Free Reference Sheet

LOLER Inspection Interval Chart

Statutory thorough examination intervals under LOLER 1998 Regulation 9, by equipment type. Designed to print on one page — pin it up, or keep it with your examination register.

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Passenger lifts6 months
Lifts people, so it falls under the six-monthly limb of Regulation 9(3).
Platform lifts & stairlifts6 months
Carries a person, regardless of travel height or the setting it is installed in.
Patient & bath hoists6 months
Lifts people. Common in care and healthcare settings, and frequently held on a maintenance schedule rather than a statutory one.
MEWPs / cherry pickers / scissor lifts6 months
Lifts people to height. Applies to hired machines in use on your site as well as owned plant.
BMU cradles & façade access6 months
Carries people over the edge of a building. Out of sight on a roof, and the first thing to lapse when a managing agent changes.
Rope access equipment6 months
Holds, raises and lowers people, so it is equipment for lifting persons. Ropes, descenders, ascenders, harnesses and connectors are examined together as the system they form.
Lifting accessories6 months
Slings, chains, shackles, eyebolts and lifting beams. Cheap, numerous, easily substituted informally — the most common gap in a register.
Forklift man-baskets & work platforms6 months
An attachment that lifts people is on the six-month cycle, and so is any truck while it is used with one.
Goods-only lifts12 months
Lifts loads rather than persons, so the twelve-monthly limb applies.
Dumbwaiters & service lifts12 months
Goods-only plant. Small, often forgotten, and still lifting equipment under LOLER.
Forklift trucks12 months
Twelve months as a load-handling machine — but six where it is used to lift people, including with a man-basket.
Telehandlers12 months
Twelve months for load handling; six if fitted with a working platform for personnel.
Tail lifts12 months
Twelve months for goods only; six if it carries a person, including an operator riding the platform.
Cranes & overhead travelling cranes12 months
Twelve months for load lifting. Duty cycle in a press shop or foundry may warrant a shorter scheme.
Hoists (goods)12 months
Chain blocks, lever hoists and goods hoists lifting loads rather than persons.
Dock levellers & loading bay plantUsually 12 months
Inspected under PUWER as work equipment, usually every twelve months; LOLER applies as well where a leveller is used to raise or lower loads. Often held on a separate register from the truck fleet, or on none at all.
Garage & vehicle lifts6 months (HSE)
HSE recommends six-monthly because people work beneath the raised vehicle. LOLER's own default for equipment lifting goods is twelve months.
Power presses (PUWER)12 or 6 months
Not LOLER. PUWER Regulations 32 to 35 fix the interval by guarding: twelve months with fixed guards only, six months with interlocked guards or other protection devices, plus a guard check by an appointed person after tool setting and in the first four hours of each working period.
Escalators & moving walks (PUWER)6 months (guidance)
Not LOLER, by HSE's guidance. Covered by the Workplace Regulations and PUWER 1998, with BS EN 115 as the design standard. No interval is fixed in law, but guidelines drawn up in consultation with HSE recommend a thorough examination normally every six months.
Any equipment on an examination schemeAs scheme states
A scheme drawn up by a competent person replaces the default interval. It should be written down, say who drew it up, and be reviewed.

