Jib Crane Outlet gets a lot of questions about the interaction between jib crane supplier, jib crane buyer, general contractor, and other subcontractors such as concrete subcontractors. How do they interact? Which parties contract with which parties, and who directs others in the design of their products? Over the next few weeks, I’ll cover about ten topics involved in the design and engineering phase of a jib crane project. The first and most important topic is the design flow process and the contract flow process.
The Architect will typically design the building in concert with the wishes of the owner and the capabilities of the general contractor. If the architect or general contractor does not request loading data from the jib crane supplier at this point in the design phase, the range of cranes that can be installed in the building is limited to whatever cranes happen to have compatible loadings with the building capabilities. Mitigating factors may exist if the architect already has a working understanding of crane loadings or the building already exists and a re-engineering or rebuilding is not feasible.
Introduction to Jib Cranes - An Overview
Once the building has been designed, the general contractor or the owner will request a proposal from the jib crane supplier. The jib crane supplier will send a price, specification, and drawings. From the specifications and drawings, the buyer must specify electrical, structural, and concrete requirements to the subcontractors responsible for those phases of the project. The jib crane supplier does not supply concrete footings or power to the crane, and can supply structural steel in certain circumstances. Look for blog posts on all three topics: concrete, electrical, structural.
Once the other subcontractors have the power, concrete footings, and structural steel ready, the jib crane supplier will ship the jib crane and hoist. On contracts where the crane supplier is required to install the jib crane, the crane supplier will visually inspect the site to ensure the other subcontractors are compliant but the crane supplier cannot reverse engineer the project on site. If the owner, architect, or general contractor know the site is not ready, they shall notify the crane supplier not to ship or travel to the site as no work can be performed.
When the jib crane is installed, the jib crane should be tested for all motions to ensure it works properly. It shall also be inspected in accordance with OSHA’s initial inspection requirements and load tested to 125% of rated capacity. Dearborn’s installation crew will do all of this provided the weights are supplied by others.
