Crane Inspection Checklists, LLC

Crane Checklist is currently in beta testing and expecting June 2026 public release.  It is a digital inspection and compliance mobile app built around official Crane Institute checklist forms created by James J. Headley Jr., a recognized crane and rigging expert and the CEO of both Crane Institute of America, LLC and Crane Inspection Checklists, LLC.

The app brings these expert-developed forms into a field-ready digital workflow, with OSHA/ASME standard references derived from Crane Institute expertise, helping inspectors complete, document, store, and share crane inspection records with confidence.  The app is available via the App Store (Apple) and Google Play (Android).  Users can purchase one or more licenses for approximately $75 USD per month and assign them to other users, regardless of device type.  Each assigned user receives an activation code to access their license. There are no setup or cancellation fees.

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Overview

Crane Checklist helps inspectors capture inspection data, photos, notes, signatures, and compliance records.  Inspectors can complete checklists and capture photos offline without internet access.

Crane Institute periodically reviews and updates the checklist forms and related regulatory references as applicable OSHA requirements, ASME standards, and industry practices change.  Users receive the current app-supported versions without having to research, redesign, or independently maintain their own inspection forms.

Tap the OSHA/ASME button beside a checklist item to view regulatory information related to that item.  When internet service is available again, upload checklist data and photos securely.

Excel exports, shared data, and completed PDFs are created from uploaded checklist data.  Upload all checklist changes before exporting to Excel, sharing data, or downloading the PDF so the latest answers, photos, and direct clickable links to OSHA regulations are included.

The exported checklist data and completed PDF forms can also be used with Artificial Intelligence tools to help review inspection history, compare related checklist records, next scheduled inspection, summarize findings, and identify patterns across completed inspections.  Optional public PDF links and Excel exports give AI tools structured context for answering questions about crane inspection records while the links remain active.

All features are included with an active license.

Licenses for Managers, Owners, and Clients

A Crane Checklist license is not limited to inspectors. Inspectors can authorize licensed managers, equipment owners, administrators, safety personnel, or clients to access inspection information without giving them control of the inspector’s original records.

Authorized users can export permitted inspection data to Excel whenever needed, review records from one or multiple inspectors, filter inspection history, identify upcoming inspection dates, and optionally open completed PDF forms and inspection photos through included links.

This gives office and management personnel direct access to current inspection records without requiring the inspector to manually prepare and send a separate report each time.

Basic Workflow

Create a new checklist or open an existing checklist.  Complete each checklist section and take photos where needed.

If 3rd party clients, administrators, or management also have a user license, you can enable them to export to Excel on demand and optionally include links to the PDF forms and photos.  Just enter one or more email addresses in the Inspector Information section, separated by semicolons (;), to allow those users to export.

Mark checklist items as Satisfactory, Safety Hazard, Monitor, Recommendation, or Not Applicable.  Review Hazard Lines near the end of the form and update hazard text or photo descriptions as needed.

Upload the checklist when internet is available.  Export to Excel, share data, or download the completed PDF after uploading the latest changes.

Offline Use And Saving

You can complete checklists and capture photos without internet access.  Checklist answers and photos are saved on your device as you work.

You can leave a checklist and return later to continue editing.  Uploading, downloading checklists, sharing, license refresh, Excel export, and PDF generation require internet access.

Upload the checklist to securely store the latest data and current photo versions on the server.  Do not uninstall the app unless important checklists have been uploaded or exported.

PDF Download

Tap the PDF icon to download the official Crane Institute checklist populated with captured data and photos.  The PDF is generated from the uploaded checklist data.

Upload all checklist changes before downloading the PDF so the latest answers and photos are included.  Photos added, replaced, deleted, or annotated after the last upload will not be reflected in the PDF until the checklist is uploaded again.

When applicable, hazard photos can include a clickable link to the related OSHA, ASME, or other standard above the photo so the recipient can review the requirement directly.

Icons

Crane Checklist uses toolbar icons and action icons to keep common inspection tasks easy to reach.  The icons below identify the major actions used throughout the app.

Create Account

Create a free account with your mobile number, email address, and name.  You can complete and upload checklists and forms right away with your trial license.

All features are included with an active license assigned to your account.

Login

Enter your mobile number or email address.  Crane Checklist sends a one-time code to enter on the validation screen.

No password is required.  Once verified, you stay signed in on this device until you sign out.

Edit Checklist

Complete each area of the checklist by selecting a status and entering notes or other details where needed.  The available status values are Satisfactory, Safety Hazard, Monitor, Recommendation, and Not Applicable.

Use Satisfactory when the inspected item is acceptable.  Use Safety Hazard for items that represent an unsafe condition or immediate concern.

Use Monitor for items that should be watched or rechecked but may not require immediate correction.  Use Recommendation for suggested corrective action or improvement.

Use Not Applicable when the checklist item does not apply to the equipment or inspection situation.  You can change the selected status before completing the checklist.

The dropdown arrow reveals previously typed or spoken entries.  Tap one to select it.

Tap the Help button beside a checklist item to view regulatory information related to that item.  See Speech To Text for microphone instructions.

