Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: Do I have to notify a crane before I can use it on site?

  A crane can be used as soon as it has been thoroughly examined.  The Regulations do not prevent a crane’s use in the 14-day period after its thorough examination within which notification is required.

• Q: Why do I need to register my use of cranes?

  If you have the primary responsibility for the safety of any conventional tower crane used on a construction site, you will also have a legal duty to notify HSE of its installation under the Notification of Conventional Tower Cranes Regulations 2010 (the ‘Regulations’).
  
  In recent years there have been a number of high profile incidents in GB involving conventional tower cranes in which a total of 8 people have died and more have been seriously injured.  As a result, a package of measures is being put into place both to improve the safe use of such tower cranes and to help reassure anyone concerned about their safety.  The Regulations form part of this package of measures.  

• Q: When do the Notification of Conventional Tower Cranes Regulations 2010 come into force?

  These Regulations come into force on 6 April 2010.  Guidance for those with duties under the Regulations can be downloaded here.

• Q: Which types of crane need to registered?

  The Regulations require conventional tower cranes used on construction sites  to be notified to HSE.
  
  The duty does not apply to other types of tower cranes such as self-erecting tower cranes or any other types of crane (eg mobile cranes).  Nor does the duty apply to tower cranes on sites other than construction sites.

• Q: What is a conventional tower crane?

  A conventional tower crane is defined in the Regulations as a ’slewing jib type crane with jib located at the top of a vertical tower and which is assembled on a construction site from components’.  This includes, but is not limited to, such cranes with horizontal or luffing jibs and slewing rings at the base or top of the tower.  These tower cranes are usually installed (and dismantled) with the assistance of another crane and, as a result, are sometimes referred to as ‘assisted erect cranes’.

• Q: What is a construction site?

  A construction site is defined in regulation 2(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 as including “any place where construction work is being carried out or to which workers have access but does not include a workplace within it which is set aside for purposes other than construction work”.  The yards of tower crane companies are not construction sites.

• Q: Do I have the duty to notify HSE?

  In practice, it is whoever has the responsibility for ensuring that the crane is thoroughly examined by a competent person (as required by regulation 9 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 - LOLER) who should also ensure that HSE is notified.  Responsibility for notifying HSE should be agreed between the various parties (Principal Contractor, other contractors, crane supplier etc) bearing this in mind.  But, in most cases, responsibility will usually fall either to the Principal Contractor or the contractor appointed by the Principal Contractor to provide all on-site crane services.  
  For further information, please see the guidance leaflet.

• Q: When do I need to notify HSE?

  You should notify HSE within 14 calendar days from, and including, the date of any thorough examination of the conventional tower crane required by LOLER.  The circumstances in which thorough examinations are required are set out in the leaflet  but include, for example, after the crane’s installation on-site and before being put into use for the first time on a particular site.
  Where a crane is not thoroughly examined within 14 days of its installation, you must still notify HSE of certain information about the tower crane.
  
  In each of the circumstances where a thorough examination is required, the crane can be used as soon as it has been thoroughly examined.  The Regulations do not prevent a crane’s use in the 14-day period after its thorough examination within which notification is required. 

• Q: Do I have notify HSE of any tower cranes in use when the Regulations come into force?

  Yes.  In the case of  a conventional tower crane which is already installed on a construction site and which has already been thoroughly examined when the Regulations come into force (6 April 2010), you should notify HSE of the relevant information about the crane within 28 days of that date.  This is unless the crane has already been notified to HSE under the voluntary scheme operating (from 25 February 2010) preceding the introduction of the Regulations. Your crane supplier should be able to provide you with written proof that the crane has already been registered. 

• Q: What information do I need to notify?

  The following information should be notified to HSE when a conventional tower crane is thoroughly examined:

  • the name and address of the owner or lessor of the conventional tower crane – see the leaflet for more details;
  • the address of the construction site at which the crane has been installed;
  • information sufficient to identify the crane including, where known, its date of manufacture – see the leaflet for more details;
  • the date of the through examination;
  • the name and address of the employer for whom the thorough examination was made; and
  • whether the thorough examination revealed any defects involving imminent risk of serious personal injury. 

  In circumstances, where a crane is not thoroughly examined within 14 days of its installation, the above information will need to be sent in two stages as set out in the leaflet.

• Q: How should I notify the information to HSE?

  You can notify HSE of the required information in one of three ways.  You can either:

  • register to notify online through this website.  If you want to do this please complete the online registration form; or
  • you can download a notification form from this website and send it, completed, to:

  HSE Cranes Register
  Health and Safety Executive
  Field Operations Division
  London Divisional Administrative Office
  Rose Court
  2 Southwark Bridge
  London SE1 9HS

  • or you can obtain a notification form from HSE’s Infoline (see leaflet for contact details) and send it, completed to the address above.

  For each notification, you will need to pay a fee of £20 to HSE.

• Q: Do I need to pay a fee for notifying HSE?

  Yes, you need to pay a fee of £20 for each notification to HSE you make.  That is, you need to pay the fee in each of the circumstances listed in paragraph 10 of the leaflet. 

• Q: Why do I need to register with the online Crane Register?

  You don’t have to register with the online Crane Register.  However, if you do, you will be able to register your tower cranes much quicker than if you send your notifications by post.  In addition, by registering online you will be able to keep track of your notifications.

• Q: What will happen to the information I notify?

  It will be kept on a secure database and used only to help:

  • inform any action that HSE may need to take; or

  • reassure anyone seeking information on the safety of particular cranes about which they may have concerns or other information which may be requested.       

  The information you provide will be held and used in the same way as other information that HSE holds - ie in accordance with rights of access governed by requirements such as those in the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act. For further information please read HSE's privacy statement

  The data will be kept for 7 years after which it will be automatically deleted.

• Q: Is my data held securely?

  Yes.  Once you are logged on to the Crane Register any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely, in accordance with HSE’s electronic data policy

• Q: I’ve forgotten my username/password?

  You can request a reset from here

• Q: What will happen to my personal details?

  Your personal details will be kept on our secure database and will only be used to administer your account.  You will only receive emails from the site that relate to the notifications you have made.  We will use them to contact you if there is an error with your notification records.  Further information on how HSE will use the information you give us can be found within our privacy statement.

• Q: Can I get information about cranes on the Crane Register?

  Yes. Registered users will be able to directly access the Register to see the notifications they, themselves, have sent HSE.  No other direct access to the information will be allowed. 

• Q: What information can I get about cranes on the Crane Register?

  The information you can get will be limited to that which can be derived from the information which is notified.  Within these limits we will seek to make available as much information as possible.  Relatively straightforward requests (such as whether a particular crane on particular site has been registered) will be dealt with by directly responding to the enquirer by phone or email.  More complicated requests (eg seeking information about the number of notifications in a particular area) will be considered under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998 and/or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Please see here for further details HSE's policy.  Although we will seek to disclose as much information as possible, a decision to withhold information may be made where the FOI/DPA exemptions or EIR exceptions apply (for example, where disclosure would prejudice the commercial interests of a company).    
   

• Q: When can I expect a response to a request for information from the Crane register?

  The time we take to respond will depend on the nature of the request.  For example, with straightforward requests (such as whether a particular crane on particular site has been registered and the crane can be quickly identified on the Register from the information supplied), we will aim to respond within 5 working days of receipt.  In cases where it appears that the crane has not been registered (but the crane has only very recently been installed), we will need to wait 14 days before responding to allow time for the dutyholder to notify us.  More complicated requests will be considered under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998 and/or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and a response will be provided within 20 working days of receipt unless extra time to respond is needed.