CSA B167 Compliance Consultant
CSA B167 is the Canadian national standard for the design, inspection, maintenance and use of overhead cranes and hoists. Compliance is not automatic — most facilities have gaps they do not know about until an audit, an incident, or an insurance review surfaces them.
When you need this
Signals it's time to engage CAG.
- You are unsure whether your overhead crane program meets CSA B167
- An audit, insurer or corporate parent has asked for evidence of compliance
- You are onboarding a new crane and need to confirm the specification aligns to B167
- You have inherited a crane fleet with unclear inspection or maintenance history
- A regulator or Ministry of Labour order has flagged crane-related deficiencies
- Your third-party inspection vendor is also your maintenance vendor, and you want an independent read
What we deliver
Concrete outputs, not just advice.
- —CSA B167 gap assessment across program, documentation and equipment
- —Written compliance report with prioritized remediation actions
- —PM program alignment to Part 6 inspection framework
- —Documentation templates: pre-op checks, periodic inspection, annual record
- —Operator and supervisor training-content review against Part 5
- —Rigging and below-the-hook device compliance review
See our full CSA B167 compliance guide for a deeper walkthrough of the standard, or engage us directly if you need an independent third party to assess and document your program.
CSA B167 is organized in parts covering design, marking, installation, operation, inspection, maintenance, and modifications. Most compliance failures we see are not design or hardware problems — they are documentation and program problems. The equipment is fine; the records that prove the equipment is fine do not exist, are inconsistent between sites, or were written by the vendor that also does the work.
Our compliance engagements start from the paperwork side. We pull the last twelve months of inspection reports, maintenance records, operator training records and pre-use check sheets, then walk the floor with your maintenance lead to confirm what the paperwork claims. The delta between the two is the report — with a prioritized remediation plan that separates true safety issues from documentation clean-up.
For multi-site owners, we also compare programs across facilities. It is extremely common for one site to have a mature B167 program and a sister site — same corporate parent, same equipment — to have almost nothing. Standardizing across the fleet is often the fastest path to defensible corporate compliance.
Standards referencedCSA B167 (current edition), aligned with CMAA 70/74 and ASME B30.2 where applicable.
Which requirements actually apply
Canadian overhead crane requirements vary by jurisdiction, equipment type and workplace. Provincial regulations may incorporate specific editions of CSA B167 or other standards, while owner and site requirements can be more stringent. CAG helps owners identify the requirements that apply to the site and equipment before recommendations are made.
CAG provides independent, owner-side advisory review. CAG is not a regulator, inspection authority or certifying body, and does not certify or guarantee compliance. Where professional engineering certification is legally required, it must be provided by a qualified professional engineer licensed in the applicable jurisdiction.
Compliance note: regulatory requirements vary by jurisdiction. Standard references and wording on this page are general; the requirements that apply to your site are those in the edition of CSA B167 adopted by your jurisdiction, together with its own regulation. Confirm the adopted edition and current regulatory text through the official source for your province or territory before acting on this information.
Provincial requirements and adopted editionsBritish Columbia: WorkSafeBC Support
In British Columbia, CSA B167 expectations sit alongside the WorkSafeBC OHS Regulation. CAG helps owners organize both.
Self-audit checklist
CSA B167 self-audit — quick-check items
If you cannot answer 'yes, and I can show you the record' to each item below, your program has a documented compliance gap under B167.
- Every crane has a legible capacity marking on the bridge and on each hoist
- A current pre-use inspection check sheet exists for every crane, filled out by the operator each shift the crane is used
- A frequent inspection (typically monthly) is documented for each crane with the inspector's name and date
- A periodic (annual) inspection report exists for every crane, produced by a competent inspector
- Load test records exist for new, altered or repaired cranes before return to service
- Wire rope inspection records include measured diameter, broken-wire count and reeving condition
- Operator training records include theory, practical evaluation and re-evaluation dates
- Rigging and below-the-hook devices are inspected and tagged on the same interval as the crane
- Maintenance records show corrective actions closed for every deficiency raised on an inspection
- Modifications (controls swaps, capacity changes, structural repairs) are engineered, documented and re-load-tested
- A written program document exists that names roles, intervals, forms and record-retention period
Representative engagement
Representative engagement — CSA B167 program gap assessment, multi-site owner
This example illustrates the type of situation CAG may be engaged to review and is not presented as a specific client engagement.
Situation
An owner has acquired several sites, each using a different inspection vendor, different forms and no corporate crane program document. An insurance renewal is requesting evidence of a consistent compliance framework across the fleet.
What CAG reviews
- —Site-by-site inspection and maintenance records
- —Each site's forms, intervals and vendor scopes
- —The crane population, duty and equipment condition on a walk-down
- —Operator training and competency records
- —Any existing corporate crane program documentation
Issues CAG looks for
- —Inspection frequencies inconsistent with the adopted CSA B167 edition and provincial requirements
- —Missing load-test, alteration or repair documentation
- —Deficiencies left open with no assigned owner or due date
- —No named competent person responsible for the program
- —Record retention shorter than the applicable requirement
- —Below-the-hook devices and rigging excluded from the program
Decision support
The owner gets a single scorecard against CSA B167 Parts 4, 5 and 6 and a prioritized remediation plan, giving procurement, EHS and insurers one consistent, defensible program to work from.
CAG's role
Independent review only. The selected crane manufacturer or service provider still performs the work.
Frequently Asked
CSA B167 Compliance Consultant, answered.
- Is CSA B167 mandatory in Canada?
- CSA B167 is a consensus standard, not a law by itself. Provincial OH&S regulators, insurers, and many owners' internal policies reference it as the standard of care — so in practice, non-compliance carries real regulatory, insurance and liability exposure.
- What is the difference between CSA B167 and ASME B30.2?
- B167 is the Canadian standard covering design, inspection, maintenance and use of overhead cranes. ASME B30.2 is the equivalent U.S. safety standard. They align on most fundamentals; details on inspection intervals, terminology and program structure differ.
- How often does B167 require an overhead crane to be inspected?
- B167 defines a tiered inspection framework: pre-use checks each shift the crane is used, frequent inspections (typically monthly, adjusted for service class), and periodic (typically annual) inspections by a competent person. Higher service classes and more severe environments push intervals shorter.
- Can our third-party inspection vendor also confirm we are B167 compliant?
- They can confirm equipment condition against the standard, but compliance is a program-level question: records, roles, training, modifications, retention. Owners regularly discover during an audit that the inspection paperwork is fine while the program around it is not. An independent review closes that gap.
- How long does a CSA B167 gap assessment take?
- Typical single-site engagements run 2–4 weeks from records request to written report. Multi-site programs are scoped per site. We work from your existing documentation first, then a site walk — we do not need to shadow your operation for months.
Where to go next
The logical next step.
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Full program gap review and corrective actions. Compliance Program Review.
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B167-aligned maintenance scope, intervals and records. Crane Maintenance Programs.
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How provincial requirements interact with CSA B167. Canadian Crane Requirements.
Need more than a one-time review?
Corporate Crane Program Management combines these services into an ongoing independent management program for your crane fleet — maintenance strategy, deficiencies, contractor performance, repair spending and capital planning. See Corporate Crane Program Management.
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