Lift Plan Software UK: What It Does & What It Can’t

Search for "lift plan software" and you would think there is an app that takes a photo of your load and prints a LOLER-compliant lift plan. There isn't. What does exist is a range of genuinely useful planning tools — crane selection databases, 3D rigging studies, load chart calculators — that make a competent planner faster and their drawings better. This guide covers what the software actually does, roughly what it costs, the calculations behind any lift plan, and the question that matters legally: can software replace an Appointed Person? (Spoiler: no — and the reason is written into LOLER itself.)

What Lift Plan Software Actually Does

The established tools in the crane world are planning aids. Depending on the product, they will:

• Hold manufacturer load chart libraries so you can shortlist cranes with adequate capacity at your radius and configuration
• Model the lift in 2D/3D — crane position, boom clearances, slew paths, obstructions — and produce professional drawings for the plan pack
• Calculate outrigger point loads and mat sizes for ground assessment
• Generate rigging arrangements and check accessory working load limits

Well-known examples include 3D Lift Plan, Liebherr's Crane Planner and similar manufacturer tools. For mobile crane work on congested sites, this modelling genuinely earns its keep — a clearance problem found on screen is vastly cheaper than one found on the day.

What the Software Cannot Do

LOLER 1998 Regulation 8 requires every lifting operation to be planned by a competent person. The duty attaches to a person, not a product. Software has no idea that:

• The "firm level ground" in the model is actually last month's backfill over a live sewer
• The load's stated weight came from a drawing revision that has since changed
• The laydown area doubles as the pedestrian route at 8am and 4pm
• The wind funnels between those two buildings at twice the forecast speed

Every one of those is the kind of factor that causes real incidents, and every one comes from site knowledge and experience — the competence LOLER demands. Software output is only ever as good as its inputs, and judging the inputs is the job. That is why principal contractors reviewing a submission look past the glossy 3D drawing to who planned the lift and what they checked.

Lifting Plan Calculations: The Numbers Behind Every Plan

Whether done in software or by hand, the core calculations in any lift plan are:

• Gross load — load weight plus all rigging, hook block and attachments. Never the bare load alone.
• Capacity at radius — the crane or machine's rated capacity from the load chart in the actual configuration (boom length, counterweight, outrigger spread), at the worst-case working radius.
• Utilisation — gross load divided by capacity at radius, expressed as a percentage. Most UK contractors work to a maximum of around 80% for routine lifts; many tier 1 sites set lower thresholds for complex operations.
• Ground bearing pressure — outrigger or track loads against the allowable bearing capacity of the ground, sizing mats accordingly.
• Accessory ratings — sling angles and working load limits for every item in the rigging arrangement.

If a plan you have been handed shows none of these numbers, it is not a lift plan — whatever software it came out of.

Software vs Appointed Person: Costs

Serious lift planning packages are sold on annual licences that typically run to four figures, before training time. That makes sense for crane hire companies and in-house Appointed Persons producing plans every week. If you need a handful of plans a year, the maths never works: a professionally written, site-specific plan from an independent CPCS A61 Appointed Person starts from £200, with the competence, the site assessment and the accountability included.

Who Should Buy the Software?

• Crane hire and contract lift providers — producing plans daily, already employing Appointed Persons
• Large contractors with in-house AP teams — the tools multiply an existing competence
• Everyone else — you are almost certainly better served buying the finished plan than the tool that helps someone competent produce it

The Bottom Line

Lift plan software is a professional's aid, not a substitute for one. The law requires a competent person to plan your lift; the software just helps that person present and check their work. If you have the competence in-house, the tools are worth a look. If you don't, buy the plan, not the software — it is faster, cheaper at low volumes, and it actually discharges your LOLER duty.