What Is a LOLER Inspection?

Why is it called a thorough examination rather than an inspection?

Because in LOLER those are two different things, and the distinction has consequences. Regulation 9 requires a thorough examination by a competent person at six- or twelve-month intervals. The same regulation separately provides for inspection at suitable intervals between thorough examinations — a lighter check, appropriate for some equipment, that does not replace the examination. Almost everyone says LOLER inspection in conversation and that is what people search for, so it is the phrase used here. But when a provider offers you an inspection, it is worth establishing which of the two they mean, because only one of them discharges the Regulation 9 duty.

Is it just a visual check?

No, and a walk-round with a clipboard is the most common thing sold as one. A thorough examination is a systematic assessment of the equipment against how it is actually used, carried out by someone who knows how that class of equipment fails. It will usually involve functioning the equipment through its range, operating safety devices rather than noting their presence, examining the load path at close quarters, and reading the history before forming a view. Some of it is visual. The part that matters is the judgement applied to what is seen.

What actually happens on the day?

The shape of a visit is reasonably consistent across equipment types, even where the detail differs enormously:

1. Paperwork first: the previous report, any outstanding defects, the maintenance history and whether anything has been modified or repaired since the last examination.
2. Isolation and safe access, which on a lift means the motor room and the pit, and on a cradle means the roof.
3. Static examination of the structure and the load path with the equipment stopped — the parts that cannot be judged while it is moving.
4. Functional examination with the equipment operating, including running the safety devices rather than confirming they are fitted.
5. Any supplementary test the examiner judges necessary for that machine, which is a decision rather than a routine.
6. A verbal account to whoever is on site before leaving, particularly if anything has been found, followed by the written report.

What gets examined?

The table below sets out the systems covered. What it deliberately does not give is a fixed checklist applied identically to every asset, because that is not how the duty works. The scope is judged by the competent person against the equipment's age, duty cycle, environment, history and the way it is actually used on your site. Two identical machines in different buildings can reasonably receive different attention. A provider whose examination is the same tick sheet everywhere is not exercising the judgement the regulation asks for.

Does it involve load testing?

Not usually, and a provider who load tests everything as a matter of routine is worth asking about. LOLER requires thorough examination; supplementary testing is something the competent person calls for where it is needed to reach a conclusion — typically after a significant repair, a modification, an installation, or where the examination raises a question that cannot be answered any other way. There is a reason it is not automatic: overload testing imposes stresses on equipment and can shorten the life of the thing being tested. Testing without a reason to test is not thoroughness.

How long does it take, and does the equipment have to stop?

Yes, it has to stop. Parts of the examination cannot be done on moving equipment, and the safety devices cannot be proved without operating them. How long depends on the equipment rather than on the examiner: the number of units, how old they are, how good the records are, how much of the plant is accessible, and whether anything is found. A single stairlift and a bank of six passenger lifts in a tower are not comparable jobs. Anyone quoting a duration before knowing what is on site is quoting the convenience of the answer rather than the work.

How is it different from a service visit?

Maintenance keeps equipment working. Thorough examination establishes, independently, whether it is safe to carry on being used. The two have different purposes, different legal bases and ideally different people doing them, and one does not substitute for the other in either direction. Equipment serviced every quarter can still be overdue for examination, and a clean examination does not mean maintenance can be skipped.

What are you left holding afterwards?

A Report of Thorough Examination, with the contents LOLER Schedule 1 requires, including the equipment identified, the date examined, the safe working load, any defect that is or could become a danger, what must be done and by when, the date the next examination is due, and who made the report. A one-page certificate stating that the equipment passed is not that document. The report is the part that would tell you whether anything was found, and it is the part an inspector or an insurer asks to see.

What happens if the examiner finds something?

It depends on severity. Most findings are defects to be put right within a stated period, and the equipment carries on in use meanwhile. Where a defect presents an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, the equipment comes out of service, the duty-holder is told in writing, and the competent person must also report it to the enforcing authority.

Is the scope the same for every type of equipment?

No. The principle is identical and the practice is not. A passenger lift examination is dominated by the suspension, the brake, the overspeed governor and the door protection. A forklift examination is about the mast, the chains, the forks and the hydraulics. A cradle on a roof is about the suspension ropes, the anchorages and the structure holding the whole thing over the edge. The intervals differ too, and the per-equipment articles on this site go into what each one involves.