§ 18-1 sets the basic requirement: the lifting equipment and what it stands on
must take the load. § 18-4 adds specific requirements for mobile equipment and
how it is set up where the lift is to happen.
What the plan must settle
- What the ground is, and who has assessed what it will take
- Whether it has been excavated, filled or had services laid nearby — and when
- Whether there is a basement, culvert, chamber or slab beneath
- How the load is spread: mats, packing, distribution
- What happens with rain, thaw or frost
- Whether the distance to an excavation or slope has been assessed
Specific bearing-capacity and packing figures belong to the engineering and to
the crane’s documentation — not here. See the article
Ground bearing capacity.
For a tower crane
Foundation, ballast and anchorage follow the erection instructions, and the
set-up is inspected under § 13-3 in connection with assembly. Changes around the
crane after erection — excavation, stockpiling, filling — are a new situation,
not a detail. See maintenance.
For a mobile crane
The set-up is part of the lift: outriggers fully extended where the plan
assumes it, mats underneath, level checked, and capacity read for the
configuration actually rigged.
During the operation
The ground is not finished being assessed once the lift starts. Settlement
after a heavy slew, rutting in mats, water pooling — that is information. See
the daily check.
The plan is the employer's. Under § 18-6 lifting operations must be planned and carried out properly, with the necessary organisation and competence, and that duty sits with the employer. These pages explain how a plan is built and what each element means — they are not a plan, and nothing here substitutes for an assessment made by someone competent for the specific lift. Where a figure is needed — capacity, distance, bearing pressure, wind limit — it comes from the crane's documentation, the equipment certificate or the relevant specialist, never from this site.