# ALI certified lift inspections: what gets checked and how often

> What an annual automotive lift inspection covers, why ALI certification matters, what fails most often, and how to prepare the bay.

Source: https://rbsautowork.com/insights/ali-certified-lift-inspection-what-gets-checked
Published: 2026-08-22

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Insights

## ALI certified lift inspections: what gets checked and how often

What an annual automotive lift inspection covers, why ALI certification matters, what fails most often, and how to prepare the bay.

Vehicle lifts are the one piece of shop equipment that can hurt someone if it fails. That is why the industry standard (ANSI/ALI ALOIM) calls for every lift to be inspected at least once a year by a qualified inspector, on top of the daily checks your technicians do. Insurers and landlords increasingly ask for the inspection record; OSHA will ask after an incident.

### What the inspector looks at

- **Structure and anchoring.** Columns, base plates, anchor bolts and torque, floor condition around the anchors, and any signs of movement or cracking.

- **Lifting system.** On a two-post lift: equalizer cables, sheaves, cable tension and wear, hydraulic cylinders, hoses and fittings, and the power unit. On a four-post: cables, sheaves, the runway locks and the slack-cable devices. In-ground lifts get the piston, seals and the plunger checked.

- **Locks and safeties.** Every lock position, lock release, and that the locks engage evenly on both columns. This is the most common failure point we see.

- **Controls and labels.** Up and down controls, the lowering valve, capacity labels, ALI certification label and the operating instructions on the lift.

- **Arms and adapters.** Arm restraints, swing-arm pins, pad condition and height adapters.

### What happens on the visit

The inspector needs the bay clear and the lift fully lowered. Each lift gets its own report, tied to the bay number, model and serial. A lift that passes gets a dated inspection label. A lift that does not pass is reported with what failed and a written repair estimate; it should be taken out of service until the repair is done and re-checked.

### What fails most often

Worn or frayed equalizer cables, safety locks that do not engage cleanly, leaking cylinder seals, loose or corroded anchors, and missing or illegible capacity labels. None of these are expensive to fix compared with a lift that drops a car.

### How to prepare

Give us the lift count, makes and models ahead of time, keep the bays clear that morning, and have the last inspection report or repair record handy. A typical shop with four to six lifts is done in a morning.

[Inspection pricing](/pricing) is per lift and drops when several lifts are inspected in one visit. [Request an inspection schedule](/contact?topic=inspection) for your shop.

Published 2026-08-22 by RBS Auto Work, an operating group of Radd Payment Solutions. [More insights](/insights)