Statutory inspection (engineering)

Category: Engineering insurance and inspection · Reviewed by the Apex broking team · Last reviewed 2026-08-20

Category: Engineering insurance and inspection Also known as: engineering inspection, thorough examination, written scheme examination Related concepts: engineering insurance, contractors all risks insurance

Definition

Certain classes of work equipment must, by law, be periodically examined by a competent person and reports kept. The two regimes most businesses meet are:

• Lifting equipment — under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER), lifting equipment must be thoroughly examined at statutory intervals: broadly, at least every six months for equipment used to lift people and for lifting accessories, and at least every twelve months for other lifting equipment, or in either case in accordance with an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person.
• Pressure systems — under the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (PSSR), most pressure systems containing relevant fluids (including steam) must have a written scheme of examination certified by a competent person, and must be examined in accordance with that scheme before use and at the intervals it sets.

Passenger lifts, cranes, forklift trucks, air receivers, steam boilers and autoclaves are everyday examples of plant caught by these regimes.

Inspection duties versus insurance

The examination duty sits with the user or owner of the plant and exists whether or not the plant is insured. It is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive or local authorities, and failure to examine is an offence in its own right. Insurance is a separate contract: engineering insurance covers sudden and unforeseen damage, breakdown, explosion and associated liabilities. The two are linked in practice because the historic engineering insurers built competent-person inspection businesses, and because an insurer of a boiler or crane has an obvious interest in it being examined properly — policies commonly condition cover on statutory examinations being up to date.

Engineering inspection contracts

Most businesses discharge the competent person requirement through an inspection contract with an engineering inspection body — often, but not necessarily, allied to their engineering insurer. The contract lists the plant, sets the examination programme to the statutory intervals or written scheme, and delivers the reports that must be kept and acted on. Points a broker checks when arranging or reviewing one: that the plant schedule is complete and current (new, hired and relocated plant is the classic gap); that examination intervals match LOLER, the written scheme and any insurer conditions; that defect reports reach someone who will act on them, since a report identifying a dangerous defect can require the plant to be taken out of use; and that inspection-only arrangements are not mistaken for insurance, or vice versa — a business can be fully inspected and completely uninsured, or insured with cover prejudiced by missed examinations.

Why it matters

Statutory examination is one of the few places where an administrative lapse is simultaneously a criminal compliance failure, a safety risk, and a threat to insurance recovery. Keeping the plant register, the inspection contract and the insurance schedule aligned — one list, three documents — is straightforward housekeeping that removes all three exposures at once.

References

1. Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/2307) — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/2307
2. Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/128) — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/128

See also

• /marine-cargo-and-engineering-insurance-uk/
• /contractors-all-risks-insurance-uk/

This entry is part of the Apex Insurance Wiki. Last reviewed 2026-08-20. Next review: 2027-02-20.

Apex Insurance Brokers Limited. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 724952. Registered in England and Wales, Companies House 07014570. This entry provides general information about UK insurance concepts and is not regulated advice. Consult your insurance broker on your specific position.