Licenses

All features are included with an active or trial license.  After the trial, users can complete and upload checklists, but downloads, exports, and sharing require an active license.

After purchasing or changing a subscription, refresh the licensing screen to update available licenses.  If a licensed feature is unavailable, confirm that a valid license is assigned to your account.

An expired license is no longer valid.  Crane Checklist licenses become active immediately after a subscription purchase is completed through the app store.

If a subscription is canceled, interrupted, or temporarily inactive, existing licenses are not immediately disabled so teams have time to make subscription changes without losing access right away.  To upgrade or downgrade the number of users on a subscription, cancel the current subscription through the app store, return to the app, refresh the licensing screen, enter the new user count, and submit the purchase again.

Using Your License On Multiple Devices

Your Crane Checklist license is not tied to one device type or one app store.  After your license is active, you can use Crane Checklist on supported device types without purchasing the app again from another app store.

For example, if you purchased your license through one app store, you can still sign in and use that same active license on other supported devices, as long as the license remains valid for your account.  Crane Checklist validates your license through our own licensing system, independently from any app store.

App stores are used only for the original purchase and for managing changes to that purchase.  If you need to change, cancel, renew, or otherwise manage your subscription, you must use the same app store account and app store where the purchase was originally made.

In short, your active Crane Checklist license can be used across supported devices, but subscription changes must be handled through the app store that processed the original purchase.

Speech To Text

Tap the microphone icon, wait about one second, and then speak.  In single-line text boxes, recording stops when you stop speaking.

In multi-line text areas, tap the microphone again to stop recording.  Speech-to-text is useful for entering inspection notes quickly in the field.

Hazards And Photos

Tap a hazard level to auto-create a hazard line.  Any photos taken on that screen are attached automatically.

In the Hazard Lines section at the end of the form, you can edit the hazard text and update photo descriptions.  You can delete, replace, or annotate checklist photos as needed.

When the PDF is generated, each hazard photo can include the related OSHA, ASME, or other applicable standard above the photo.  The standard is shown as a clickable link so the PDF recipient can review the requirement directly.

This helps customers and finance teams understand why a repair is needed, which can make repair approvals easier.  This also gives third-party inspectors a professional way to document repair needs and help clients justify repair costs.

Upload the checklist after making hazard or photo changes so the latest versions are included in Excel exports, shared data, and the PDF.

Signature

OSHA requires forms to be signed.  Upload your digital signature and the app will apply it to the form.

Upload Checklist

Tap the cloud with the up arrow to upload all data and photos for the selected checklist.  Upload requires an internet connection.

When you upload a checklist, the current version of each associated photo is uploaded with the checklist data.  If the upload fails, your local checklist remains on the device, so check your connection and try again.

Excel exports, shared data, and completed PDFs are created from uploaded checklist data.  If you edit the checklist or update photos after uploading, upload again before exporting to Excel, sharing data, or downloading the PDF.

Sharing Data

Enter one or more email addresses to share an uploaded checklist.  Use a semicolon to separate multiple email addresses.

Upload all checklist changes before sharing so the latest answers and photos are included.  The original checklist always belongs to the original user.

OSHA and ASME do not permit another user to change the original form or inspection data.  When you share a checklist as a copy, the recipient receives their own copy of the checklist data and photos with a link back to the original source checklist.

This is useful when an inspector shares a checklist with a mechanic.  The mechanic can update their copy with repair notes, new photos, and updated item statuses without changing the inspector's original checklist.

View-only users can see the shared checklist data, forms, Excel information, and PDFs, but they do not receive their own editable copy of the checklist data.

Download Checklists

Select My Checklists and Shared Checklists, choose a Days filter, filter by options, and optionally enable Overwrite Existing Checklist.  My Checklists shows checklists uploaded by your account.

Filter by options include checklist type, Owner, Manufacturer, Make, Model, and Serial Number / UnitID.  Use * to match partial text. Ex: *crane*

Shared Checklists shows checklists other users have shared with you.  Tap Search to load results, then tap the checklists you want to download.

If Overwrite Existing Checklist is off, any checklist already on your device is skipped.  Use Overwrite Existing Checklist carefully because it replaces the local copy with the server copy.

Export To Excel And AI

Upload all checklist changes before exporting so the latest uploaded data is included.  Export checklist history to a filterable Excel file for review, reporting, AI analysis, audits, insurance, or legal documentation.

Select the checklist type, filter by options, and desired date range.  When Include All Users is unchecked, only checklist data created by your account is exported.

Filter by options include checklist type, Owner, Manufacturer, Make, Model, and Serial Number / UnitID.  Use * to match partial text. Ex: *crane*

When Include All Users is checked, the export also includes checklist data from users whose data you have permission to view.  This helps supervisors review data and forms from multiple inspectors without needing editable copies of each checklist.

Exclude duplicate shared checklists hides checklist copies that have identical data to an original checklist, as long as that original is included in the database results.  The Excel export includes the checklist definition ID and the original checklist definition ID so users and AI tools can understand when a checklist is a copy linked back to an original source checklist.

