Counterbalance Forklifts
Thorough examinations for diesel, LPG and electric counterbalance trucks operating in warehouses, ports and distribution hubs.
Material Handling Fleet Compliance
Forklift Inspections in London
Independent statutory thorough examinations for forklift trucks and material-handling plant across London. Inspections are scheduled around shift patterns to minimise warehouse disruption. The report, with photographs, comes the same day, and we remind you before the next one is due.
26+ Years Hands-On Engineering Experience
Independent of Maintenance Contracts
7 Days a Week, 6am to 6pm
Same-Day Reports, With Photos
Certificate expired or lift out of compliance? You're exposed to enforcement action, and your insurance may not respond, until it's resolved. What to do.
Written and reviewed by Mark Crowley, Director, Integrity Lift Compliance Ltd — 26+ years of hands-on lifting equipment engineering. NHS estates, commercial property and industrial lifting compliance.
Engineering Approach
What our forklift inspection programme delivers
Independent, defensible statutory examination by an engineer with deep hands-on plant experience.
- Twelve-monthly examination, or six-monthly where the truck lifts people, with attachments and accessories on their own intervals
- Reports compliant with LOLER 1998 and PUWER 1998 dual obligations
- Fleet-level scheduling for distribution centres and 3PL operators
- Out-of-hours and weekend inspection slots to maintain throughput
- Examined by an engineer with a hands-on plant background
What a forklift thorough examination covers
A forklift thorough examination covers the lifting parts under LOLER and the rest of the truck under PUWER, on the same visit:
- Mast and carriage: channels, rollers, carriage plate and backrest
- Lift chains: elongation, wear, anchors and lubrication
- Forks: heel wear, cracks, straightness, tip alignment and locking pins
- Hydraulics: lift and tilt cylinders, hoses and drift under load
- Attachments: side-shifts, rotators, clamps and positioners
- Brakes and steering: service and parking brakes, steering and drive
- Safety equipment: overhead guard, seat restraint, horn, lights and alarms
- Data plate: rated capacity for the mast and attachment fitted
Fork heel wear and chain elongation are where forklifts most often fail, and both are measured rather than estimated.
Twelve months or six
LOLER 1998 Regulation 9 sets twelve months for the lifting mechanism of a forklift in normal use, and six months if it is ever used with a cage or platform to lift people. Lifting accessories used with it, such as slings and fork-mounted hooks, are six-monthly. Heavy multi-shift use often justifies a shorter interval under a written scheme.
How often does a forklift need a thorough examination?What you get after the inspection
A Report of Thorough Examination with everything LOLER Schedule 1 requires — including the truck identified, the date examined, its safe working load, any defect with what must be done and by when, and the date the next examination is due — with each defect graded by severity. On top of that:
- Same-day report: issued digitally on the day of the inspection, not weeks later
- Photographs: of what was inspected and of any defect, in every report as standard
- Records and reminders: we keep the record on file and remind you before the next one falls due
If anything is not safe to use, you are told in writing before we leave. Because we sell no repairs, a defect on the report is never a quotation in disguise.
Assets We Examine
Asset classes covered under our forklift inspection programme.
Reach Trucks
Inspection of high-rack narrow-aisle reach trucks, articulated VNA machines and pantograph extension equipment.
Telehandlers
Statutory examinations for telescopic-boom rough-terrain handlers used in construction, agriculture and heavy logistics.
Powered Pallet Trucks
Examination of pedestrian and rider-operated pallet stackers, low-level order pickers and tugger plant.
Forklift Attachments
Independent LOLER examinations for side-shifters, rotators, bale clamps, jibs and man-baskets fitted to forklift trucks.
Rough-Terrain Trucks
Examination of all-terrain forklifts and yard handlers operating in builders' merchants, agricultural and outdoor logistics yards.
Manufacturers We Inspect
Independent of every installer and manufacturer — no conflict of interest, whichever make is on your site.
- JCB
- Linde
- Toyota
- Hyster
- Yale
- Crown
- Jungheinrich
Trusted by Critical Estates
Independent. Defensible. Genuinely Endorsed.
SAFed-aligned defect classification, and the endorsement below is a genuine NHS Trust quote — not stock marketing copy.
NHS
NHS
Critical estate passenger lift compliance experience
SK
Skanska
Construction & engineering compliance support
A·B·C
SAFed-Aligned Defect Grading
Defects graded A, B or C to the published SAFed severity scale — a grading standard we follow, not a membership we hold
DBS
Enhanced DBS
Director Mark Crowley holds an enhanced DBS check
NHS Trust Endorsement
“Exceptional response times and thorough documentation. Managing compliance across multiple critical medical estates is complex, but their team makes statutory lift auditing seamless.”
Phillip Nai
Critical Healthcare Estates Manager
Barts Health NHS Trust
Areas We Cover
Independent forklift inspections across London.
Common Questions
Forklift Inspection FAQs
How often does a forklift need a LOLER thorough examination?
At least every twelve months for the lifting mechanism in normal use, and every six months if the truck is ever used with a cage or platform to lift people. Lifting accessories used with it, such as slings and fork-mounted hooks, are six-monthly. Many fleets examine more often because of heavy use.
Does a forklift thorough examination cover the whole truck?
It should. LOLER covers the lifting parts: mast, chains, forks, carriage and hydraulics. PUWER covers the rest of the truck as work equipment: brakes, steering, tyres, lights and controls. We examine both on the same visit and report them together.
Can you examine our whole fleet without stopping the warehouse?
Yes. We phase the fleet so only a few trucks are off the floor at once, work around shifts, and issue the reports the same day with photographs.
Do you inspect forklift attachments?
Yes. Side-shifts, rotators, clamps, jibs and fork extensions are lifting equipment in their own right and are often missed. A man-riding cage lifts people, so it is six-monthly.
Can a forklift be used if its thorough examination has lapsed?
It should not be. Without a current examination there is no evidence the truck is safe to lift with. Take it out of use and book an examination; we treat lapsed trucks as urgent.
What happens if a truck fails?
If it is unsafe it is taken out of use and you are told in writing before we leave. Other defects go on the report with a date by which they must be fixed. We sell no trucks or repairs.
How soon do I get the report?
The same day, with photographs, for every truck in the fleet.
Request a Survey
Tell us what needs inspecting and where. We'll reply within one business hour.
Already have an asset list or examination schedule? Email it to info@integrityliftcompliance.co.uk and we'll come back with a survey plan rather than ask you to retype it.
Survey Request Form
Further reading on forklift inspections
How Often Does a Forklift Need a Thorough Examination?
Twelve months, for a forklift lifting goods. Six months the moment it lifts a person, which includes any use of a man-basket or work platform attachment. The interval is the easy part; what catches operators out is that fitting an attachment can change both the answer and the truck's rated capacity.
Who Examines Hired or Leased Lifting Equipment?
The common assumption is that hired plant is the hire company's problem. It is partly theirs and partly yours, and the part that is yours is the part that gets missed. LOLER places duties on whoever has control of the equipment, which on a hire site includes you.
Does Second-Hand Lifting Equipment Need Examining?
It depends on what comes with it. Used equipment bought from another business can go into service on its existing examination if it arrives with physical evidence that its last thorough examination was carried out, and its safety does not depend on how it is installed. Without that evidence, as with many auction lots and private sales, it needs a thorough examination before it does any work. Many buyers have one done anyway, because the seller's report describes the machine before it was moved.
Prefer to talk to an engineer?
07496 873972