Inspection, refurbishment and service life

What Billy Pugh Company requires of every X-904, from the first lift to retirement: who does what, how often, and what record each step leaves.

Download the X-904 Safe Use and Care briefing (PDF)

Four intervals, four owners

Every interval runs from the In Service Date. Billy Pugh recommends that end users adopt procedures that meet or exceed these requirements.

Three roles, and only one is trained by Billy Pugh

The In Service Date

The In Service Date is the date the device is unwrapped. It is not the date of manufacture or the date of purchase. Every inspection interval and the eight-year service life run from it. It is recorded on the unit's certificate, on the yellow sticker on the center pole, and with Billy Pugh when the device is registered.

Register the device when you unwrap it, at bpc.myfleet360.net/registrations (see product registration). A distributor or service center may submit the registration on your behalf, but it must record you and where the device is in service.

Where no In Service Date was recorded, use the first of these that is known: goods receiving date; invoice or delivery order date from distributor to customer; customer purchase order date; distributor receiving date; date of manufacture.

Before every use: the pre-use check

A visual check by the person about to use the device. It covers nine things:

1. General damage
2. The safety load line
3. The four-part sling and associated hardware
4. The fabric covered stabilizer, not wrapped around the load line
5. The crane hook's positive locking device
6. The top and bottom rings and all load bearing areas
7. The inner and outer rigging lines
8. The aluminum center pole
9. The stainless steel quick release hooks

If the check finds anything, the device does not go into service until a Qualified Person has examined it. The Operator does not decide whether a finding is acceptable. A device carrying a modification or a component not supplied by Billy Pugh is withdrawn from service and is not returned until an Authorized Refurbishment Technician has removed it and made the device good. Report any such finding to Billy Pugh Company.

Every six months: the scheduled inspection

Carried out by your own Qualified Person. It covers the whole pre-use check and adds the top and bottom outer flotation ring covers, the rubber feet on the bottom frame, the vertical rigging ropes and the nuts and bolts that hold them (for sufficient and consistent tension), and the pad eyes on the upper ring against the stated acceptance criteria. Disassembly is not required unless the visual inspection identifies a potential issue.

The record is BPC-FRM-6MX904, kept by the end user; nothing goes back to Billy Pugh at this interval. Your own periodic examination regime satisfies the requirement, provided it runs at intervals of no more than six months, covers the same scope, and is documented and retained.

Every 24 months: refurbishment at an Authorized Service Center

Refurbishment is carried out only by an Authorized Refurbishment Technician at a Billy Pugh Authorized Service Center, working to Billy Pugh's documented procedure. Every wire rope and textile load-bearing element is renewed by interval, not by condition: the complete sling assembly, load line, grab lines, safety sling, stabilizer and tag line. The aluminum frames, center pole and coupling, and the rubber deck mat are carried forward and examined against acceptance criteria.

You should receive a Certificate of Refurbishment issued by the service center in its own name, identifying the technician, the kit and the components fitted, and carrying both the device serial number and the kit serial number. The service center performs and certifies the work and is responsible for it. Billy Pugh supplies the procedure and the components, records the refurbishment, and confirms that record on request.

When a unit does not pass

A structural finding ends the device's life. If the powder coated aluminum structure (the top or bottom ring, the expanded metal top, the center pole, or the pad eyes and their welds) does not meet the acceptance criteria, the device is withdrawn from service. It is not repaired, straightened, welded or painted. The finding is reported to Billy Pugh within two working days, with photographs and the serial number, and Billy Pugh issues an X-904 Retirement Record. A replaceable component that fails is replaced and the refurbishment continues. A finding that cannot be judged against the acceptance criteria is referred to Billy Pugh, and the device does not return to service in the meantime.

Service life: eight years, no extension

The X-904 service life is eight years from the In Service Date. Billy Pugh does not supply a refurbishment kit, or register a refurbishment, for a device more than eight years from its In Service Date. A retired serial number will not be registered, refurbished or supported.

The X-904 frame is aluminum so the device stays as light as possible, which matters if it strikes someone on deck. Aluminum loses strength as it cycles, so the frame, not the replaceable rigging, governs the service life. Most units still have life left when they retire; the last lift a device makes should not be the last one it is capable of making.

Check what you are being told

Before you release a unit for refurbishment, confirm with Billy Pugh that the organization and the technician are currently authorized for your device. Billy Pugh will also confirm whether a device is registered, or whether a refurbishment has been registered against it. ABS Type Approval can be checked by anyone in the ABS Type Approval database at eagle.org. Email [email protected] and quote the model and serial number.

Billy Pugh Company deals directly with the end user or operator on technical and documentation matters: inspection, refurbishment, service life, safety notices and records. Commercial matters are handled through your supplying distributor.

Questions we are asked

If we rarely use our X-904, can the intervals be extended?

No. The intervals and the service life run from the In Service Date, not from usage. Wire rope, synthetic rope, flotation and covers degrade with weather, UV and salt water whether or not the device is lifted.

Can we refurbish our own X-904?

Only an Authorized Refurbishment Technician at a Billy Pugh Authorized Service Center may refurbish an X-904. Billy Pugh supplies refurbishment kits to Authorized Service Centers only.

What will a refurbishment cost?

The Authorized Service Center quotes the work. Send us the serial number and location and we will put you in touch with one.

Do you have a sample job safety analysis for personnel transfer?

Yes. Download the sample JSA.

What is the working load limit on the X-904?

See the X-904 product page. The ratings there are taken from the ABS certificate.

Documents an end user should hold

Request any document marked on request from [email protected], quoting the model and serial number. Billy Pugh maintains the register of devices, refurbishments and retirements. The register is not published, but Billy Pugh will confirm an entry on request.