Statutory inspections are examinations of work equipment and installations that the law requires you to have carried out: when they are put into service, after they are moved and periodically while they are in use. In the Netherlands the main requirements sit in the Working Conditions Decree (Arbobesluit) and in Commodities Act rules for pressure equipment, cranes and lifts, among others. An inspection shows whether an installation meets the requirements at that moment and produces findings you have to act on. For a maintenance department it comes down to three things: knowing what must be inspected, using the right inspector, and keeping a register in which no inspection lapses and no finding is left open.
Statutory inspection, inspection and maintenance: the difference
The terms overlap, but separating them helps with planning and records.
- Maintenance keeps an installation in good condition: lubricating, adjusting, replacing, repairing. The Dutch decree requires work equipment to stay safe throughout its working life through adequate maintenance, and any maintenance log that belongs to the equipment to be kept up to date (art. 7.5).
- Inspection means examining the condition by looking, measuring or testing. It can be part of maintenance, such as a weekly check round or a wall thickness survey.
- A statutory inspection (in Dutch, keuring) is a formal assessment of whether something meets set requirements, carried out by a competent person and ending in a recorded verdict.
So a statutory inspection does not replace maintenance, but it does show whether maintenance is doing its job. A lifting sling that fails every inspection points to a problem in use or storage rather than to a strict inspector.
Legal duty or another requirement?
Not every inspection comes from the law. Record for each inspection where the requirement comes from:
- Legislation: the Working Conditions Decree, Commodities Act rules, the Dutch building regulations (Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving, Bbl).
- Standards that give shape to a legal duty of care, such as NEN 3140 for electrical installations.
- Environmental permit or environmental rules, which may require extra inspections at your site.
- Insurer: policy conditions, for example a periodic inspection of electrical equipment for fire risk.
- Manufacturer: inspections from the manual, sometimes as a warranty condition.
That basis determines who may inspect, how firm the deadline is and who enforces it.
The Dutch framework for statutory inspections
The Dutch rules on work equipment mirror the EU work equipment directive. As EU-OSHA's summary of Directive 2009/104/EC shows, it requires inspection after installation and assembly, periodic and special inspections by competent persons, and records of the results. The table lists the inspections you are most likely to meet in the process industry, energy and waste-to-energy. It is an outline, not a complete list.
| Area | Legal basis | Who inspects |
|---|---|---|
| Work equipment in general | Arbobesluit art. 7.4a | Competent person, company or body |
| Lifting accessories | Arbobesluit art. 7.20 (at least once a year) | Competent person, company or body |
| Cranes with a working load of 2 tonnes or more | Machinery decree (Warenwetbesluit machines) art. 6d (at least every 12 months) | Competent person |
| Mobile and tower cranes from 10 tonne-metres | Machinery decree art. 6d (also at least every 24 months) | Designated body |
| Designated pressure equipment | Pressure Equipment Decree 2016 | Designated inspection body (NL-CBI) or user inspectorate |
| Electrical installations | Arbobesluit art. 3.4 (duty of care; met through NEN 3140 and NEN 3840) | Competent inspector |
| Explosive atmospheres | Arbobesluit art. 3.5c and 3.5e | Competent person |
| Fire alarm system | Bbl art. 6.32 | Inspection body under the CCV scheme |
Work equipment: article 7.4a
Article 7.4a of the Working Conditions Decree (in Dutch) is the general inspection duty for work equipment, from forklift to compressor. It names four moments:
- After installation and before first use, if safety depends on how the equipment is installed.
- After every reassembly at a new location of such equipment.
- Periodically, if the equipment is exposed to influences that can lead to dangerous deterioration, such as wear and ageing. The decree sets no fixed interval: inspection must take place as often as needed to keep the equipment in good condition, with a proof test where necessary.
- After exceptional events: changes to the equipment, accidents, natural phenomena or long periods out of use.
According to the Dutch government's Arboportaal, the explanatory notes to the decree describe inspecting once a year as a safe minimum, and the outcome of your risk assessment (RI&E) helps set the frequency for each item. Written evidence of the inspections must be available at the workplace, digitally or on paper, and shown to the inspectorate on request.
Lifting accessories
For lifting accessories such as slings, chains and shackles, the decree is more specific. Article 7.20 requires them to be examined for good condition at least once a year by a competent person, with a proof test where necessary, and that person must have the equipment needed for the job. Here too, the evidence must be kept at the workplace.
Cranes with a working load of 2 tonnes or more, such as an overhead crane in the workshop, also have a fixed statutory interval: an inspection by a competent person at least every 12 months, with the results recorded in a crane logbook kept near the crane. Mobile and tower cranes from 10 tonne-metres are also inspected at least every 24 months by a designated body. These rules are in the Dutch machinery decree (Warenwetbesluit machines); from 20 January 2027 the same intervals are in the Warenwetbesluit machines 2026.
