Load Testing Reinstalled Equipment in the State of California

Posted with the kind permission of Calvin LeClair Konecranes, CA.

Recently, I had a customer who wanted to have load testing done on his monorails. His monorails were three ton capacity. Now, Load testing in the State of California is required on initial installations and every four years for equipment over three tons. However they often move the hoist to different locations and on different monorails throughout the facility. The question that arose was if we had to load test them every time a hoist gets re-installed on a different monorail.

In a letter from 1994 written by CAL-OSHA they state that if the hoist is not an integral part of the machine, then the monorail does not have to be load tested or certified. Then they go ahead and define a monorail as “a crane whose hoisting mechanism is suspended from, and is an integral part of, one or more trolleys mounted on a single track.” So what the heck does integral mean anyway? OSHA commented to us that this is a confusing part for people trying to interpret what the regulations mean, and I can definitely see why. CAL-OSHA does not explain what they are referring to with the word, “integral”. Even under the definitions it is not listed. What he told us was that if it is not defined in Title 8 then it should be referenced from a dictionary. He went on and referenced Webster’s Dictionary and stated that the term integral as, essential to completeness, 2. Composed of integral parts, 3. Lacking nothing essential. So what I gather from this is that all hoists are integral to any monorail.

The following is an excerpt from the email sent to us from CALOSHA. , A hoisting unit is integral to all monorail cranes. Without a hoisting unit, a monorail crane is not complete and cannot perform its intended function. Section 5022 requires that a proof load test be performed on a monorail crane every four years. It is silent when it comes to reinstalling the hoisting equipment on the monorail crane. ASME B30.11 requires an operational test on reinstalled equipment. It also says that a load test should be performed on reinstalled equipment as determined by a qualified person. The problem is that our code in 4884 requires that such cranes be designed, installed, and constructed to the ASME requirements. Cranes need to be inspected, tested and maintained per Title 8. Since Title 8 is silent on the issue of reinstalled equipment, my opinion is that a load test should be performed based on your recommendation. What does the manufacturer recommend?

So, in the end it is up to the manufacturer’s or crane servicing company’s recommendation. Now he did state that he suggest a load test be performed every four years per Title 8 5022, and a load test on reinstalled equipment be performed as determined by a qualified person as per ASME B30.11. However I don’t really get it. They put all these regs in place and state all these regulations that are required to be followed on all equipment over three tons. Then when asked about it they pretty much say below three tons it should be done as well but it is up to the discretion of a qualified person. I thought that these regulations were in place to keep people from using their own discretion? If my customer comes to me with these questions, I would recommend quarterly inspections on all their equipment but only load testing above 3 ton capacities unless it is a class C or D crane then I would recommend every four years as well. Anything below three ton it really depends on the severity of use of the crane or hoist. If it is used a lot then it really needs to be treated as a piece of equipment that has a capacity over three tons. I’ll leave you with this, do you really think 6,000 lbs is going to hurt any worse than 8,000 lbs?

Calvin LeClaire has worked in the crane industry for over 10 years both in installation and manufacturing of crane systems. He is currently in New Business Development at Konecranes in California.

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