Exported columns include comments explaining what each column means, and the workbook includes a detailed legend to help users and AI tools understand the checklist data.  Column filters are automatically configured.

The export includes the user-defined next inspection date so you can filter or search for equipment with upcoming inspections.  The app defaults this date to just under one year, but you can change it as needed.

Photos are not embedded directly in Excel.  Photos are embedded in the completed PDF.

Optional public form links with user-defined expiration dates can be included so recipients or AI tools can open the completed checklist PDF while the link is active.  Public form links can be opened by anyone with internet access while the link is active.

After the export is created, the expiration date for those links cannot be changed.  If public form links are included, AI tools that support opening public PDF URLs may use the completed checklist PDF for additional context while the link is active.

How AI Can Help Review Inspection Records

The Excel export is designed to give compatible AI tools structured information about completed crane inspections.  Depending on the AI tool and the user’s instructions, it may be able to review inspection records, identify Safety Hazard, Monitor, Recommendation, or Corrected entries, match hazard entries to the checklist items that generated them, compare inspections for the same equipment, locate upcoming inspection dates, summarize inspection history, and identify recurring or unusual findings.

AI tools may also help users:

• Find every inspection containing a specified condition or checklist result.
• Compare results across inspectors, equipment owners, locations, cranes, or date ranges.
• Identify repeated findings involving the same checklist item.
• Create tables, summaries, timelines, and management reports.
• Review OSHA citations and open official OSHA links included in the Data Dictionary when the AI tool supports internet access.
• Open active public PDF links to review the completed form, signatures, notes, corrective actions, and inspection photos.
• Trace a hazard entry back to the exact checklist column and inspection item that generated it.
• Distinguish original inspections from records copied or derived from another inspection.
• Flag records that may need additional review and return an updated workbook or separate analysis sheet when the AI tool supports Excel editing.

Use by Managers, Auditors, Insurers, and Legal Teams

The export can be useful to people other than the equipment operator or inspector.  Authorized managers, equipment owners, safety personnel, auditors, insurance representatives, attorneys, claims personnel, and other reviewers can use the structured inspection history to better understand what was inspected, what conditions were documented, when findings occurred, whether corrective information was recorded, and how related inspections connect to one another.

During an audit, insurance claim, incident investigation, dispute, or legal matter, an AI-assisted review may help organize large numbers of inspection records, locate relevant entries, build a chronology, identify records involving particular equipment or conditions, and prepare questions for further investigation.  It may also help reviewers locate the completed PDF forms and supporting photographs associated with specific findings while public links remain active.

AI analysis should be treated as an aid to record review, not as a substitute for a qualified inspector, safety professional, attorney, insurer, or regulatory authority.  AI-generated findings may be incomplete or incorrect and should be independently verified before they are used for safety, compliance, insurance, audit, or legal decisions.

Common Questions

Why do I need to upload before exporting, sharing, or downloading the PDF?  Excel exports, shared data, and completed PDFs are created from uploaded checklist data, so upload all changes first to include the latest answers and photos.

Are my photos uploaded with the checklist?  Yes, when you upload a checklist, the current version of each associated photo is uploaded with the checklist data.

Can I update checklist photos?  Yes, you can delete, replace, or annotate photos as needed, then upload the checklist again so the latest versions are included in Excel exports, shared data, and the PDF.

Can someone I share a checklist with edit my original checklist?  No, when you share a checklist as a copy, the recipient receives their own editable copy with a link back to the original source checklist, and the original checklist remains unchanged and belongs to the original user.

What does view-only access allow?  View-only users can see the shared checklist data, forms, Excel information, and PDFs, but they do not receive their own editable copy of the checklist data.

Do public form links require a Crane Checklist account?  No, anyone with internet access can open a public form link while the link is active.

Can I change a public form link expiration date after export?  No, the expiration date is set when the Excel export is created and cannot be changed later.

Does the Excel export include photos?  No, photos are not embedded directly in the Excel workbook, but photos are embedded in the completed PDF that can be opened from public form links while the links are active.

Can I find equipment with upcoming inspections?  Yes, the export includes the user-defined next inspection date so you can filter or search for equipment with upcoming inspection dates.

Official Crane Institute Forms In The App

1.	Articulating Boom Crane
2.	Boom Truck Crane
3.	Industrial Lift Truck
4.	Jib Cranes & Hoists
5.	Lattice Boom Crane
6.	Manual Chain Hoist
7.	Mechanic Truck
8.	MEWP - Scissor Lift
9.	Mobile Crane Shift & Monthly
10.	Monorail Crane Systems
11.	Overhead Bridge & Gantry Crane
12.	Overhead Cranes & Monorails
13.	Rough Terrain Forklift Truck
14.	Side Boom Crane
15.	Suspended Personnel Platform
16.	Telescoping Boom Crane
17.	Tower Crane
18.	Vehicle Mounted Aerial Lift

Team

James J. Headley Jr. is the Chief Executive Officer and co-owner of Crane Inspection Checklists, LLC.

Robbe D. Morris is the Chief Technology Officer and co-owner of Crane Inspection Checklists, LLC.

Privacy Policy

Crane Checklist Terms of Service & License Agreement