CCO’s Mobile Crane Inspector certification is a written-only credential for experienced crane professionals: candidates submit a detailed experience record and are approved by CCO before they may sit the Crane Inspector Core written examination and the Mobile Crane Inspector Specialty written examination, which test six inspection domains against ASME B30.5 and OSHA’s inspection rules. There is no practical examination. PassProfessor’s Mobile Crane Inspector program is in the works for those written examinations.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
The mobile crane inspector is the independent set of eyes a crane meets at its most consequential moments: after assembly, after repair, after modification, and on the periodic cycle OSHA’s standard prescribes. Mobile cranes live hard, reconfigurable lives — booms inserted and removed, counterweights swapped, machines travelling between owners and sites — and the inspector’s craft is reconstructing what a specific machine, in a specific configuration, actually is, and judging it against B30.5 criteria rather than appearance. It is detective work with a torque wrench: records, steel, and function tests triangulated into a defensible verdict.
PassProfessor’s Mobile Crane Inspector (MCI) program is in the works as part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog, organised on the written examination’s published domains so preparation follows the examination’s own architecture. This page states the credential’s verified facts — its examinations, its fees, its windows, and the component this program does not cover — exactly as the issuing body publishes them.
Which credential is this?
This page covers one credential only: the Mobile Crane Inspector (MCI), issued by CCO (NCCCO). It is not a neighbouring designation, and the distinctions matter, because this family of credentials is deliberately granular — each designation certifies a defined machine, role, or function, and an employer or regulator asking for one is not asking for another. The facts table below is the credential’s identity card; the companion guide walks the route to it in full. Candidates should confirm, before any preparation begins, that this is the designation their employer, their site, or their licence actually requires — in this suite, the costliest preparation error is preparing thoroughly for the adjacent credential.
What will the program cover?
Timed, multiple-choice practice throughout. This credential’s written examination is a timed, multiple-choice sitting, and the program in the works is built to rehearse exactly that performance: full-length timed sets, domain sets weighted as the published outline weights them, and review organised by domain so a weak area is visible while there is time to repair it.
Handbook-first sourcing. Every syllabus decision in the program traces to the issuing body’s own publications — the candidate handbook, the written examination outline, and the published fee and policy record. The program teaches the examination CCO (NCCCO) actually administers, in the vocabulary its handbook uses.
The route around the test, taught honestly. Eligibility gates, companion examinations, windows, and validity periods are part of the program’s material, stated as the issuing body publishes them — including the components this program does not cover, named as such wherever they appear.
An independent program, plainly labelled. PassProfessor is not affiliated with CCO (NCCCO), is not endorsed by it, and reports nothing to it. The credential decision belongs to the issuing body alone.
The written-only boundary, stated plainly
This credential is examined in writing only. There is no hands-on sitting for PassProfessor to exclude — and none is implied anywhere in this program. The preparation in the works therefore covers the credential’s whole examination requirement: the written examinations named in the facts table above.
What are the verified facts of the credential?
| Fact of record | Detail |
|---|---|
| Designation | Mobile Crane Inspector — designation code MCI, in CCO’s Crane Inspector program (developed with the Crane Certification Association of America) |
| Certifying body | CCO — the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) |
| Examination structure | Written examinations only — there is no practical examination in the Crane Inspector program. Certification requires the Crane Inspector Core written examination and the Mobile Crane Inspector Specialty written examination |
| Experience gate — read this first | Inspector candidates do not simply register. CCO requires documented crane-related experience — the program was built for professionals with years of experience as inspectors, operators, mechanics or technicians, or shop foremen — submitted on CCO’s experience forms with supporting documentation, and CCO individually approves each candidate before permitting examination |
| Examination fees | Third-party fees paid to CCO under its published fee schedule: Core written $210; each inspector specialty written $80 |
| Governing standards | ASME B30.5 (mobile and locomotive cranes) and the inspection requirements of OSHA 29 CFR 1926 Subpart CC, including §1926.1412 |
| Validity | Certification is valid for five years; recertification is by the applicable written examination(s) |
How does preparation map to the examination outline?
The published outline for this written examination organises the sitting as follows. Preparation in the program in the works is organised on the same domains.
| Examination domain | Weight / character |
|---|---|
| Pre-Inspection Survey | Written domain |
| Records Review | Written domain |
| Visual Inspection | Written domain |
| Operational Testing | Written domain |
| Load Testing and Load Charts | Written domain |
| Post-Inspection | Written domain |
Pre-Inspection Survey (Written domain). Every inspection begins before a wrench is lifted: establishing the mobile crane’s identity, configuration, service history, and duty, agreeing the inspection’s scope and access, and reviewing the site conditions that constrain the work. For mobile cranes the survey must capture configuration precisely — boom length and inserts, jib status, counterweight, outrigger or crawler configuration — because every later judgment is configuration-dependent.
Records Review (Written domain). Inspectors audit paper as rigorously as steel: prior inspection reports, load test records, repair and modification history, manufacturer bulletins, and the documentation chain OSHA and ASME B30.5 require. Items test spotting the record that does not match the machine in front of the inspector — the undocumented modification, the lapsed test, the chart that belongs to another configuration.
Visual Inspection (Written domain). The core craft domain: structural members, welds, wire rope and terminations, hooks and sheaves, brakes, hydraulics, electrical systems, safety devices, and placarding, each judged against published removal and acceptance criteria. Mobile-specific visual work concentrates on boom sections and lacers, telescoping wear and synchronization, turntable and swing bearing condition, outrigger beams and floats, carrier frame and axles, and the wire rope systems of a machine that is reconfigured constantly.
