ASME B30.26 Rigging Hardware Inspection Requirements: Shackles, Eyebolts, Hoist Rings, Clips and Blocks

ASME B30.26 puts every shackle, eyebolt, turnbuckle, swivel hoist ring, wire rope clip, wedge socket, link, ring, swivel and rigging block on the same three inspections. A designated person inspects new or repaired hardware before first use, the user checks it visually before use, and a designated person gives it a complete periodic inspection at least once a year, more often in severe service. Anything with a 10% loss of its original dimension, missing markings, heat damage, cracks or distortion comes out of service until a qualified person approves it. The standard does not require written records. OSHA's construction rule, 1926.251, adds an inspection before each shift.

Which edition applies

The current edition is ASME B30.26-2026, issued February 26, 2026. It revises B30.26-2015, which ASME reaffirmed in 2020, and the 2026 text says it becomes effective one year after issue, so from February 26, 2027. The chapter, section and figure lists in the two editions are identical, so paragraph numbers carry over. ASME has not published the 2026 summary of changes for free, and this guide's clause detail comes from the 2015 text as quoted by manufacturers and government rigging manuals.

Two labels in circulation are wrong. "B30.26-2020", used by Washington State's rule and some federal manuals, is the 2015 edition's reaffirmation date. There is no 2023 edition. The first edition was 2004, followed by 2010 and 2015.

What B30.26 covers, and what it leaves to other volumes

B30.26 applies to detachable rigging hardware used for load handling. Each equipment chapter has the same ten sections, from types and materials through rated loads, proof test, identification, effects of environment, training, and inspection, repair and removal (section .8 in every chapter).

Three things people expect to find in B30.26 live elsewhere. Hooks are ASME B30.10, so throat opening, twist and latch checks on a block's hook or a sling's hook come from that volume. Slings are ASME B30.9, covered with OSHA 1910.184 in our B30.9 sling guide. Spreader bars, lifting beams and clamps are ASME B30.20, covered in our below-the-hook guide. A typical rigging job puts all four volumes on one lift.

Where OSHA stands

OSHA has not incorporated B30.26 by reference. Neither 29 CFR 1910.6 nor 1926.6 lists it. What OSHA does say about hardware is concentrated in the construction rule:

Two corrections to common claims. 1926.251(a)(1) does not name who inspects; the "competent person" wording is in (a)(6) and 1910.184(d), for slings and their attachments. And OSHA's only periodic interval and written inspection record in these rules are for alloy steel chain slings (at least every 12 months, with the month of inspection recorded), not for hardware. In 2012 OSHA removed Tables H-3 through H-19 from 1926.251 and renumbered the clip table as H-2, so guides that cite H-19 or H-20 are out of date. For shackles, 1926.251(f) points to the working load limit marked on the shackle.

The three inspections

Hardware in semi-permanent or inaccessible locations, where a frequent inspection is not feasible, gets periodic inspections in its place.

Service class sets the periodic interval

The interval never exceeds one year. The factors that move it are how often the hardware is used, how severe the service conditions are, the nature of the lifts, and experience with similar hardware. The guidance is the same for shackles, adjustable hardware, compression hardware, links, rings and swivels, and rigging blocks. The load-indicating device chapter adds calibration to its inspection section; follow the device manufacturer's calibration interval.

Removal criteria every chapter shares

Hardware comes out of service when it shows any of these:

• Missing or illegible identification: the manufacturer's name or trademark, and rated load or size
• Heat damage, including weld spatter or arc strikes
• Excessive pitting or corrosion
• Bent, twisted, distorted, stretched, elongated, cracked or broken load-bearing components
• Excessive nicks or gouges
• A 10% reduction of the original or catalog dimension at any point
• Excessive thread damage or wear, where the hardware is threaded
• Evidence of unauthorized welding or modification
• Any other condition that causes doubt about continued use

The 10% rule is a removal criterion in its own right. Measure against the manufacturer's catalog dimension for that size, and record the measurement so the next inspection can see the trend. Any deficiency is examined by a qualified person, who decides whether it is a hazard, and hardware that comes out of service goes back only with that person's approval.

Chapter by chapter

A country-of-origin stamp is not a manufacturer's mark. The US Army Corps of Engineers safety manual and Mazzella's markings guide both make the point, so a shackle marked only with a country fails the identification check.

Many shoulder eyebolts are marked with size but not rated load. That meets the marking rule, but the inspector then needs the manufacturer's rating chart for that size and grade to confirm the eyebolt suits the lift.

Eyebolts and swivel hoist rings: the angle rules

B30.26's operating practices for adjustable hardware set these rules for eyebolts:

• Eyebolts without a shoulder take in-line loads only.
• Only shoulder eyebolts are used for angular loading, with the shoulder seated flush and tight against the load.
• The plane of the eye is aligned with the direction of pull. Steel flat washers may be used under the shoulder to position the eye.
• In a tapped blind hole in steel, thread engagement is at least 1½ times the bolt diameter. In a tapped through-hole thinner than one diameter, a nut goes under the load, fully engaged and tightened.