Statutory LOLER thorough examination intervals by equipment type
Equipment	Interval	Why
Passenger lifts	6 months	Lifts people, so it falls under the six-monthly limb of Regulation 9(3).
Platform lifts & stairlifts	6 months	Carries a person, regardless of travel height or the setting it is installed in.
Patient & bath hoists	6 months	Lifts people. Common in care and healthcare settings, and frequently held on a maintenance schedule rather than a statutory one.
MEWPs / cherry pickers / scissor lifts	6 months	Lifts people to height. Applies to hired machines in use on your site as well as owned plant.
BMU cradles & façade access	6 months	Carries people over the edge of a building. Out of sight on a roof, and the first thing to lapse when a managing agent changes.
Rope access equipment	6 months	Holds, raises and lowers people, so it is equipment for lifting persons. Ropes, descenders, ascenders, harnesses and connectors are examined together as the system they form.
Lifting accessories	6 months	Slings, chains, shackles, eyebolts and lifting beams. Cheap, numerous, easily substituted informally — the most common gap in a register.
Forklift man-baskets & work platforms	6 months	An attachment that lifts people is on the six-month cycle, and so is any truck while it is used with one.
Goods-only lifts	12 months	Lifts loads rather than persons, so the twelve-monthly limb applies.
Dumbwaiters & service lifts	12 months	Goods-only plant. Small, often forgotten, and still lifting equipment under LOLER.
Forklift trucks	12 months	Twelve months as a load-handling machine — but six where it is used to lift people, including with a man-basket.
Telehandlers	12 months	Twelve months for load handling; six if fitted with a working platform for personnel.
Tail lifts	12 months	Twelve months for goods only; six if it carries a person, including an operator riding the platform.
Cranes & overhead travelling cranes	12 months	Twelve months for load lifting. Duty cycle in a press shop or foundry may warrant a shorter scheme.
Hoists (goods)	12 months	Chain blocks, lever hoists and goods hoists lifting loads rather than persons.
Dock levellers & loading bay plant	Usually 12 months	Inspected under PUWER as work equipment, usually every twelve months; LOLER applies as well where a leveller is used to raise or lower loads. Often held on a separate register from the truck fleet, or on none at all.
Garage & vehicle lifts	6 months (HSE)	HSE recommends six-monthly because people work beneath the raised vehicle. LOLER's own default for equipment lifting goods is twelve months.
Power presses (PUWER)	12 or 6 months	Not LOLER. PUWER Regulations 32 to 35 fix the interval by guarding: twelve months with fixed guards only, six months with interlocked guards or other protection devices, plus a guard check by an appointed person after tool setting and in the first four hours of each working period.
Escalators & moving walks (PUWER)	6 months (guidance)	Not LOLER, by HSE's guidance. Covered by the Workplace Regulations and PUWER 1998, with BS EN 115 as the design standard. No interval is fixed in law, but guidelines drawn up in consultation with HSE recommend a thorough examination normally every six months.
Any equipment on an examination scheme	As scheme states	A scheme drawn up by a competent person replaces the default interval. It should be written down, say who drew it up, and be reviewed.

Keep track of your own equipment. A free register that applies these intervals and flags what is overdue.

Free register template

Examinations that fall outside the six- or twelve-month cycle

These are the ones most often missed — the date on the last certificate is not the whole duty.

Before first use — Regulation 9(1) requires a thorough examination before equipment is first put into service, unless it is new with a declaration of conformity made in the last twelve months, or has come from another business with evidence of its last thorough examination. Where safety depends on how it is installed, Regulation 9(2) also requires one after installation, whether the equipment is new or moved from elsewhere in your organisation.
After relocation or reassembly — Wherever safety depends on how the equipment was installed, moving it to a new site or reassembling it triggers a fresh examination. On construction sites, a move between sites is one of the most commonly missed triggers.
After exceptional circumstances — Anything liable to jeopardise the equipment's safety — damage, a major modification, or a long period out of use — requires an examination before it goes back into service, regardless of where you are in the periodic cycle.
When the previous report says so — A Report of Thorough Examination can specify a repair timescale or a shorter re-examination date. That date replaces the default, and it is the one an inspector will check against.

Sources

This chart summarises the default statutory position. It is not a substitute for a written examination scheme drawn up by a competent person, and where a scheme exists it sets the interval instead. Prepared by Integrity Lift Compliance.

Not sure which row your equipment falls under? Read the full guide to examination intervals, or call the office and we will tell you straight.

Common Questions

Inspection Interval FAQs

What are the standard LOLER inspection intervals?

LOLER 1998 Regulation 9 sets six months for equipment used to lift persons and for lifting accessories, and twelve months for all other lifting equipment — unless a written examination scheme drawn up by a competent person sets a different interval.

Does a forklift need a six- or twelve-monthly examination?

Twelve months as a load-handling machine. It moves to six months where it is used to lift people — including where a man-basket or work platform attachment is fitted, since that attachment is itself lifting equipment used to lift persons.

Do the intervals apply to hired equipment?

Hiring equipment does not transfer the duty to examine it while you are using it. If a hired MEWP or telehandler is in use on your site, you are the one exposed if the examination position is not what the hire paperwork suggests.

What happens if an examination date is missed?

The equipment should be taken out of service until it has been examined. Continuing to use lifting equipment past its statutory examination date exposes the duty-holder to enforcement action and can affect insurance cover in the event of an incident.

Book the Examinations You're Due

Send us your equipment list and we'll tell you what's due, what's overdue, and what it needs — before it becomes an enforcement conversation.

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.

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