BC workplaces must now obtain periodic engineer-signed safety certifications for cranes, elevating platforms, and related equipment

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted

The Occupational Health and Safety Regulation now introduces a unified "periodic certification as safe for use" framework that replaces scattered equipment-certification provisions across the regulation. Employers must ensure that covered equipment — including mobile cranes, boom trucks, tower cranes, elevating work platforms, placing booms, masts, and fire department aerial devices — is certified by a professional engineer (with limited exceptions) at intervals ranging from monthly to annually depending on equipment type and use. Each certification must follow a written inspection plan covering structural, mechanical, and control systems, and a copy of the certificate must travel with the equipment and be available to operators, inspectors, and safety representatives. Inspection and maintenance records, including certification entries, must now be kept for the full service life of the machine and be readily available at the workplace. Tower cranes face additional requirements: structural components must undergo non-destructive testing before erection and during annual recertifications, and non-destructive testing must be performed by persons certified by recognized bodies such as Natural Resources Canada or CWB Group. A transition provision treats existing certifications issued under previous section-specific rules as valid under the new framework until they expire.

Who this affects
employers operating cranes or hoists · construction contractors using tower cranes · operators of elevating work platforms and boom trucks · fire departments using aerial devices · concrete pump and placing boom operators