ASME B30.16 Hoist Inspection Requirements: Frequent, Periodic, and Records

ASME B30.16 puts every overhead or stationary hoist on two inspection clocks set by its service class — a frequent inspection from daily to monthly, and a documented periodic inspection from quarterly to yearly — plus an initial inspection before first use and a load test at 100% to 125% of rated load whenever a qualified person decides repair or alteration calls for one. The parts people get wrong are the rope rule (B30.16's broken-wire counts are tighter than the crane rule in B30.2), the record rule (periodic inspections need dated records; frequent ones don't), and the OSHA question (there is no general-industry hoist standard, which is exactly why B30.16 carries the weight).

Which standard covers your hoist

ASME B30.16, Overhead Underhung and Stationary Hoists, covers the construction, installation, operation, inspection, testing, and maintenance of hand-chain-operated, electric-powered, and air-powered chain and wire rope hoists. The current edition is B30.16-2022, issued May 6, 2022, superseding the 2017 edition. Its Chapter 16-2 is the inspection and testing chapter, with separate inspection tables for hand-chain-operated hoists (Table 16-2.1.4-1) and for electric- or air-powered hoists (Table 16-2.1.4-2), and Chapter 16-4 holds the rope, welded link chain, and roller chain replacement rules.

What B30.16 does not cover matters just as much on a mixed site:

A hoist that is the hoisting unit of a top-running crane is inspected as part of that crane under B30.2 and OSHA 1910.179. A hoist hanging from a monorail or a fixed beam is B30.16's territory, and the monorail itself is B30.17's.

Where OSHA stands

There is no dedicated OSHA standard for hoists in general industry. 29 CFR 1910.179 covers overhead and gantry cranes, and OSHA's 1991 interpretation letters confirm it does not apply to underhung cranes, overhead hoists, or monorails (the detail is in our OSHA crane inspection guide). Two things fill the gap:

• Construction: 29 CFR 1926.554(a)(6) requires that "all overhead hoists in use shall meet the applicable requirements for construction, design, installation, testing, inspection, maintenance, and operation, as prescribed by the manufacturer." Hoist manufacturers write those requirements to B30.16, so the manual, and through it the standard, becomes the enforceable text on a construction site. The rest of 1926.554 is short: rated load marked on the hoist and never exceeded, a supporting structure rated to the hoist, free movement to line up with the load, the operator able to stand clear, and air hoists on an adequate, positively connected supply.
• General industry: OSHA enforces recognized industry standards such as the B30 series through Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, the General Duty Clause. In practice, an inspector asks what standard your hoist program follows and compares your records to it.

For an inspection company, that means a B30.16-structured report is both the technical answer and the compliance answer for a hoist customer.

The inspection classifications

B30.16 defines the same layered structure as the rest of the B30 series.

Initial inspection. New, altered, or modified hoists are inspected before they are placed in service to verify they comply with the standard. A hoist returning from idle time is handled under its own rule below.

Frequent inspection. A visual and operational examination at daily to monthly intervals, performed by the operator or another designated person. It is the layer that catches a drifting brake, a limit device that no longer stops travel, a missing hook latch, or a damaged chain before the next lift.

Periodic inspection. The complete, hands-on examination at quarterly to yearly intervals by a designated person, with dated records. Any deficiency found is examined by a qualified person, who determines whether it is a hazard and what must happen before the hoist is used again.

Hoists not in regular use. A hoist idle for one month or more but less than a year gets a frequent inspection before it returns to service; a hoist idle for a year or more gets a periodic inspection first.

Service class sets the interval

The intervals are not fixed numbers; they move with how hard the hoist works. B30.16 names three service classes, and the factors that push a hoist up a class include its age, repair history, hours of use, multi-shift operation, loads near rated capacity, and a harsh environment.

Hoists are the asset class most often misfiled here. A chain hoist that lives on a maintenance bay beam and lifts twice a month is normal service. The same model on a production line running two shifts at rated load in a plating shop is severe service, and its periodic inspection moves from yearly to quarterly. The service class belongs on the asset record, not in the inspector's head.

What the frequent inspection covers

Drawn from B30.16's inspection tables, the frequent inspection examines:

• Operating mechanisms for proper operation, proper adjustment, and unusual sounds — controls, pendant or hand chain, and the drive.
• Upper and lower limit devices on powered hoists, which must stop travel at the correct point; the upper limit is checked under no load.
• The hoist brake, which must hold the load without drifting when the control is released.
• Hooks and latches per ASME B30.10's frequent inspection: deformation, cracks, wear, corrosion, and a latch that is present, closes fully, and operates.
• Load chain or hoist rope for gross damage, lubrication, and correct reeving: twisted or kinked chain, visible broken wires, improper spooling.
• Air hoists: lines, valves, and other parts of the air supply system for deterioration or leakage.
• Labels and marking: rated load marking and warning labels present and legible.
• General condition: unusual noise, vibration, heat, odor, or oil leakage during operation.

No written record is required for the frequent inspection. Most inspection companies record it anyway, for the same reason they record daily crane checks: a logged frequent inspection is the only evidence that the layer between periodic inspections existed.

