Overhead Crane Licences in Victoria: When You Need a CB, DG or Rigging Licence (And When You Don't)

Do you need a licence to operate an overhead crane in Victoria?

Usually, yes. If your factory has a bridge crane or gantry crane running along an overhead runway, the person operating it generally needs a Bridge and Gantry Crane high risk work licence (code CB), issued by WorkSafe Victoria under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017. This sits in the same licensing scheme as the forklift HRWL most factories already know about — but overhead cranes get far less attention, and that's where the gaps show up.

The catch is that "generally" isn't "always." There's a specific, narrow exemption for small pendant-controlled cranes, and it trips up more Victorian manufacturers than any other part of this licensing scheme.

The mistake we see on almost every factory floor with a pendant crane

Most owners assume that because their overhead crane is small, or run from a hand-held pendant rather than a driver's cabin, it must be exempt from licensing. That assumption is wrong more often than it's right.

Under the national High Risk Work licensing standard that Victoria applies, a CB licence is required to operate a bridge or gantry crane that is either controlled from a permanent cabin or control station on the crane, or remotely controlled with more than three powered operations. Powered operations include hoisting, long travel (the bridge moving along the runway), cross travel (the trolley moving across the bridge) and rotating. A licence is not required only where the crane's remote control has a maximum of three powered operations (Safe Work Australia, Bridge and gantry crane HRWL information sheet).

Do the count on your own crane before you assume you're in the clear. A basic single-girder crane with hoist up/down, long travel and cross travel already has three powered operations — right on the exemption line. Add a powered rotate function, a powered tilt, or a second hoist, and you've crossed into licensed territory. "It's just a little pendant crane" is not a legal test; the number of powered functions on that pendant is.

Which licence class actually applies

Licence	Code	What it covers
Bridge and gantry crane operation	CB	Overhead travelling cranes — the class relevant to almost every factory crane
Vehicle loading crane operation	CV	Truck-mounted loader cranes, not overhead plant
Tower, self-erecting, derrick and portal boom cranes	CT, CS, CD, CP	Construction cranes, not relevant to a manufacturing floor
Non-slewing and slewing mobile cranes	CN, C2, C6, C1, C0	Mobile cranes used on-site or for lifts, by capacity

For a standard manufacturing site, CB is the class that matters. The others exist in the same licensing scheme but rarely apply inside a factory building.

Do you also need a dogging licence?

Possibly — it depends who's slinging the load, not just who's driving the crane. Dogging is defined as applying slinging techniques (including selecting or inspecting lifting gear) to sling a load, or directing a crane operator when the load is out of their view. Where that judgement is being exercised, the person doing it needs a dogging licence (code DG) (WorkSafe Victoria, Dogging and slinging techniques).

Two things soften this in practice:

• A worker who already holds a CB (or CV) licence can dog loads for their own crane type without a separate DG licence.
• For genuinely repetitive lifts using a fixed, pre-determined slinging method — the same component, the same sling, the same lifting points, every time — a documented procedure set up by a dogging- or rigging-licensed person (or an experienced lifting engineer) can allow unlicensed workers to follow it, provided the load stays in the operator's view and the gear is minimised and clearly identified.

If your crane operators are making judgement calls about slings, shackles or load weights on varying jobs, that's dogging work, and it needs a DG licence unless it's covered by the exemption above.

What about rigging licences?

Rigging licences (basic RB, intermediate RI, advanced RA) cover more complex work — assembling non-standard lifting gear, multi-crane lifts, or structural rigging such as steel erection. Most manufacturers running an in-house overhead crane for routine material handling won't need a rigger on staff. If you're planning an engineered lift, moving oversized or oddly-balanced plant, or assembling gear outside a manufacturer's standard configuration, that's the point to bring in a licensed rigger rather than improvise.

How do you get a CB or DG licence?

The pathway mirrors every other high risk work licence in Victoria:

1. Train and be assessed through a registered training organisation, providing photo ID at registration.
2. Receive your Assessment Number or Notice of Assessment.
3. Lodge the licence application within 60 calendar days of assessment — miss it and you re-sit at your own cost.
4. Apply through myWorkSafe, or at Australia Post if you can't complete the online identity check.

Processing takes up to 45 calendar days; a digital licence through myWorkSafe is available immediately on approval, with the plastic card following in 20–25 business days. The application fee is $77.70 per class, the licence runs for five years, and renewal (within 12 months of expiry) costs $58.70 (WorkSafe Victoria, High risk work licence).

Employer duties beyond the licence itself

A CB or DG card proves general competence, not competence on your specific crane. Before anyone takes the controls, provide familiarisation on that crane's controls, rated capacity and load chart, pre-operational checks, and any attachments in use — the same principle WorkSafe applies to forklifts. An unlicensed worker can operate the crane only while working towards their licence, under the direct supervision of a CB holder with line of sight and verbal control.

Two related obligations are easy to conflate with the operator licence but are genuinely separate:

• Design registration. Larger gantry cranes (over 5 tonnes) and bridge cranes (over 10 tonnes) — or any gantry or bridge crane used for molten metal or dangerous goods, regardless of capacity — need their design registered with WorkSafe under Schedule 2 of the OHS Regulations. That's a plant duty, not an operator one.
• Inspection and maintenance records. Whether or not your crane meets the registration threshold, you still need to keep inspection and maintenance records for it under the OHS Regulations, for as long as you control the plant.

None of this replaces consulting your health and safety representatives on crane-related risks and controls — that consultation duty applies here the same as anywhere else on the floor.

FAQ

Does a small pendant-controlled overhead crane need a licensed operator? Only if it has more than three powered operations. Hoisting, long travel, cross travel and rotating all count. A crane with three or fewer of these functions under remote control is exempt from the CB licence; add a fourth and it isn't.

Does whoever slings the load need a separate dogging licence from the crane operator? Often, yes — unless they already hold a CB or CV licence and are slinging for their own crane type, or they're following a documented, pre-determined slinging procedure set up by a licensed person for repetitive, unchanging loads.

Is my overhead crane also required to be registered with WorkSafe? That's a separate question from operator licensing. Design registration applies to gantry cranes over 5 tonnes and bridge cranes over 10 tonnes (or any capacity if used for molten metal or dangerous goods) — see our guide to registrable plant in Victoria.

How much does a CB or DG licence cost and how long is it valid? $77.70 per class to apply, five years' validity, and $58.70 to renew within 12 months of expiry.

Can someone operate the crane before they're licensed? Only while working towards their licence, under the direct supervision of a CB-licensed operator with line of sight and verbal control — the same standard WorkSafe applies to trainee forklift operators.

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If you're not sure whether your crane operators, doggers or crane itself would hold up under a WorkSafe visit, that's exactly the kind of gap a safety manager on our team can find on a walk-through. You can book a site assessment at ardmor.com.au/book-audit.

This article is general information for Victorian manufacturers, not legal advice. Last updated: 18 September 2026.