Pressure equipment
Pressure vessels, piping and boilers have their own regime under the Pressure Equipment Decree 2016 (Warenwetbesluit drukapparatuur 2016). The accompanying regulation designates which equipment falls under it, based on the category under the European Pressure Equipment Directive, the contents and the fluid group. For designated equipment:
- an inspection before first use and after every reassembly at a new location, recorded in a declaration of commissioning;
- a re-inspection within the period stated on that declaration, followed by a declaration of re-inspection;
- inspection by a designated Dutch conformity assessment body (NL-CBI) or an approved user inspectorate (NL-keuringsdienst van gebruikers), which works only for the company or group it belongs to.
The regulation sets fixed re-inspection periods, for example 2 years for fired pressure equipment with a risk of overheating and 4 years for pressure vessels, with longer periods where it has been shown that there is no unacceptable risk. The period that applies to your equipment is on its latest declaration. As the Netherlands Labour Authority's page on pressure equipment (in Dutch) sets out, the user must have the equipment maintained and periodically re-inspected. Pressure equipment that is not designated is not exempt: it falls under the general inspection duty of article 7.4a.
Electrical installations
Article 3.4 of the decree requires electrical installations to be designed, installed and maintained so that safe use is ensured as far as possible, and up-to-date diagrams to be available (small low-voltage installations excepted). It sets no inspection interval and names no standards. In practice you meet this duty of care with NEN 3140 for low voltage, with NEN 3840 as its high-voltage counterpart. NEN 3140 covers, among other things, the periodic inspection of installations and electrical work equipment. For how the electrical installation in a building is constructed, the Bbl does refer to NEN 1010; that concerns the installation itself, not periodic inspection. Your fire insurer may also make a periodic fire-risk inspection a policy condition. According to SCIOS, which manages the related certification scheme, this means an inspection by a certified company under Scope 10, based on NTA 8220.
Explosion and fire safety
Where explosive atmospheres can occur, you assess the risks before work starts and after every significant change, and record them in an explosion protection document (art. 3.5c). Before a workplace is first put into service, and after significant changes, a competent person checks the explosion safety of the whole installation (art. 3.5e). Fire safety falls under the Bbl: in a number of cases a required fire alarm system needs a valid inspection certificate under the CCV fire protection inspection scheme, valid for three years, or one year where automatic transmission to the fire service is required (art. 6.32), and required fire extinguishers and hose reels must be maintained at least once every two years (art. 6.35).
Who may inspect: competent person or designated body
For most work equipment, you as the employer decide who inspects, as long as it is a competent individual, company or body. That can be an independent inspection body, the supplier's service department or your own maintenance team. You need to be able to show that competence: training and experience with this type of equipment, the right measuring and test equipment, and a fixed method with pass and fail criteria. Record this for every in-house inspector.
For some categories you have no choice. Arboportaal lists, among others, designated pressure equipment, mobile and tower cranes from 10 tonne-metres, passenger lifts, lifting equipment for the professional transport of people, and containers. These are inspected by a designated body, and NL-CBIs are designated by the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment. Where no body is designated, certification schemes for inspection companies sometimes exist, such as SCIOS. Such a certificate says something about the inspection company; responsibility for your installation stays with you.
Setting up an inspection register
An inspection register lists every item subject to inspection, with the fields in the table below. Build it on your asset register, so every inspection is tied to a recognisable installation or position. What such a structure looks like is shown under asset management software.
| Field | What you record | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Item | Asset or position, with code | Lifting gear HM-02, workshop |
| Basis | Law, standard, permit, policy or manufacturer | Arbobesluit art. 7.20 |
| Interval | Statutory or own choice, with reason | At least once a year |
| Inspector | In-house or external, with competence | External inspector |
| Last inspection | Date and result | 18 November last year, 1 finding |
| Next inspection | Latest date | 18 November |
| Report | Where the report or certificate is | Linked to HM-02 |
| Open findings | What, severity, owner, deadline | Replace shackle locking pin |
To set up the register:
- Take stock of what must be inspected. Go through your asset register, the risk assessment, the environmental permit and your insurance policy, and walk the plant.
- Establish the legal basis for each item, and with it who may inspect.
- Fix the interval: the statutory one where it exists, otherwise your own interval, justified by the manufacturer, use and risk assessment.
- Collect the latest reports and certificates and link them to the item.
- Give every item a status: valid, due soon, overdue or open finding.
- Appoint an owner who keeps the register and reviews it with the schedule every quarter.
