Written by the 3P Safety inspection team — we perform 1926.1412 annual and post-assembly inspections nationwide. Reviewed by a CCO-certified Mobile Crane Inspector (MCI). Updated August 2026.
OSHA 1926.1412 is the inspection backbone of Subpart CC — the section that says when cranes on construction sites get inspected, by whom, and what paper has to exist afterward. It is also the section we see cited most often in ways that are subtly wrong: monthly reports nobody retained, “annuals” done by whoever had a free afternoon, rented cranes running on the owner’s expired paperwork. This guide maps every subsection to what it actually requires, then covers what we find in the field when those requirements meet real jobsites.
The Six Inspection Triggers, Mapped
1926.1412 is organized by event, (a) through (f). Two are routine calendar items; four fire on specific triggers. (A common miscitation, including in an earlier version of this article: modified and repaired equipment are subsections (a) and (b) — not (g).)
| Subsection | Trigger | Inspector | Documented? | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1412(a) Modified equipment | Any modification per 1926.1434 | Qualified person | Yes | While modification is in place |
| 1412(b) Repaired / adjusted | Repair or adjustment to safety-related components | Qualified person | Yes | Until re-inspection |
| 1412(c) Post-assembly | After assembly, before use | Qualified person | Yes | Duration of employer’s use at that configuration |
| 1412(d) Shift | Each shift, before/during use | Competent person | Not required | — |
| 1412(e) Monthly | Each month in service | Competent person | Yes, signed | Minimum 3 months |
| 1412(f) Annual / comprehensive | At least every 12 months | Qualified person | Yes | Minimum 12 months |
Wire rope has its own parallel section, 1926.1413, with shift, monthly, and annual rope inspections that ride alongside these. If your annual crane report does not include a Category I/II/III rope evaluation, it is incomplete.
Shift Inspections — 1412(d)
A competent person visually inspects the crane each shift, completing the inspection before or during that shift’s use. No documentation is required — which is exactly why it is the first thing a compliance officer probes verbally: “Who inspected this crane this morning? What did they check?” The operator answering “I walked it at 6:30, checked rope, hooks, fluids, controls, outriggers” is your compliance evidence. Items include control mechanisms, hydraulic and pneumatic hoses, hook and latch condition, wire rope in the working range, electrical apparatus, tires where applicable, and ground conditions around the equipment.
Monthly Inspections — 1412(e)
Same scope as the shift inspection — but documented, signed by the competent person who performed it, and retained at least three months. The three-month retention trips people constantly: an officer asking for “your last three monthlies” is quoting the standard’s own minimum at you. A crane that worked June through August should be able to produce June, July, and August on request.
Annual / Comprehensive — 1412(f)
At least every 12 months, a qualified person inspects the equipment comprehensively — with disassembly as necessary to complete it. This is the deep look: structural members and welds, bolts and rivets, sheaves and drums, brakes and clutches, hydraulic and pneumatic components, safety devices and operational aids, electrical systems, counterweights, chassis and outrigger structure, plus function testing. On a typical mobile crane our annual runs well over a hundred line items and several hours; anyone offering a 45-minute “annual” is selling you a sticker.
What we actually find most often on annuals, in rough order: anti-two-block devices bypassed or dead; hook latches sprung or missing; wire rope at or past removal criteria in the working length; load charts missing, illegible, or for the wrong configuration; boom section damage from transport; outrigger float and pad defects; and fire extinguishers out of certification. None of these are exotic — they are what accumulates when shift inspections became a signature instead of a walk.
Deficiencies: When the Crane Stops
The inspection sections work together with 1926.1415 and 1926.1416. Safety devices — crane level indicator, boom stops, jib stops, horn, and similar — must be functional before use, full stop. Operational aids — anti two-block, boom angle/radius indicators, load moment indicators — get a short grace: temporary alternative measures are permitted while repairs proceed within the standard’s time limits (roughly, 7 days for aids like anti two-block on category I, 30 days where parts must be ordered — documented). An inspector who red-tags for every dead aid without discussing alternative measures, or one who waves everything through “to keep you working,” are both doing it wrong; the standard has a defined middle path.