The reduction for angular loading depends on whose table you read. The Hanford site rigging manual and ITI both publish this reduction for B30.26, with the angle measured from in-line (vertical):

Crosby's own eyebolt table uses different steps, allowing 30% of rated load at 45 degrees. Use the table from the manufacturer of the eyebolt in your hand, and state the angle convention whenever you write a rating down.

Swivel hoist rings turn to the direction of pull and, for most designs, keep their rated load as they pivot and swivel. The ring's working load limit still has to cover the actual sling tension at that angle. Install them torqued to the manufacturer's value, with the bushing flange in full contact with the load surface and no spacers or washers under it.

Wire rope clips and wedge sockets

Most of the compression hardware criteria are about how the termination was assembled:

• Number and spacing. Use the clip manufacturer's table. OSHA's Table H-2, for U-bolt clips forming eyes, gives 3 drop-forged clips at 3 in spacing for 1/2 in rope, 4 at 4-1/2 in for 3/4 in, 5 at 6 in for 1 in, and 7 at 9 in for 1-1/2 in rope, with one more clip of other materials.
• Orientation. The U-bolt goes on the dead end and the saddle on the live end.
• Tightness. Tighten to the manufacturer's torque, apply the first load, and retighten. That retightening step is a manufacturer instruction; in OSHA's rules it appears only in the scaffold standard, 1926.451(d)(12).
• Never in a sling eye. 1926.251(c) prohibits clip-formed eyes in slings, bridles and bull wires.

For wedge sockets, Crosby and the DOE Hanford manual both call for a tail of at least 6 rope diameters and never less than 6 in. Crosby also warns against attaching the dead end to the live end or installing the wedge backwards.

Temperature limits

Each chapter's effects-of-environment section sets a working temperature range. Outside it, the manufacturer or a qualified person should be consulted before use.

Records: not required, still the only proof

B30.26 does not require written records of the initial, frequent or periodic inspection for shackles, adjustable hardware, compression hardware, links, rings and swivels, or rigging blocks. That is different from ASME B30.9, which does require records for alloy chain and metal mesh slings, so sling record rules don't carry over to the hardware on them.

Records come from elsewhere:

• Owners and authorities. New York City requires any record B30.26 calls for to be signed and dated, and the US Bureau of Reclamation keeps inspection records until the next periodic inspection. Federal sites such as Hanford write their own documentation rules on top of B30.26.
• The interval itself. A periodic inspection "at least yearly" can only be shown with a dated record. Without one, there is no way to prove the hardware was not overdue.
• The 10% rule. A measurement recorded at each periodic inspection is what shows how fast a shackle pin or link is wearing.

Repairs and replacement parts

Repairs, alterations and modifications follow the hardware manufacturer or a qualified person. Replacement parts, such as shackle pins, meet or exceed the original manufacturer's specification. Hardware that was removed from service goes back only when a qualified person approves it, and any repaired or modified hardware gets an initial inspection before its first use.

Where Core fits

For a rigging inspection company, B30.26 work is volume work: hundreds of shackles, eyebolts and links per site, each needing its own ID, rated load, service class and next-due date. Core holds them on the client's register next to the slings, hooks and lifters they're used with. The service class sets each item's periodic interval, and multi-inspect lets a technician capture a whole bin of shackles as one batch with shared details, then open only the items with findings. Inspection templates take number fields, so measurements against catalog dimensions are kept and the 10% trend is there at the next visit. Hardware that fails is flagged out of service and routed to a review queue for a qualified person, and competency rules mean only technicians qualified for rigging inspections can be booked onto the job. Clients see their own register and the items removed from service in their portal. See crane and rigging inspection software, start with the free rigging hardware inspection checklist, or see it on your own workflow.

Sources

• ASME B30.26 Rigging Hardware, product page (ASME)
• ASME B30.26-2026 front matter and table of contents (ASME, free PDF)
• 29 CFR 1926.251, Rigging equipment for material handling (LII)
• 29 CFR 1910.184, Slings (LII)
• 29 CFR 1926.1404 and 1926.1425 (LII)
• Federal Register, April 18, 2012: 1926.251 correction and table redesignation
• OSHA interpretation, March 4, 2004: wire rope clips and sling eyes
• Mazzella: ASME B30.26 shackle inspection
• Mazzella: eyebolt requirements under ASME B30.26
• Mazzella: swivel hoist ring inspection and repair
• Washington State WAC 296-155-55600, rigging hardware
• DOE Hanford Site Hoisting and Rigging Manual, DOE/RL-92-36
• Crosby lifting points warnings and application instructions
• ITI: swivel hoist ring vs shoulder eyebolt
• CICB: rigging inspection documentation requirements
• New York City 1 RCNY §3316-01, rigging hardware
• US Bureau of Reclamation RSHS 3.02, slings, rigging hardware and wire rope