The diagram below places five items from an example register on a timeline, with 1 March as today and a 60-day window for "due soon".
Look at steam boiler K-01 as well. It is "due soon", while a re-inspection that needs a shutdown, cleaning and scaffolding takes more preparation than the 45 days left. So set the window per item.
Planning, bundling and preparing inspections
Inspections that need a shutdown should not be planned in isolation. Include them in your maintenance plan as recurring tasks with the right interval, and bundle them with other work on the same installation. The re-inspection of a steam boiler or pressure vessel often fits into a shutdown or turnaround; in a waste-to-energy plant you might combine it with a wall thickness survey of the boiler tubes.
An inspection that cannot go ahead on the day costs you twice: the inspector has to come back and the clock keeps running. So arrange in advance:
- Release and safety: downtime agreed with production, a permit to work, and isolation and lockout of energy sources. How these fit together is explained in safe maintenance with LMRA, LOTO and permits to work.
- Access: cleaning, scaffolding, open manholes, lighting and ventilation for confined spaces.
- Documents: the previous report, open findings, drawings and the latest declaration or certificate.
- Support: someone from the maintenance team who knows the installation and can interpret findings on the spot.
Following up findings and re-inspection
An inspection only pays off once the findings are dealt with. Treat every finding as a notification with an owner and a deadline:
- Record the finding against the item, in the wording of the report.
- Assess severity and deadline: must the equipment be taken out of use now, repaired by a given date, or is it advice?
- Turn it into work through a work order, or close the finding deliberately with a reason.
- Show the repair with a photo, a reading or the inspector's sign-off.
If an item fails, a new inspection usually follows after repair before it goes back into use; record that too, with the new report. How to read and act on reports from external inspectors systematically is covered in managing maintenance contractors. Keep reports and certificates with the asset they belong to, with date and version, as described in technical document control. What that looks like in practice can be seen in technical document management.
Common mistakes with statutory inspections
- Deadlines in someone's head. The inspection is in one person's diary or known only to the regular inspector. When that person leaves, nobody sees the date coming.
- Findings left unresolved. The report was read, but the findings were never turned into work. At the next inspection they appear again.
- Reports nobody can find. The evidence belongs at the workplace; a PDF in the mailbox of a colleague who has left does not count.
- Only the inspector has the overview. Switch inspection company and you lose your history. The register is yours, not the inspector's.
- New or relocated equipment forgotten. If safety depends on installation, you inspect after installation and after every move, not at the next periodic round.
- No extra inspection after an incident. After a collision, a storm or a long period out of use, a special inspection is due, even if the periodic one is still valid.
The exact requirements differ per installation and the rules change regularly, so check the current legal text or consult a competent person when in doubt.
Frequently asked questions
Is NEN 3140 inspection mandatory?
Not literally. The Working Conditions Decree requires electrical installations to be safe and properly maintained, but does not mention NEN 3140. The standard is, however, the usual way to show that you meet that duty of care. NEN puts it like this: strictly speaking, applying it is not compulsory, but employers cannot avoid it. A fire insurer may also make a periodic inspection of electrical equipment a policy condition.
How often does a forklift need a statutory inspection?
Dutch law sets no fixed interval for a forklift. A forklift wears, so it falls under the periodic inspection of article 7.4a: as often as needed to keep it in good condition. According to the explanatory notes to the decree, once a year is a safe minimum. Heavy use or harsh conditions can call for more frequent inspection, and a collision calls for an extra one. Record your choice and the reasoning behind it.
How long should you keep inspection reports?
The Working Conditions Decree sets no retention period. It does require evidence of the inspections carried out to be available at the workplace and shown to the inspectorate on request. Keep at least the report of the latest inspection for each item, and preferably the full series for as long as the item is in use: the history shows whether findings recur. For designated pressure equipment, the declarations of commissioning and re-inspection stay with the equipment.
What is the difference between inspection and proof testing?
An inspection assesses whether equipment meets the requirements, by looking, measuring and checking that safety devices work. A proof test puts it under load or pressure, such as loading lifting gear with a test weight or pressure-testing a vessel. The decree asks for proof testing "where necessary": the inspector decides whether a test is needed to establish good condition. A test without an assessment is therefore not an inspection.
What should you do when an inspection is overdue?
Treat it as a deviation that needs attention today. Decide with a competent person whether the equipment can stay in use or must be taken out of service, schedule the inspection as soon as possible and record the decision. Where the law sets a fixed interval, such as the annual inspection of lifting accessories, set the gear aside until it has been inspected. For designated pressure equipment, only the inspection body can allow the re-inspection year to be exceeded, for special reasons and by six months at most.