Rented Cranes: Whose Paperwork Is It?
The employer using the crane owns compliance — renting does not transfer 1412 to the rental house. On projects running a dozen or more rented cranes at once, the pattern that works: collect the current annual report and monthly history from the owner before the crane mobilizes, verify the annual is within 12 months and covers this configuration, then run your own shift/monthly cycle from day one on site. The pattern that fails: assuming the sticker on the cab means the file exists. We are asked to untangle exactly this on multi-crane bridge and industrial projects, and the cranes that arrive paperless are never the ones you would guess from the paint.
Competent vs Qualified — Who Can Do What
Both terms are defined in 1926.1401. A competent person can identify existing and predictable hazards and has authority to correct them — shift and monthly inspections live here. A qualified person has a degree, certificate, or professional standing, or extensive knowledge, training, and experience, and can solve problems relating to the work — annuals, post-assembly, and modified/repaired inspections live here. The same individual can hold both roles if they genuinely meet both bars; job title alone establishes neither. Third-party certification (such as NCCCO’s crane inspector program) is one strong way to evidence “qualified” — it is not the only way, but “he’s been around cranes twenty years” with no training file is a thin defense in a deposition.
How 1926.1412 Maps to ASME B30.5
B30.5 speaks in frequent and periodic inspections; OSHA speaks in shift/monthly/annual. They align in practice: frequent ≈ shift-to-monthly cadence, periodic ≈ annual depth. B30.5 also covers what OSHA’s construction standard leaves quiet — notably cranes not in regular use (a crane idle over one month gets a frequent-type inspection before returning to service; idle over six months, a periodic-type). Meeting B30.5 generally means you clear 1412; the reverse is not always true, which is why our reports evaluate against both.
The Records That Survive an Audit
- Annual/comprehensive report — current within 12 months, matching this crane’s serial number and configuration, retained 12 months minimum.
- Monthly inspection reports — signed, most recent three months minimum.
- Post-assembly inspection — for any crane assembled/reconfigured on site (boom length changes on lattice equipment count).
- Repair/modification inspections with what was done and who verified it.
- Wire rope inspection records per 1926.1413.
- Operator certifications, signal person and rigger qualification records — different sections, same folder, because that is how they get asked for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does OSHA require the annual inspection to be done by a third party?
No — a qualified person is the requirement, in-house or external. Companies use third parties for independence, for the qualification file that comes with a certified inspector, and because an outside report carries more weight with owners, insurers, and (frankly) juries.
Are inspection reports submitted to OSHA?
No. Nothing in 1412 is filed with OSHA. Records are kept by the employer and produced on request — during an inspection, after an incident, or in discovery.
Does 1926.1412 apply to rented cranes?
Fully. The employer using the equipment must ensure every 1412 inspection is current — the rental agreement can assign who performs what, but it cannot reassign the compliance obligation.
Can the same person do shift, monthly, and annual inspections?
Shift and monthly — yes, any competent person, commonly the operator. The annual requires a qualified person; one individual can do all three only if they genuinely meet the qualified-person bar, with the file to prove it.
What happens when a crane fails its annual?
“Fail” isn’t the standard’s word — deficiencies are categorized. Safety-device deficiencies stop the crane until corrected; operational-aid deficiencies may run temporarily under defined alternative measures; other items get corrected on a documented schedule. A good report tells you which bucket each finding is in, not just a red stamp.
What does a 1926.1412 violation cost?
Serious violations run to five figures per item at current penalty levels, willful/repeat to six — but the real cost shows up after an incident, when missing inspection records convert an equipment failure into a negligence narrative. The paperwork is cheap insurance.
Due for an annual, or mobilizing rented cranes onto a project? 3P Safety provides CCO-certified crane inspectors nationwide, with reports written against both 1926.1412 and ASME B30.5 — request a quote or call (252) 229-5238. See also our owner’s planning guide to crane inspection intervals and crane recordkeeping guide.
Need a compliant inspection? 3P Safety Inspections performs mobile crane inspections to OSHA 1926.1412.