Compliance
Lifting equipment requirements on an Ontario construction project
Updated August 1, 2026 · 4 minute read · All guides
In short
On an Ontario construction project, O. Reg. 213/91 requires that every lifting device and sling be rated, that the rated load be legibly marked on it, that it be inspected before use and maintained, and that it not be loaded beyond its rating. The equipment supplier provides the rating, the marking and the supporting certificates. Inspection, record keeping, training and safe use are the employer's duties, exercised through a competent person.
Key facts
- The governing regulation for construction projects in Ontario is O. Reg. 213/91 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
- Rated load must be legibly marked on the lifting device or sling. Unmarked equipment cannot be rated and should be removed from service.
- Equipment must be inspected before use, and defective equipment taken out of service.
- Buying certified equipment satisfies the supply side only. Selection, inspection, records and training remain employer duties.
- Alloy chain slings are proof-tested to twice their marked working load limit and tagged with a serial that ties to the test certificate.
What the regulation actually asks for
Ontario's Construction Projects regulation, O. Reg. 213/91, made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, sets out the duties that apply to lifting devices and rigging on a construction project. Read practically rather than legally, it comes down to five things:
- A rating exists. The device or sling has a rated working load established by its manufacturer.
- The rating is legible on the equipment. Not in a folder in the trailer. On the item.
- It is inspected. Before use, and on a maintenance schedule.
- It is not overloaded. Which means the rating has to account for how it is actually rigged, including sling angle.
- Defective equipment leaves service. Immediately, not at the end of the shift.
Other provinces have equivalent requirements under their own regulations, and federally regulated workplaces sit under the Canada Labour Code. If you operate outside Ontario, tell your supplier which regime applies before ordering rather than after.
Where the supplier's duty ends and yours begins
This is the part most supplier marketing blurs, so it is worth stating plainly.
| Responsibility | Who holds it |
|---|---|
| Establishing a working load limit | Manufacturer |
| Proof testing before shipment | Manufacturer / supplier |
| Permanent marking and identification | Manufacturer / supplier |
| Certificates and material traceability | Supplier |
| Selecting the right equipment for the lift | Employer, through a competent person |
| Pre-use and periodic inspection | Employer |
| Inspection records | Employer |
| Training the people rigging the load | Employer |
| Removing damaged equipment from service | Employer |
A supplier who tells you their certificate makes your site compliant is selling you something that does not exist. What good documentation does is make your side of that table straightforward: a serial number on a tag that ties to a test certificate is what turns an inspection record from an argument into a filing exercise.
What "certified" should mean on arrival
When a lifting assembly arrives, four things should be true:
- It carries a permanent tag, stamped rather than printed, showing manufacturer, grade, working load limit, serial number, batch number and date of manufacture.
- It has been proof-tested. For alloy chain slings, to twice the marked working load limit.
- A certificate accompanies it that references the serial number on that tag, not just the order.
- Material and batch certification is available for the chain and the fittings.
If any of those are missing, the gap is not administrative. An assembly with no legible marking cannot be rated, and an assembly whose certificate cannot be tied to it is a certificate for something else.
The inspection cadence in practice
The regulation requires inspection; the applicable ASME B30 standards describe what that looks like. In practice most Ontario operations run three tiers:
- Before each use, by the person rigging: visible damage, deformation, wear, stretched links, hook throat opening, latch function, legible tag.
- Periodic, by a competent person, on a documented schedule set against service severity. Every twelve months is a common baseline; severe service shortens it considerably.
- On damage or doubt, immediately, and out of service until resolved.
Removal criteria are specific and worth having on a laminated card in the yard: cracks, excessive wear at link bearing points, stretch, gouges, twisted or bent links, heat damage, and any hook whose throat has opened or whose latch does not close.
Documentation that survives an inspection
The failure mode we see most often is not bad equipment. It is good equipment nobody can produce paperwork for, usually because the certificate was filed against a purchase order rather than against a serial number, and the assembly has since moved between branches.
Two habits fix it:
- Record the serial number when the assembly enters service, not when someone asks for it.
- Retag whenever a component is replaced. An assembly is rated to its lowest rated component, so a replacement hook changes the rating of the whole sling. The tag has to describe what is actually hanging on the hook.
If a certificate is lost, a supplier who holds the test record against the serial can reissue it. That is worth asking about before you buy, not after.
A note on grade
Grade 70 transport chain is rated for tie down and towing only. It is not rated for overhead lifting, regardless of finish or branding. Overhead lifting requires an alloy chain of Grade 80 or above, assembled, proof-tested and tagged as a lifting assembly. This confusion causes real incidents, and it is the single most common specification error we see on incoming enquiries.