What the periodic inspection adds

The periodic inspection covers every frequent item and then goes into the hoist:

• Fasteners — bolts, nuts, rivets, and pins for loosening.
• Load blocks, suspension housings, hand chain wheels, chain attachments, clevises, yokes, suspension bolts, shafts, gears, bearings, pins, rollers, and locking and clamping devices for wear, corrosion, cracks, and distortion.
• The hook, now to ASME B30.10's periodic criteria, which means measuring throat opening and checking for twist against the manufacturer's limits rather than a visual check (our hook inspection sheet carries the measurement rows).
• Load chain measured for elongation against the manufacturer's gauge length and examined for wear at the link contact points, gouges, nicks, weld spatter, corrosion, and distorted links, with the chain run through the pocket wheel to confirm it feeds without binding or jumping.
• Wire rope measured for diameter and examined against the broken-wire, corrosion, distortion, and end-connection criteria in the next section.
• Load sprocket, pocket wheel, idler sprockets, drums, and sheaves for wear, cracks, and damage.
• Brake system parts — friction discs or linings, pawls, cams, ratchets, and springs — for wear, glazing, oil contamination, and corrosion.
• Motor, coupling, and gear case on powered hoists for performance, lubrication, and leakage.
• Electrical apparatus — contactors, limit switches, pushbutton stations — for pitting or deterioration.
• Trolley and supporting structure, where fitted, for wheel and flange wear, bearing condition, and connections to the beam or anchorage.
• Labels for legibility and missing components or evidence of unauthorized alteration.

Dated records are required. The record is what lets the next inspector, or the customer's insurer, see the trend: a hook throat that has opened 2% a year for three years is a different conversation from one that opened 2% once.

Rope and chain replacement: where B30.16 differs from B30.2

The rule most often applied wrongly to hoists is the crane rope rule. B30.2 removes a running rope at twelve randomly distributed broken wires in one rope lay or four in one strand in one lay. B30.16 is tighter and counts in rope diameters, not lays:

Hoist rope is short, runs over small sheaves and drums, and cycles far more often per metre than crane rope, which is why the thresholds are lower. A hoist inspection report that quotes the crane rule is applying the wrong standard, and a sharp customer will notice.

Welded link load chain is replaced for elongation beyond the manufacturer's published gauge length over the specified number of links, wear at the link bearing points, gouges, nicks, weld spatter, corrosion, distorted or stretched links, and for chain that binds, jumps, or runs noisily in the pocket wheel after it has been cleaned and lubricated. The numbers are the manufacturer's: B30.16 points to the manual for the gauge length and the allowable elongation, and the manual is what your report should cite.

Testing: operational and load tests

Before a new, reinstalled, altered, repaired, or modified hoist goes to work, B30.16 requires an operational test of its functions: lifting and lowering through the working range, the limit devices on powered hoists, the brake, and, where fitted, trolley travel.

Load tests sit on top:

• New hoists are load tested by the manufacturer at not less than 125% of rated load. If the manufacturer cannot perform the test, it is done before the hoist enters service.
• Altered, repaired, or modified hoists are load tested when a qualified person determines the work calls for it. The test load is not less than 100% nor more than 125% of rated load unless the manufacturer or a qualified person recommends otherwise, and the test can be limited to the functions the work affected.
• Replacing load chain or rope is excluded from the load-test requirement; an operational test is made before the hoist returns to service.
• The record: the person conducting a load test prepares a written report of the load sustained and the operations performed, and the report is placed on file. Test anchorages and suspensions are approved by a qualified person.

The 100%–125% band is the same one B30.2 uses for cranes, so an inspection company that already load tests cranes has the rigging and the report format; what changes is the volume cited.

Who inspects

B30.16 assigns inspections to a designated person: someone the employer selects as competent for the duty, which for the frequent inspection is often the operator. When an inspection finds a deficiency, a qualified person — by recognized degree or certificate, or by extensive knowledge, training, and experience with demonstrated problem-solving in the subject — determines whether it is a hazard and what is required before the hoist is used again. Third-party inspection companies usually supply both roles: the technician as designated person, a senior inspector or engineer as the qualified person who signs off on deficiencies and load tests. Preventive maintenance is based on the manufacturer's recommendations, with replacement parts at least equal to the original manufacturer's specification.

Where Core fits

Hoists are where inspection companies lose track of intervals. A single plant can hold a hundred of them across normal, heavy, and severe service, each with its own frequent and periodic clock, hooks on a B30.10 clock, chain or rope on the manufacturer's replacement limits, and a qualified person's sign-off chain for every deficiency and load test. Core tracks due dates per asset against the right volume and service class, enforces inspector competency at scheduling so the periodic inspection that needs a qualified person's review can't be booked to someone who isn't one, batch-inspects a whole bay of hoists in one visit, and gives every customer a portal with their own hoist register, inspection history, and test reports. See how Core works as crane inspection software for inspection companies, read the US crane and rigging inspection software workflow page, or see it on your own workflow.

Sources

• ASME B30.16-2022, Overhead Underhung and Stationary Hoists (issued May 6, 2022; supersedes B30.16-2017) — table of contents and front matter, ASME.
• Mazzella Companies, "ASME B30.16-2022: Updates & Revisions to the ASME B30.16 Standard."
• Mazzella Companies, "What Are ASME's Inspection Standards for Lever Hoists?" (B30.21 — the sister volume whose inspection structure and rope criteria parallel B30.16).
• Mazzella Companies, "Do Manual Hoists and Trolleys Require a Load Test After Installation?"
• Crane 1 Services, "ASME B30.16 Hoist Inspection Requirements."
• DOE/RL-92-36, Hanford Site Hoisting and Rigging Manual, Chapter 2.30 Ropes — compiled rope removal criteria by ASME volume.
• 29 CFR 1926.554, Overhead hoists (Cornell LII).
• OSHA letters of interpretation on the scope of 1910.179 (1991), cited in our OSHA crane inspection guide.