April 2018—Recent revisions to Chapter 9-3300 of The Philadelphia Code have added new requirements regarding the use and inspection of mobile cranes. The most significant of these revisions is a new requirement for mobile cranes to be inspected annually by CCO-certified crane inspectors (or inspectors certified under another program recognized by ANSI as meeting the ISO 17024 standard); this requirement already applies to tower cranes.
Philadelphia now also requires operators of mobile cranes with capacities of 1,000 lb. to 15 tons—and used in construction or demolition—to be CCO-certified (or certified under another program that meets the ISO 17024 standard). Current Pennsylvania state law requires operators of most mobile cranes of 15 tons capacity and above, as well as tower cranes of 10 metric tons or more, to be licensed. A central requirement for licensure is certification by NCCCO or other organization with written and practical examination requirements equivalent to NCCCO’s and accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA).
While riggers and signalpersons working with tower cranes must be CCO-certified, under the new law those working with mobile cranes must only be qualified as established by federal OSHA’s crane rule.