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Integrity Lift Compliance
Knowledge Base

LOLER Record Keeping: How Long to Keep Your Reports

LOLER 1998 Regulation 11 requires duty-holders to keep records of every Thorough Examination. As a working rule: keep reports for lifting equipment for as long as it stays in service, and for lifting accessories for at least two years.

Written and reviewed by Mark Crowley, Director, Integrity Lift Compliance Ltd — 26+ years hands-on lifting equipment engineering — NHS, commercial and industrial estates

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What does Regulation 11 require?

LOLER 1998 Regulation 11 requires duty-holders to keep the reports of thorough examinations, and the records of any inspections between them, available for inspection by anyone the enforcing authority authorises — which may be an HSE inspector or a local authority environmental health officer, depending on the premises. It's not enough that an examination happened — the written record has to exist and be available to produce on request.

How long must you keep lifting equipment records?

The legal minimum depends on the examination. The report of the examination before first use must be kept for as long as you use the equipment (two years, for an accessory), a report made after installation for as long as it is used at that site, and each periodic report until the next one is made or for two years, whichever is later. For lifts, forklifts, MEWPs, hoists and other lifting equipment, the practical rule is simpler: keep every Report of Thorough Examination for as long as the equipment remains in service. A new duty-holder taking over a site, an insurer investigating a claim, or an inspector following up an incident may all reasonably ask to see the full examination history, not just the most recent report.

How long must you keep accessory records?

For lifting accessories — slings, chains, shackles, eyebolts — Regulation 11 sets a minimum retention period of two years from the date of the report. Given how inexpensive digital storage is, there's little reason to delete these once the two years are up rather than simply keeping them alongside the equipment records.

Should you keep records longer than the minimum?

Keeping examination records for the full life of the equipment, beyond the legal minimum, is good practice. In practice, a complete record history also makes each subsequent examination faster — the examiner isn't starting from zero — and it's the first thing an insurer or investigator asks for after an incident. Records that no longer exist can't help your case.

How do we handle this?

Every Report of Thorough Examination we issue is delivered digitally, and can be supplied directly to insurer portals or FM platforms on request — so the record exists from day one in a format that's easy to retain and retrieve, not a paper copy that can go missing.

Sources & Further Reading

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Related Knowledge

What Is a LOLER Inspection?
A LOLER inspection — properly a thorough examination — is a systematic engineering assessment of lifting equipment by a competent person, to establish whether it is safe to remain in service. It is not a visual walk-round and it is not a service visit. This is what one actually involves.
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How Often Are LOLER Inspections Required?
Six months for equipment that lifts people and for lifting accessories, twelve months for everything else, or in line with a written examination scheme drawn up by a competent person. That is the whole rule. What catches duty-holders out is rarely the interval itself — it is when the clock starts, what resets it, and the examinations that fall outside the cycle altogether.
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What Happens If LOLER Expires?
The plant is no longer legally usable, and the cost of a lapse is rarely the examination you did not book. Quarantine the equipment, arrange a thorough examination promptly, and document the steps taken — then resume once a competent person has examined the plant and signed it off.
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