Scope: this operational guide describes Great Britain’s Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. Northern Ireland has separate regulations. This is general information, not legal advice.
Most plant-hire compliance content is about LOLER. That is understandable, because the paperwork is visible and the intervals are easy to quote. The problem is that LOLER only applies to lifting equipment used in lifting operations, and most of a hire fleet is not lifting equipment.
Compactors, generators, lighting towers, breakers, dumpers, welfare units, pumps, saws, heaters and the bulk of a tool fleet sit under PUWER instead. PUWER has no six or twelve month default. It has a risk-based trigger, an evidence rule that bites at exactly the moment equipment leaves your yard, and a retention rule that is shorter than most people assume.
PUWER and LOLER are not alternatives
Both came into force on the same day in December 1998. PUWER is the general regime for work equipment. LOLER is an overlay that applies on top of it where equipment is used for lifting operations.[1]
Regulation 6 of PUWER, the inspection duty, specifically does not apply to work equipment for lifting loads including persons. That equipment is dealt with by LOLER regulation 9 instead. Power presses, equipment inspected under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations, and equipment within regulation 12 of the Work at Height Regulations are also outside regulation 6.[2]
So the question at the hire desk is not “does this need a LOLER certificate”. It is which regime applies to this item, in this configuration, for this use.
| Item | Usual regime | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Telehandler, MEWP, lorry loader, sling | LOLER thorough examination, plus PUWER generally | Lifting equipment and lifting accessories |
| Excavator on earthmoving duties | PUWER | Becomes LOLER lifting equipment once used for a planned lift |
| Generator, compressor, lighting tower, pump | PUWER | No LOLER thorough examination |
| Breaker, saw, compactor, heater | PUWER | Small tools still count as work equipment |
| Working platform used in construction | Separate Work at Height duty | Outside PUWER regulation 6 |
When PUWER inspection is actually required
Regulation 6 sets out the circumstances rather than a calendar. Inspection is required where the safety of the equipment depends on the installation conditions, after installation and before first use, and after assembly at a new site or location. It is also required where equipment is exposed to conditions causing deterioration liable to result in dangerous situations, at suitable intervals and each time exceptional circumstances liable to jeopardise safety have occurred.[2]
“Suitable intervals” is the part that unsettles people. HSE is clear that the interval follows from risk: the type of equipment, how and where it is used, and the consequences of a failure.[3]
For a hire fleet that is less vague than it sounds, because the fleet gives you a natural trigger. Equipment comes back from site, and you already have it in your hands.
The evidence rule is the one that matters for hire
This is the provision that catches hire businesses. Work equipment must not leave your undertaking, and equipment obtained from another undertaking must not be used, unless it is accompanied by physical evidence that the last required inspection has been carried out.[2]
Read that from both sides. As an owner, you cannot dispatch without the evidence going with the machine. As a hirer taking cross-hire in from another company, you cannot put it to work without receiving that evidence.
HSE accepts that the evidence does not have to be a formal report in every case. For smaller items it can be tagging, colour coding or a labelling system.[3] That is the practical answer to a tool fleet where a report per item would collapse under its own weight: a durable label that ties to the record, a visible inspection status, and a system behind it that says what the label means.
What the evidence cannot be is a colour-coded tag with no record behind it. If nobody can produce what was checked, when, by whom and what they found, the tag is decoration.
What an inspection record should contain
The regulation requires the result of an inspection to be recorded and kept. HSE notes that records do not have to be on paper, and that records held electronically should be held securely and made available on request to an enforcing authority.[2][3]
A usable record identifies:
- the equipment, by serial or unique asset number rather than category
- the date and time of the inspection
- who carried it out
- what was inspected, at the level of detail the risk justifies
- defects found, with photographs where they help
- what was done about each defect, and who released the item back to service
- the date the next inspection falls due
The serial-level point does real work. A record against “1.5t excavator” is not a record. When two machines of the same model are in the yard and one has a defect, category-level records tell you nothing about which one just went out on a booking.
Who carries out the inspection
PUWER requires a competent person. As with LOLER, the law does not define that through a job title or a training card. The test is whether the person has the practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the particular equipment to detect defects and weaknesses and judge how they affect safe use.[3]
In most hire businesses that is a fitter or workshop engineer, which is entirely appropriate. The competence has to match the equipment, so the person who is competent for a compactor may not be competent for a generator installation.
How long records are kept
PUWER retention is shorter than LOLER retention, and the two get confused.
| Regime | Retention |
|---|---|
| PUWER inspection record | Until the next inspection under the regulation is recorded[2] |
| LOLER in-service thorough examination report | Until the next report, or two years, whichever is later |
In practice most hire businesses keep PUWER records for longer than the minimum, and they are right to. The record is not only a compliance artefact. It is the history that tells you whether a machine is costing you money, and it is what you reach for when a customer says the item was already damaged when it arrived.
Build inspection status into availability
The compliance argument and the commercial argument point the same way here.
If inspection status lives in a separate spreadsheet that the hire desk never opens, an overdue item will eventually be promised to a customer. The desk is not being careless. It is answering from the only data it can see.
The control is to make the inspection due date and any open safety defect part of what determines whether an asset shows as available. An overdue inspection or an unresolved safety defect should stop the item being offered, not generate a warning that somebody overrides.
That also solves the evidence rule almost for free. If the current inspection record is attached to the asset, and the asset is attached to the booking, the evidence goes out with the machine because it is part of the dispatch rather than a separate errand.
Frequently asked questions
Does PUWER require an annual inspection?
No. PUWER sets no fixed interval. Regulation 6 requires inspection where safety depends on installation conditions, and at suitable intervals where equipment is exposed to deteriorating conditions, with the interval following from risk assessment.
What is the difference between a PUWER inspection and a LOLER thorough examination?
They are different duties under different regulations. LOLER thorough examination applies to lifting equipment and lifting accessories and has default six and twelve month intervals. PUWER inspection applies to work equipment generally, with risk-based intervals, and regulation 6 expressly excludes equipment for lifting loads.
Does hired equipment need to carry inspection evidence?
Yes. Work equipment must not leave your undertaking, and equipment obtained from another undertaking must not be used, unless accompanied by physical evidence that the last required inspection has been carried out.
Is a colour-coded tag enough evidence?
HSE accepts tagging, colour coding or labelling as physical evidence for smaller items. It is only meaningful if a record sits behind it identifying what was inspected, when, by whom and with what result.
Can PUWER records be electronic?
Yes. Records do not have to be in writing. Electronic records should be held securely and be available to an enforcing authority on request.
How long do PUWER inspection records have to be kept?
Until the next inspection under the regulation is recorded. That is the legal minimum, and most hire businesses keep them longer for commercial and maintenance reasons.
Does a pre-use check count as an inspection?
No. A daily or pre-use check by the operator, maintenance under regulation 5, and inspection under regulation 6 are three separate controls. Doing one does not discharge the others.
References
- Health and Safety Executive, “Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) — overview.”
- The National Archives, PUWER 1998, Regulation 6.
- Health and Safety Executive, “Inspection of work equipment.”
- Health and Safety Executive, “Safe use of work equipment: PUWER Approved Code of Practice and guidance (L22).”