Guides

Having lifting equipment of other makes serviced and inspected

The question comes up in nearly every first conversation: are you even allowed to, given you did not build the unit? The answer is short – yes – but it has three conditions, and they are worth naming.

Author: Dr.-Ing. Philipp Schwittek
Reading time: 7 minutes
Updated: 09. September 2026

The key points

Inspection requires a competent person, not a tie to the manufacturer.
Manufacturer data prevails where it exists – where it is missing the scope is derived and justified.
Safety-relevant parts are replaced only with certified new parts.
Warranty concerns new equipment only and ends with it, not with servicing.
A fleet of five makes needs one plan, not five contracts.

What the law requires – and what it does not

The German Industrial Safety Regulation requires a competent person for the recurring inspection. TRBS 1203 describes what that means: suitable vocational training, experience with that class of equipment, recent activity in the field, and freedom from instruction in making the assessment. A tie to the manufacturer does not appear there, and would be hard to justify – the criteria for a round steel chain or a load hook follow standards, not company logos.

Required: qualification, experience, freedom from instruction
Not required: authorisation by the manufacturer
Takes precedence: manufacturer data where it exists

When the documentation is missing

On equipment from the nineties this is the normal case, not the exception. Missing documentation does not make inspection impossible, only more laborious: the installation is surveyed, the scope derived from its design and the applicable rules, and what it is based on is recorded. That derivation is a sounder basis than a logbook nobody has seen for years – it is written down and can be followed.

The line we draw ourselves

Manufacturer-independent does not mean arbitrary. Safety-relevant components – load chains, wire ropes, hooks, brakes – we replace only with certified new parts, never with something suitable from the shelf. For unavailable parts of the load-bearing structure we manufacture again, but with a drawing and material certification. That is the point where manufacturer-independent maintenance is done well or badly.

What happens to the warranty

The most common worry and the quickest to settle. Warranty concerns new equipment within its warranty period – there the manufacturer is the right contact, and that stays. On anything older there is nothing to lose. It is different only with running maintenance contracts carrying manufacturer commitments; those get reviewed before any change.

Five makes, one plan

The real gain is not on the individual unit but across the fleet. Keep a separate contract per make and you have five visits, five reports in five formats and five contacts – and no overview of which unit is due when. We survey the fleet once, set the intervals per unit and hold them in one plan. After that the question “what is due when” is answered at a glance.

Survey with identification of every unit
Interval per unit from design, duty and environment
One visit, one report, one format
Records in one place instead of five folders

Overview

Five contracts or one plan

Aspect	Per manufacturer	Manufacturer-independent
Visits per year	one per make	one
Report formats	as many as makes	one
Overview of intervals	scattered	in one place
Old units without documentation	often declined	surveyed and derived
Discontinued parts	end of supply	rebuild possible
Evidence of competence	manufacturer training	TRBS 1203

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions about Servicing other makes

May you inspect a unit you did not build?

Yes. The German Industrial Safety Regulation requires a competent person under TRBS 1203 – qualification, experience with that class of equipment and freedom from instruction in the assessment. A tie to the manufacturer is not required. Where manufacturer data exists we work to it.

We no longer have documentation for an old unit.

On older installations that is the rule. We survey the installation, derive the scope from its design and the applicable rules, and record what it is based on. That derivation is then available in writing – sounder than a lost logbook.

Do we lose the warranty?

On a unit within its warranty period the manufacturer remains the right contact – we change nothing about that. On anything older there is no warranty left to lose. Existing maintenance contracts we review with you before any change.

Can we get spare parts for a discontinued unit?

In most cases yes. A cylinder can be rebuilt, a control replaced, a mount manufactured again – we come from design engineering. Safety-relevant parts such as chains, ropes, hooks and brakes, by contrast, go into the unit only as certified new parts.

Do you also inspect the runway the units hang from?

Yes, and it belongs explicitly to the job. Units fall under DGUV rule 54, a crane runway under DGUV rule 52 – two rules on one installation. A runway that has never been inspected is one of the most common findings on first surveys.

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