01The local market
Greater Melbourne has several distinct enquiry and authority paths. The 2021 Census counted 1,781,346 occupied private dwellings across Greater Melbourne: 67.8% were separate houses, 16.2% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses or townhouses, 15.6% were flats or apartments and 30.2% were rented. Those figures are dated metropolitan context, not a forecast of crane demand.
They support asking whether the request comes from an owner, tenant, owners corporation, builder, principal contractor, facility manager or other authorised contact and whether access involves a driveway, shared land, basement, loading area, public road or footpath.
A residential spa, pool, steel beam or rooftop item is not qualified like a factory machine, construction platform or recurring material delivery. The campaign should separate crane-truck transport and placement, stationary mobile-crane lifts and pick-and-carry work, then let the supplier assess the plant and method.
The form can ask what the item is, its verified or estimated mass and dimensions, known lifting points, pickup and placement addresses, approximate reach, setup area, ground, slope, obstructions, services, people, traffic and desired date.
It must not ask the customer to choose a crane capacity or imply that a photo establishes feasibility. WorkSafe Victoria lists separate high-risk work licence classes for dogging, basic, intermediate and advanced rigging, vehicle-loading cranes, non-slewing mobile cranes and slewing mobile cranes across defined capacity bands.
Its vehicle-loading-crane alert says a high-risk work licence is required for a vehicle-loading crane with a capacity of 10 metre tonnes or more. The licence and crew arrangement therefore depend on the actual plant and task, not the label used in an ad. WorkSafe defines dogging as using judgement to select lifting gear or a slinging method from the nature, mass and centre of gravity of the load, or directing a crane operator when the load is out of view.
02The campaign setup
It says a dogging high-risk work licence is generally required, while a vehicle-loading-crane licence holder can perform dogging only within the stated limits for that crane class. Ads should identify only current licence classes and included crew that the provider can substantiate. They should never tell an enquirer that an operator ticket automatically covers every slinging, directing or rigging task.
Construction-site delivery is also more than a transport booking. WorkSafe says unloading construction materials with powered mobile plant is high-risk construction work and requires a safe work method statement, with the work completed in accordance with it. Its guidance calls for room to set up the vehicle and outriggers, exclusion zones and a dogger where the operator does not have a clear line of sight to the load.
A lead form can collect the principal contractor, site contact, induction, delivery window, load information, setup area and traffic interaction, but the submitted form is not the SWMS, lift plan, exclusion-zone design or permission to proceed. Pick-and-carry enquiries need their own branch because moving with a suspended load changes the risk picture. WorkSafe identifies inadequate surface support, load-chart derating, boom angle and extension, load sway, slopes, manoeuvring, obstructions, speed and tyre condition among overturn factors.
The ad can show real pick-and-carry capability and ask about the proposed route, surface, grades, clearances and surrounding activity. The supplier still decides whether the movement, crane configuration, load and controls are suitable after assessment. Overhead electricity needs exact location and escalation rather than “tight access” confidence.
Energy Safe Victoria says the ordinary approach distance for mobile cranes around distribution overhead powerlines is outside 6.4 metres. Work between 3.0 and 6.4 metres requires a registered Spotter, while work within 3.0 metres requires permission from the electricity network operator and additional controls. Those distances are scoped to the published distribution-line guidance; the operator must identify the asset and applicable rules rather than applying one number to every electrical situation.
The enquiry path should ask whether lines or electrical assets are visible near setup, travel or load paths and route any uncertainty to the network and competent people before attendance. Public-space requirements also change by location. The City of Melbourne Code of Practice for Building, Construction and Works governs work affecting public space within that municipality and addresses mobile cranes, permits, documentation, traffic and public protection.
03Claims and hand-off
It is not a rule for all metropolitan councils. Greater Dandenong provides one local example: it says a permit is required to close a road or operate a mobile crane on Council land, generally limits the activity to 24 hours, asks for evidence of $20 million public-liability insurance and requires a traffic-management plan where traffic or pedestrians are affected. Those Dandenong details must not be copied into a Werribee, Epping, Ringwood or inner-city quote without checking the responsible council and road authority.
Transport Victoria separately says its road-occupation charge applies to inner-city Melbourne arterial roads across 121 suburbs in 11 councils. A traffic-management company needs a Memorandum of Authorisation for traffic-control devices, and a charge or licence may be determined for an eligible occupation. That is a defined arterial-road scheme, not evidence that every suburban lift attracts the same charge.
The form should capture the exact address, road or footpath impact, expected setup footprint and duration so the operator and traffic specialists can identify the correct council, Department of Transport and Planning, landowner, network and permit pathways. Commercial claims need the same discipline as lift planning. The ACCC says service claims must be accurate, truthful and based on reasonable grounds, and even a vague overall impression can mislead.
“Any lift”, “Melbourne-wide”, “same day”, “no permit needed”, “tight-access specialist”, “fully licensed for everything”, fixed-price and guaranteed-time wording therefore needs current evidence and visible conditions. A useful hand-off explains whether the next step is a photo and document review, site inspection, engineering or lift-planning input, conditional estimate or formal quote.
It collects load evidence, drawings, safe photos, addresses, placement, radius, setup and access, ground, services, public-space interaction, site contacts, inductions, approvals and timing without representing a Meta form as plant selection, a booked lift or confirmation that work can lawfully and safely proceed.