ASME B30 Crane Consultant
Crane Advisory Group provides independent ASME B30 crane consulting to US owners, EPCM firms, and insurers. Our audits, specifications and PM programs are written directly against the applicable B30 volume — B30.2 for top-running bridge cranes, B30.11 for underhung and monorail systems, B30.17 for single-girder units, and B30.16 for hoists — so the artifact you receive is the artifact your inspector, insurer and OSHA compliance officer are already looking for.
When you need this
Signals it's time to engage CAG.
- You need an ASME B30.2 gap assessment against your existing inspection and PM records
- An OSHA 1910.179 citation, insurer finding or near-miss has put the B30 program under scrutiny
- You are writing or reviewing crane specifications and need B30 / CMAA language integrated cleanly
- You have inherited a fleet with unknown B30 compliance status and need a portfolio triage
- Your EPCM contractor is pushing back on B30-related punchlist items and you want an independent opinion
What we deliver
Concrete outputs, not just advice.
- —ASME B30 volume-by-volume gap assessment with prioritized remediation plan
- —Frequent, periodic and pre-shift inspection program aligned to B30 and OSHA 1910.179
- —Written B30 compliance opinion suitable for insurers, corporate risk and legal
- —Incident and near-miss root-cause reports referencing the applicable B30 clauses
- —B30-aligned specification language embedded into procurement documents
ASME B30 is the safety standard OSHA 1910.179 incorporates by reference — which is why B30 is what your OSHA compliance officer and your insurer actually measure you against, even when the citation quotes the CFR. Our practice is to walk the crane, read the inspection records, sample the PM history, and produce a single document that maps every finding to the specific B30 clause and the corresponding OSHA paragraph. That single artifact is what corporate risk, plant management and the insurer all read from — no translation layer required.
The B30 volumes most US industrial owners live inside are B30.2 (top-running bridge and gantry with top-running trolley hoist), B30.11 (monorails and underhung cranes), B30.16 (overhead hoists — underhung), and B30.17 (top-running single girder). Each carries its own inspection frequency table, load-test requirements and operator-qualification expectations. CAG's reports enumerate which volume governs each asset in the portfolio so you never end up defending the wrong standard in a claim or citation.
The most common failure we see in the field is a PM program written to a generic OEM checklist rather than to B30's frequent/periodic split — which means the frequent items get done on a periodic cadence, and the periodic items get skipped entirely. Rebuilding the PM cadence around the B30 tables is the highest-leverage, lowest-cost compliance move most US owners can make in the first 90 days.
Standards referencedASME B30.2, ASME B30.9, ASME B30.11, ASME B30.16, ASME B30.17, ASME B30.20, OSHA 1910.179, CMAA 70/74.
Self-audit checklist
ASME B30 self-audit — 60-second gap check
If you cannot answer 'yes, documented, current' to every item below, an independent B30 review will almost certainly pay for itself on the first finding.
- Every crane in the fleet is tagged with its governing B30 volume and CMAA class
- Frequent inspection intervals (daily to monthly per B30) are separated from periodic (1–12 month) intervals in the CMMS
- Load test records exist for every crane, dated within the applicable B30 interval after any modification or major repair
- Operator qualification records reference ASME B30.2 Chapter 2-3 competencies, not just a generic OEM training certificate
- Rigging inspections follow ASME B30.9 with a documented removal-from-service criteria
- The PM program distinguishes between service class per CMAA 70/74 rather than treating all cranes as one duty cycle
Frequently Asked
ASME B30 Crane Consultant, answered.
- What is the difference between ASME B30 and OSHA 1910.179?
- OSHA 1910.179 is the enforceable federal regulation for overhead and gantry cranes; ASME B30.2 is the consensus safety standard OSHA references and updates on a faster cycle than the CFR. In practice, compliance officers and insurers read them together — a modern B30-aligned program will satisfy 1910.179, but a program written only to 1910.179 will not necessarily satisfy B30.
- How often does ASME B30.2 require inspection and load testing?
- B30.2 defines two inspection categories — frequent (daily to monthly) and periodic (1–12 months, adjusted for service class per CMAA) — plus a rated-load test after installation, alteration, repair or modification affecting a load-sustaining part. The exact interval depends on the crane's service class and the environment; our reports enumerate the interval for each asset explicitly rather than defaulting to annual.
- Which ASME B30 volume applies to my crane?
- It depends on configuration. Top-running bridge cranes with top-running trolley hoists are B30.2. Underhung and monorail systems are B30.11. Top-running single-girder is B30.17. Underhung electric or air hoists are B30.16. Rigging is B30.9. Below-the-hook lifters are B30.20. Portfolio triage — one document tagging every crane to its governing volume — is usually the first deliverable in a new engagement.
- Do you support insurer questionnaires (FM Global, Zurich, AIG, Chubb, Travelers)?
- Yes. Our B30 compliance reports are structured to answer the specific carrier questionnaires — inspection frequency, load-test currency, operator qualification, rigging inspection, modification history — in the format the carrier expects. Send us the questionnaire at proposal stage and we build to it.
- Can you support a MSHA-regulated site with B30?
- Yes. Surface and underground mining operations governed by 30 CFR (MSHA) still lean on ASME B30 for the crane engineering fundamentals — our reports address the applicable MSHA parts and the governing B30 volume in the same document.
- Do you handle B30-related incident investigations?
- Yes. Owner-side incident and near-miss investigations are one of our fastest-turnaround engagement types. We document the sequence of events, map the failure to the applicable B30 clauses and OSHA paragraphs, and produce a root-cause and corrective-action report suitable for corporate risk, legal and regulators.
Where to go next
The logical next step.
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Turn B30 requirements into an inspection schedule your team can run. Inspection Program Review.
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Close findings with a maintenance strategy, not just more reports. Crane Maintenance Programs.
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Duty classification behind the inspection frequency. CMAA Class & Duty Review.
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