Crane Manuals and Nameplates

The following is posted with the kind permission of Richard Wehrmeister (Advanced Overhead Crane)

Richard and I were having a general discussion one Friday morning as friends do. During our chat, he mentioned a frustration his guys run into when doing work at client sites. I thought it appropriate to post here as it probably affects many in industry. Feel free to comment and enter your thoughts. 

"We work on a lot of new cranes. Unfortunately when we ask our customer for a copy of the manual, more times than not we are told they don't have a manual or didn't receive a manual when they purchased the crane.

According to the ASME Standards a manual shall be provided by the crane manufacturer with each crane. This becomes very troubling when trying to identify parts and for us in identifying proper inspection and test procedures per the manufacturer.

Another area that get's us frustrated is when we find new or even old cranes missing name plates. The National Electrical Code states that each crane, monorail or hoist shall be provided with a visible name plate. Removing name plates takes a unit that is in compliance out of compliance."