What to Do Before Your Crane Arrives: Site Preparation Tips

Whether you hire a compact rear-mount or a large prime mover crane truck, proper site preparation is essential. Without it, you could run into a number of difficulties, including breaches of safety regulations and various logistical issues. If you want to ensure everything goes smoothly when your crane arrives, you will find all the information you need in this article. After reading our step-by-step guide, you will be able to create a meticulous plan to ensure everything is ready on the day of the delivery.

Preparing Your Site for Crane Delivery: What to Do Before the Crane Arrives

To avoid unnecessary problems and delays, we recommend following the steps below when preparing your site for crane delivery. What to do before the crane arrives includes several key tasks, such as conducting a site inspection, obtaining any necessary permits and liaising with the crane hire company.

Conduct a Comprehensive Site Inspection

The purpose of the site inspection is to ensure there are no unexpected issues on the day the crane is delivered. Delays to commercial projects are often prohibitively expensive, so it’s extremely important to conduct a thorough inspection; covering all of the following:

• Assess the Terrain – It is crucial to ensure the area where the crane will be set up is level, stable, and free of obstructions. If the crane will be standing on soil, you need to inspect the soil, calculate its load-bearing capacity and confirm that it will be able to support the weight of the crane you are hiring.
• Identify and Remove Obstacles – By removing all potential obstacles, including vehicles, other machinery/equipment and site debris, you can avoid any unnecessary delays when the crane arrives.
• Identify and Mitigate Overheard Hazards – If there are any power lines or other overhead hazards present, these will need to be managed to ensure the safe operation of the crane.
• Assess Access Points – Make sure that site access points are wide enough to allow the crane truck to enter and exit safely.
• Assess Space for Operations – Consider the operations the crane will be performing once on site and make sure there is enough space for it to manoeuvre safely.

Having completed your site inspection and addressed any outstanding issues, it is time to move on to the next step: making sure you are in full compliance with all safety regulations. 

Verify Necessary Licences and Permits

While you probably won’t need a permit to operate a crane truck on your site in Perth, WA, you may need permits for local road closures, and unless it’s a dry hire contract, don’t forget to check the crane operator is suitably qualified and experienced too. Also, if the arrival of your hire crane is likely to disturb neighbours or prevent them from entering and exiting their premises, be sure to notify them in advance. If you are not sure what, if any, permits and licences may be required, we suggest contacting your crane hire company to request assistance.

Coordinate Logistics with the Crane Company

To create an effective site preparation plan, you will need to liaise with the hiring company. The most important details to focus on when talking to your crane hire company are as follows:

• Crane Weight and Lifting Capacity
• Time of Delivery
• Operators/Support Staff Provided by Hiring Company

With these details confirmed, the chances of problems due to poor communications should be substantially reduced, if not eliminated.

Confirm Site Safety Measures

Before your crane arrives, you should have a comprehensive site safety plan prepared. This plan should include the locations of any safety barriers to be erected, the names of team members who will act as spotters for the crane operator and a record of all safety checks performed on relevant site equipment in preparation for the crane’s arrival.

Your site safety plan should also include instructions on how to proceed in the event of poor weather conditions or lighting. In most cases, the appropriate course of action will be to safely halt operations and exit the site.

Prepare the Ground

As the date of your crane’s arrival approaches, any pads or matting required for additional support should be installed, together with the safety barriers listed in your site safety plan.

If the surface of any site access roads is in a poor state of repair, this should be remedied before your crane is delivered. Heavy vehicles put more stress on road surfaces, especially those that have already sustained damage.

It is also important to highlight the location of any underground utilities on your site to ensure they are not damaged during the setup process.

Work With a Reputable Crane Hire Company

You can avoid logistical and safety issues when your crane is delivered by conducting a thorough site inspection, obtaining all necessary permits and licences, coordinating with the hire company, confirming safety measures and preparing the ground. Proper preparation and planning are key to the success of any project involving a hired crane and will help to eliminate unnecessary delays, which can be very costly.

Of course, the best way to ensure there are no problems when your crane is delivered is to work with a reputable company such as ourselves. At Reef Group, we understand our customers’ concerns and are always happy to share our knowledge and expertise. Contact us to discuss your crane requirements in Perth.