AS 1418 and AS 2550, the design and safe-use split for cranes
Cranes, hoists and winches are covered by two separate Australian Standard series that most people outside the industry never learn to tell apart: AS 1418 for how the equipment is designed, and AS 2550 for how it is safely used once it is in service. A 2024 regulator Code of Practice names both, verbatim.
Last updated 2026-08-24
Two series, two different questions
AS 1418 sets the engineering design requirements — how the equipment must be built, tested and rated. Confirmed current parts include AS 1418.1:2021 (General requirements, restructured to reference a suite of ISO-adopted companion standards for technical detail), AS 1418.3:2024 (bridge, gantry, portal and jib cranes), and AS 1418.5, covering mobile cranes.
AS 2550 covers the separate question of safe use once the equipment exists — planning, selection and operation. Confirmed current parts include AS 2550.1 (general requirements) and AS 2550.5 (mobile cranes), plus AS 2550.10:2025 for mobile elevating work platforms.
| Series | Title (as cited by the regulator) | Focus | Cited by WorkSafe Queensland? |
|---|---|---|---|
| AS 1418 (e.g. AS 1418.5) | Cranes, hoists and winches – Mobile cranes | Design: how the crane must be built, tested and rated | Yes, verbatim, in the 2024 Mobile crane Code of Practice |
| AS 2550 (e.g. AS 2550.1, AS 2550.5) | Cranes, hoists and winches – Safe use – General requirements / Mobile cranes | Safe use: planning, selection and operation once in service | Yes, verbatim, in the same Code of Practice |
The strongest regulator citation in this whole reference
We fetched WorkSafe Queensland’s Mobile crane Code of Practice 2024 directly and confirmed multiple verbatim citations of both series. On design:
"All mobile cranes are to comply with the stability factors specified in AS 1418.5."
"A mobile crane and its lifting components should be marked permanently and legibly in accordance with the requirements specified in AS 1418.5 – Cranes, hoists and winches – Mobile cranes."
And on safe use:
"Other matters to be considered during the planning stage are listed in AS 2550.5: Cranes, hoists and winches – Safe use – Mobile cranes."
"These forms of communication should comply with AS 2550.1: Cranes, hoists and winches – Safe use – General requirements."
That is a Queensland Code of Practice naming both series repeatedly, in its own words — more citations, and more consistent ones, than we found for almost any other standard in this reference.
What we may not tell you
No stability factor, marking specification, load chart or planning checklist item from either series appears on this site. WorkSafe Queensland’s own text refers to "the stability factors specified by AS 1418.5" existing — we can report that the regulator says such factors exist inside the standard. We cannot state what they are.
Where this connects elsewhere in this reference
The same design-versus-safe-use split exists, less formally named, in the equivalent series written for forklifts and other powered trucks. Keeping people clear of a working crane is the same underlying problem as keeping people clear of moving plant on the same floor, and both sit under the broader duty of the general duty to manage risks from plant. For why a regulator naming a standard by number this consistently is worth taking seriously, see why a regulator citing a standard is worth taking seriously.
A crane operation of any size will also, sooner or later, run into the management-system standard sitting above individual equipment standards — a different category of document entirely, covering how a business manages safety generally rather than how one piece of plant is built or used.
Common questions
- What is the difference between AS 1418 and AS 2550?
- AS 1418 covers how a crane, hoist or winch is designed and built. AS 2550 covers how it is safely planned, selected and operated once it exists. They are complementary, not competing, standards.
- Is there an actual regulator citation for these standards?
- Yes, the strongest one we found in this whole reference. WorkSafe Queensland’s Mobile crane Code of Practice 2024 cites AS 1418.5 and both AS 2550.1 and AS 2550.5 verbatim, multiple times.
- Does this page tell me the stability factors for a mobile crane?
- No. The regulator’s own text confirms such factors exist inside AS 1418.5. What they actually are belongs to the standard, which Standards Australia sells, and we do not reproduce it.
Sources
- WorkSafe Queensland — Mobile crane Code of Practice 2024 — Confirmed, verbatim citations of AS 1418.5, AS 2550.1 and AS 2550.5, multiple times across the document. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
Part of our guide to Australian Standards for warehouses.