It is the first question almost every owner asks, and it is the one that resists a tidy answer. There is no universal figure that tells you when a machine is due, because two identical units working in different places wear at completely different rates. What follows is a look at what genuinely drives the timing, how the layers of servicing and inspection fit together, and why the machine's own behaviour is a poor substitute for a proper schedule. This is general information and not legal advice, so treat it as a way to think about the problem rather than a rule to copy onto a whiteboard.
The manufacturer's manual is where the timing starts
Every credible service interval begins in the documentation that came with the machine. The manufacturer knows how their hydraulics, structure and controls behave, and their manual sets out the baseline attention the unit was designed to receive. That baseline is the starting point rather than the finishing line, because the manual assumes a fairly typical working life and cannot know how any particular owner will use the machine.
For access plant the manual sits alongside the wider expectations set out in AS 2550.10, which frames the safe use, upkeep and inspection of MEWPs — a category that includes truck-mounted elevating work platforms. The standard does not hand you a fixed calendar; it describes a regime shaped by the machine, its manual and the judgement of a competent person, which is a deliberate design because no single interval could ever suit every unit in service.
Duty cycle and hours of use pull the interval in
How hard a machine works matters far more than how long ago it was bought. A unit that lifts, extends and slews through a heavy workload accumulates wear quickly, while an identical machine used occasionally accumulates it slowly, and the two should not be treated the same. Workload is the reason a busy hire unit and a rarely-used owner machine can share a build date yet need very different levels of attention.
This is why hours of use and the intensity of the duty cycle feed directly into how often a competent person will want eyes on the machine. A unit running long, demanding shifts is spending its safety margin faster, and the sensible response is to look at it more often — not because a rule demands it, but because the wear is genuinely there to find. The point of tracking usage is to let the servicing follow the actual work rather than a guess.
Environment can rewrite the schedule entirely
Where a machine lives is one of the strongest influences on how quickly it degrades, and it is the factor owners most often underestimate. The surroundings attack different systems at different speeds, and a harsh setting can shorten the sensible gap between checks well beyond anything the manual assumed for a mild one.
Conditions that typically warrant closer, more frequent attention:
- Salt-laden coastal air, which drives corrosion into structure and fittings long before it shows on the surface.
- Dust and grit, common on mine sites and unsealed regional work, which accelerates wear in pins, bushes, seals and filters.
- Mining and heavy-industry duty, where contamination and sustained load combine to age hydraulics and structure faster.
- Transport vibration on truck-mounted units, which works fasteners loose and fatigues mountings between jobs, not just on them.
Servicing, periodic inspection and the major are not the same thing
It helps to keep three distinct activities separate in your mind, because they answer different questions. Routine servicing is the ongoing upkeep that keeps the machine running well — lubrication, fluid and filter attention, adjustment and the replacement of parts that wear. Its spacing follows the manual, the workload and the conditions described above rather than any fixed cadence.
Periodic inspection sits above that: a competent person assessing condition and function against the machine's requirements, catching the faults that servicing alone would miss. Above both sits the major inspection — the deep, structured strip-down that examines the concealed structure and load-holding systems. For access plant that major inspection has a defined timing: it falls due at either the 5-year or the 10-year point depending on the equipment class, measured from manufacture. That is the one interval that is genuinely fixed, and it is fixed by class rather than by how the machine happens to feel.
Why "it feels fine" is not a schedule
The most dangerous servicing plan is the one built on how the machine seems to be behaving. A boom that starts every morning, lifts smoothly and lowers cleanly can be carrying a fatigue crack under its paint, a slew ring quietly losing bolt tension, or holding valves beginning to bypass — none of which announce themselves through the controls until they are well advanced. Feeling fine is exactly how a machine behaves right up until it doesn't.
A proper schedule works the opposite way. It is set in advance from the manual, the duty cycle and the environment, so the machine is looked at because it is due rather than because something has already gone wrong. As an independent inspection and engineering specialist with no brand allegiance, EWP Australia can help you translate a machine's real workload and setting into a sensible plan — call 0416 689 689 to talk it through rather than waiting for the unit to make the decision for you.
This guide is general information prepared by EWP Australia and is grounded in publicly available Australian Standards and Safe Work Australia material. It is not a substitute for the current published edition of the relevant standard or for site-specific engineering advice. Always work from the current standard and consult a competent person for your specific equipment and application.