What happens if your lifting equipment fails a LOLER inspection?
If lifting equipment fails a LOLER thorough examination, the law doesn't actually use the word "fail." The examiner flags a defect, tells you straight away, and the equipment can't go back into use until it's fixed.
That's it - there's penalty and no drama. But the steps after that matter a lot, and getting them wrong is where duty holders get caught out.
There's no such thing as a "pass" certificate
People search for a LOLER pass or fail because that's how an MOT works but LOLER doesn't work like that.
Under Regulation 10 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, the examiner's job is to report defects, not issue a verdict. A piece of equipment either has a defect that needs acting on, or it doesn't. Most of the time it's somewhere in between: fine to use now, but something to fix before it becomes a problem.
So when someone asks us "did we fail," the honest answer is usually "you've got a defect, and here's what class it is." That distinction changes what you're legally allowed to do next.
What happens with a failed LOLER inspection
Regulation 10(1)(a) is clear: if the examiner spots anything that is, or could become, a danger to people, they have to tell you "forthwith." This means immediately (not next week), usually on site, before they've even left. This is why our reports are always sent to you while we are still on site.
If that defect involves an existing or imminent risk of serious injury, Regulation 10(3) kicks in at the same moment: you can't use that equipment again until the defect is rectified. Full stop. There's no grace period and no "we'll get to it next month." A verbal flag from the examiner carries the same legal weight as the paperwork that follows.
The report that follows
Next comes the written report, required "as soon as is practicable" under Regulation 10(1)(b). It has to cover what Schedule 1 of LOLER specifies: details of the equipment, the defect, whether it's dangerous now or could become dangerous, and by when it needs sorting if it's the latter.
You get a copy. So does anyone you've hired or leased the equipment from, if that applies.
When HSE gets a copy too
Under Regulation 10(1)(c), if the defect involves an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, the examiner has to send a copy of that report to the relevant enforcing authority, usually the HSE, as soon as is practicable.
You don't get a say in that. It isn't optional and it isn't something we can just skip because a client would rather it didn't happen. The law puts that duty on the examiner, not the equipment owner.
How defects actually get graded
Most examiners, us included, sort findings into three practical categories. LOLER itself doesn't use this A/B/C language directly, but it's the shorthand the industry has settled on because it maps cleanly onto the regulation's requirements.
Category | What it means | What you can do |
Immediate/existing risk | Serious injury risk right now | Equipment stops being used immediately, no exceptions |
Time-bound defect | Not dangerous yet, but will be | Keep using it, but fix by the date given and get it re-examined |
Observation | Worth noting, no current risk | Carry on, we'll keep an eye on it at the next examination |
The middle category is the one that trips people up. It feels like a pass because the equipment is still running, but legally, it's a deadline with your name on it.
What you need to do next
If you've had a defect flagged, here's the order things should go in:
Take the equipment out of service immediately if it's the serious-risk category. Don't wait around for any further service checks before acting on what you were told on site.
Get a repair quote.
Have the repair carried out and documented.
Book a re-examination to confirm the fix has actually resolved the issue. A repair isn't the end of the story until someone's signed it off.
Keep every piece of paperwork. If HSE ever asks questions, "we fixed it eventually" isn't good enough. "Here's the defect, here's the repair invoice, here's the re-examination report" is.
What happens if you just keep using it anyway
We've had duty holders ask if they can carry on using equipment quietly while they wait for a part to arrive. The answer is no, and it's not really a risk worth taking.
Ignoring a Regulation 10 notification isn't a paperwork slip. It's using equipment the law says you're not allowed to use, and if something goes wrong while you're doing it, that decision is the first thing an investigator will ask about. Most insurance policies won't cover an incident involving equipment that was already known to be defective and still in use. That's before HSE enforcement even comes into it.
Frequently asked questions
Does a failed LOLER inspection mean I have to replace the equipment?
No. Most defects get repaired, not replaced. Full replacement only comes up when the cost of repair outweighs the value of the machine, which we'll always tell you honestly rather than push a bigger sale.
How long can I carry on using equipment with a minor defect?
Only as long as the examiner's report specifies. A Category B defect comes with an actual date, not a vague "soon." Miss it and the equipment effectively drops to the same status as an immediate-risk defect.
Who tells HSE, me or the examiner?
The examiner. Regulation 10(1)(c) puts that duty on whoever carried out the thorough examination, not on you as the duty holder.
Can the same engineer fix the defect and then re-examine it?
No, and this isn't just good practice, it's what the guidance actually says. LOLER's Approved Code of Practice requires the competent person to be independent and impartial enough to make an objective call, and HSE guidance is direct that this rules out someone marking their own work: whoever carried out the repair shouldn't be the one signing off the re-examination. Get a different, independent examiner in. That's the entire point of the arrangement, not a formality.
Does a failed inspection affect my insurance?
It can. If equipment is used after a defect's been flagged and something goes wrong, most insurers will treat that as a breach of the policy's reasonable precautions clause. Check your policy wording, but don't assume you're covered.
What if I disagree with the examiner's findings?
You can get a second opinion from another competent person, and it's a reasonable thing to ask for on anything expensive to fix. What you can't do is keep using equipment flagged as an immediate risk while you wait for that second opinion.
Does this apply to hired equipment too?
Yes. Regulation 10(1)(b) specifically requires the report to go to whoever the equipment was hired or leased from, as well as to you. Hired equipment doesn't get a pass just because you don't own it.
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