What a climbing wall inspection regime actually looks like

Why we wrote it

Most of the confusion we meet on site is not about climbing. It is about who is responsible for what, how often an inspection is actually required, and what the standard says as opposed to what people believe it says. Several widely repeated claims about BS EN 12572 turn out, on reading the text, not to be in it.

This guide sets out the regime as the standard describes it, so that a duty holder can hold a sensible conversation with an inspector, a governing body or an insurer.

What is inside

• The three tiers of inspection, what each covers, and who can carry them out
• What the standard actually says about frequency — and what it leaves to you
• Where the duty holder’s responsibility begins and ends
• Proof testing: when it applies, and the common misunderstanding about it
• Defect severity, and how to decide what needs doing in seven days rather than thirty
• Record keeping, and why your inspection history matters more than any single report
• The questions worth asking whoever inspects your wall

Who it is for

Centre and facility managers, school and trust estates staff, activity providers, and anyone who has signed something confirming their climbing wall is safe to use and would like to know precisely what they signed.

Written by Simon Downing of Bluco Projects Ltd, who inspects artificial climbing structures to BS EN 12572 and works at height under IRATA ICOP.