is doing
Hydraulic and electrical systems	Hydraulic circuits and the electrical equipment, including the controls
Access	Safe access to the cab and working positions, and guarding of moving parts
Verification	Checks and tests that show the requirements are met
Information for use	An instruction manual on erection and dismantling, use, maintenance and transport, and the marking on the crane

It refers to the EN 13001 series for crane design calculations and to EN ISO 13849-1 for safety-related control systems.

The law

How BS EN 14439 relates to LOLER and PUWER

Manufacturers use the standard to show a crane meets the law on supplying machinery. Under regulation 7(4) of the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, a crane built to a designated standard is presumed to meet the essential requirements that standard covers. The government’s designated standards list moved to the 2025 edition in June 2026 and keeps the older edition until the removal date it shows. In the EU, Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/546 lists the 2025 edition, and from 20 January 2027 a crane built to the old edition can no longer rely on it to show it meets EU law.

Once the crane is working, regulation 10 of PUWER requires it to keep meeting the product design rules that applied when it was first supplied. Regulation 8 of LOLER covers planning and supervising lifts, and BS 7121-5 gives the practice for tower cranes. Regulation 9 covers thorough examination, which BS 7121-2-5 deals with. HSE’s tower crane questions page notes that the Notification of Conventional Tower Cranes Regulations 2010 were revoked in April 2013. Northern Ireland follows EU rules for placing machinery on the market and has its own LOLER from 1999.

Editions

Edition history

The previous edition, BS EN 14439:2006+A2:2009, was titled Cranes. Safety. Tower cranes, and BSI first published it in January 2007. BSI’s project page for the revision sets out the scope of the 2025 edition.

Sources and further reading

Questions

Common questions

Who has to meet BS EN 14439?

Nobody is obliged to. Manufacturers use it because a crane built to it is presumed to meet the essential requirements it covers.

Does an older tower crane have to meet the 2025 edition?

No. The 2025 edition applies to cranes made after CEN published it. PUWER requires a crane to keep meeting the design rules that applied when it was first supplied, in Great Britain and under Northern Ireland’s 1999 version.