Operational Testing (Written domain). A static crane can hide a failed brake; this domain covers function testing under controlled conditions — motions through their ranges, limit and safety device verification, brake holding tests, and rated-capacity indicator checks — and the judgment to stop a test that is itself becoming unsafe. Operational testing on a mobile crane includes swing, boom hoist, telescope, and load hoist functions across the working range, plus the load moment indicator and anti-two-block systems whose failure modes are configuration-specific.
Load Testing and Load Charts (Written domain). Proof load testing: when it is required — after assembly, modification, repair, or periodically — how test loads are determined and applied, and how the inspector verifies the chart in the cab is the chart for the machine as configured. Mobile load charts are the batch’s most configuration-sensitive: capacity changes with boom length, counterweight, outrigger state, and area of operation, and the inspector verifies chart-to-configuration match before any test load is discussed.
Post-Inspection (Written domain). The inspection is not finished when the inspector leaves the machine: deficiency classification, out-of-service determinations, the written report’s required content, notification duties, re-inspection after correction, and the record retention the next inspector — and the regulator — will rely on.
Who earns this credential?
Candidates are third-party inspectors, crane rental and contractor maintenance leads, shop foremen, and senior mechanics or operators moving their careers from operating and repairing cranes to certifying their condition. The experience-approval gate means the candidate pool self-selects senior: preparation is less about learning what a crane is than about systematizing years of judgment into the standard’s categories before the sitting.
What is the route to the credential?
CCO’s route runs: document crane-related experience on CCO’s experience forms with supporting evidence, receive CCO’s approval, then pass the Crane Inspector Core written examination and the Mobile Crane Inspector Specialty written examination. There is no practical examination at any point. Certification runs five years, renewed by the applicable written examinations. This program prepares candidates for the written examinations — the whole examination requirement of this credential.
What makes this examination demanding?
The demand is breadth held to criteria. The Core examination ranges across crane inspection generally; the mobile specialty then requires B30.5 fluency at the level of removal criteria, test requirements, and chart verification — answered from the standard, not from shop custom. The experience gate shapes the sitting: every candidate in the room has years on cranes, and the examination is written for peers, with image-based inspection scenarios that punish vague familiarity.
An honest note on format
PassProfessor practice works in the format this examination uses — multiple-choice, timed at the examination’s pace. The issuing body does not release its examination items, and no provider can offer them. Practice results are a study gauge, not a prediction of a certification or licensing outcome, and the examination decision and the credential decision both belong to bodies other than PassProfessor.
How should you use this page while the program is in the works?
- Join the notify list today. Enrollment is not open yet, and the notify list is how you hear the moment it is. While you wait, read the exam guide — it walks the route, the outline domain by domain, the sitting itself, and a preparation plan in full.
- Confirm the designation before the syllabus. Read the ‘Which credential is this?’ section above twice if your background is in a neighbouring machine or role; in this suite, designations are atomic, and the wrong one is a wasted season.
- Plan the whole route, not only the sitting. The steps around the written examination — companion examinations, practical sittings this program does not cover, approval gates, and completion windows — have their own lead times, and candidates who start them during preparation do not lose a season to sequencing after a pass.
- Study from the primary documents alongside any preparation. The candidate handbook or licensing guidance and the published outline are the examination’s sources, and both are published for candidates.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Mobile Crane Inspector (MCI) credential? It is the credential this page covers: Mobile Crane Inspector — designation code MCI, in CCO’s Crane Inspector program (developed with the Crane Certification Association of America). The mobile crane inspector is the independent set of eyes a crane meets at its most consequential moments: after assembly, after repair, after modification, and on the periodic cycle OSHA’s standard prescribes. The issuing body is CCO (NCCCO).
Who issues the mobile crane inspector credential? CCO (NCCCO). That body writes or administers the examination, sets the requirements, and makes the certification or licensing decision. PassProfessor prepares candidates for the written examination and has no part in the decision.
What written examination must candidates pass? Written examinations only — there is no practical examination in the Crane Inspector program. Certification requires the Crane Inspector Core written examination and the Mobile Crane Inspector Specialty written examination
Is there a practical or hands-on examination? There is no practical examination in this credential; its examination requirement is written only, as the facts table states.
What is the passing standard? CCO sets the passing standard for its examinations by criterion-referenced standard setting and reports each candidate’s performance by domain. This page states no percentage figure for the standard, because CCO does not publish it as a simple percentage for this designation — inventing one would misstate the record.
What does the examination cost? Third-party fees paid to CCO under its published fee schedule: Core written $210; each inspector specialty written $80 Those are third-party fees owed to the issuing body — not PassProfessor charges. This page prints no PassProfessor price.
How long does the credential last? Certification is valid for five years; recertification is by the applicable written examination(s)
What will the PassProfessor program cover? The written examination named above — its published domains, its format, and its pacing — together with the certification or licensing route around it as the issuing body publishes it. Where the credential has a practical component, that component is not covered, and the program says so wherever the credential is described.
When will the PassProfessor program open? The program is in the works and enrollment is not open yet. Join the notify list on this page and you will be emailed when enrollment opens; the companion exam guide is available to read now for planning your preparation.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with CCO (NCCCO)? No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider and is not affiliated with CCO (NCCCO). Nothing in the program is reported to the issuing body, and completing preparation is not a step in the certification or licensing process.