Most crane import problems are not manufacturing problems. They are specification, inspection and installation problems. Here is the sequence, and what to verify at each step so nothing is discovered on site.
Step 1 — Write the specification, not the wish list
The first step is the one that determines everything else: a written specification with capacity, span, lifting height, duty class, control method, power supply, environment and destination port. It does not need to be long — our specification checklist covers it in one page — but it needs to exist before you ask for prices, otherwise you will be comparing three offers that describe three different machines.
Attach photos: the bay, the existing crane nameplate if you are replacing one, the obstruction above the crane, and how material arrives at the building. Photos settle more arguments than drawings.
Step 2 — Compare offers on the technical sheet, not the price
Two offers for a "10 t crane" can differ by 40% and both be legitimate, because the machines are different. Before looking at price, put the technical sheets side by side and compare:
- Duty class and the stated number of load cycles or working hours
- Hoist type and brand, and whether the hoist is made by the crane factory or bought in
- Girder section, wheel base and the wheel loads per corner
- Motor, reducer and brake brand or specification — this is where cheap offers hide
- Control: pendant, remote or cabin; contactor control or VFD
- Paint system: number of coats, dry film thickness, and whether galvanizing is included
- What is excluded: runway beams, rails, foundation, erection, commissioning, spare parts
Ask each supplier to state the exclusions explicitly. A lower price with erection excluded is not a lower price.
Step 3 — Get the technical drawing approved before production
Insist on an approval drawing: general arrangement, girder section, wheel base, hook approach, clearance envelope and wheel loads. You (or your structural engineer) check it against the actual building and sign it off before steel is cut. This is the single cheapest protection in the whole purchase — changes at drawing stage cost nothing, changes after fabrication cost everything.
Use the same drawing to confirm that the crane physically fits through the doors, up the access route and into the bay. Cranes are delivered in sections, and the split has to be planned before the loading plan is written.
Step 4 — Contract and payment terms
The normal structure is a deposit with the order and the balance against shipping documents or before shipment; 30/70 is common, and larger machines sometimes run in three instalments. Whatever the split, put these in the contract:
- The approved drawing as an annex, so the specification is contractual
- Scope of supply and scope of exclusions, item by item
- Delivery date and the agreed remedy if it slips
- Inspection rights: who inspects, when, at what load, and what the buyer receives as evidence
- Documents to be supplied: packing list, certificate, test report, O&M manual, installation drawings, and any import certification you need
- Warranty period, what it covers, and how a claim is handled — parts shipped, or a visit
Step 5 — Production and pre-shipment inspection
During production, ask for progress photographs at defined milestones: girder fabrication, painting, panel assembly. It costs the supplier ten minutes and it removes the uncertainty of a silent month.
Before shipment, the crane should be assembled and tested on the factory test track: travel in both directions, hoist up and down, both limiters, brake setting, overload limiter set and demonstrated, panel function, and voltage confirmed. Ask for video of the test run, photographs of the finished machine, and the load test reading. Then check the packing plan: how the girders are supported, how the panel is protected from moisture, and whether the spare parts are in the same container.
Step 6 — Shipping, customs and documents
Cranes above a certain span travel in sections in containers; wide machines go break-bulk. Confirm Incoterms (FOB, CIF or DAP), the port, and who arranges insurance. For the import side, the documents you will normally need are the commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin where applicable, and the product certificate and test report for the equipment.
Ask your freight forwarder about the destination charges, crane hire for unloading, and any import inspection requirements before the shipment leaves, not after it arrives. Duty rates and procedures change; the buyer's forwarder is the right source for current numbers, and a supplier who claims to know them better than your forwarder is guessing.
Step 7 — Installation, commissioning and handover
Installation is where a well-bought crane becomes a working crane or a parked problem. Decide early who erects it: a local contractor with crane experience, or a supervisor sent from the supplier. For a first crane, a supervisor on site for assembly, commissioning and the load test is usually money well spent — and it is the moment to train your operators and maintenance staff rather than discovering the limiters were never set.
Handover should include: a load test at rated capacity (and 1.25× where specified), the limiters demonstrated, the brake checked, a walk-through of the maintenance schedule, and the manual handed to the person who will actually maintain the crane. Photograph the installation and the test — it is useful evidence for your own records, your insurer and any future buyer of the plant.
The three habits that prevent most problems
Write it down. The specification, the drawing approval, the inspection result — in writing, in email, attached to the contract. Verbal assurances do not survive a change of salesperson.
Inspect before shipment. Not because factories are dishonest, but because fixing something in Changyuan costs a day and fixing it on your site costs a month.
Plan the installation before you order. Know who erects it, what lifting equipment they have, how the crane gets into the building, and who does the load test. Buyers who plan that first rarely have a bad crane purchase.
Questions about your own project? Send the capacity, span, lifting height and duty and we will tell you honestly what we would specify — send an inquiry or message us on Zalo.