Knowledge
Certificates and authorisations in the workshop
Forklift cards, crane cards, hot work certificates, welding qualifications. They get talked about as if they were the same thing, but they come from completely different places — and only some have the law behind them. Here is the difference, and why it matters when something happens.
Updated August 2026
There is no statutory forklift card
This surprises people. The provisions do not require a card. They require the employer to ensure that whoever operates a forklift has documented theoretical and practical knowledge — and that the employer has given written permission to operate it.
The training certificate, commonly called the forklift card, is the evidence of knowledge. The written permission is a separate document the employer issues, naming the person and the truck types it covers. A workshop with training certificates but no written permission has met only half the requirement.
The same construction applies to overhead cranes and other lifting equipment. Knowledge must be demonstrable, and the permission is the employer's to give.
Hot work comes from the insurer
The hot work certificate is not a legal requirement. It is a condition in most Swedish commercial insurance policies: if welding, cutting or other fire-hazardous work is carried out without a valid certificate and a qualified fire watch, compensation after a fire can be reduced or refused entirely.
That it is not in the law does not make it any less binding in practice. A workshop fire without valid certificates can be a company-ending event.
The certificate has a limited validity, typically five years. It is the most commonly missed item, because five years is exactly long enough to be forgotten.
Welding qualification is the customer's requirement
Welding qualification to standard is normally neither a legal nor an insurance requirement — it is a customer requirement. If you build or repair load-bearing structures for a customer who demands certified welding, the qualification is needed, and it is tied to both person and method.
Qualifications have validity periods and often require the welder to show the method has been used continuously. A qualification left unused may need renewal even before the date expires.
Why it still goes wrong
Almost no workshop lacks certificates deliberately. What happens is that they expire. A five-year certificate gives no reminder, and the person who held it may no longer be the one doing the work.
The second trap is that the evidence exists but cannot be found. When an insurer asks for certificates after a fire, someone remembering the course took place is not enough — it has to be produced.
The third is dependence on one person. The knowledge sits with an individual, and when that individual is ill or leaves the workshop discovers nobody else may operate the crane.
How to get it in order
An afternoon's work that then looks after itself.
- List which tasks in the workshop require documented knowledge — forklift, crane, hot work, welding, fall protection.
- Go through who actually performs each of them today.
- Collect the evidence and store it digitally, not only in a binder.
- Issue written permissions for forklifts and lifting equipment — that is the employer's document, not the trainer's.
- Record the expiry date of every certificate and set a reminder well in advance, not the same week.
- Make sure at least two people are qualified for every critical task.
Common questions
- Do we need forklift cards?
- You need to be able to show the operator has documented knowledge, and you need to give written permission. The training certificate is the usual way to show the knowledge. The card itself is not what the law asks for — the documentation and the permission are.
- How long is a hot work certificate valid?
- Typically five years. Check the issuing body's terms, and plan renewal well ahead — not the week before a job.
- Who is responsible for keeping authorisations valid?
- The employer. It is the employer who must ensure the knowledge and grant the permission, regardless of who paid for the training.
- Is keeping certificates in a binder enough?
- Formally it can be, but in practice that is where they die. A binder does not remind anyone of an expiry date and cannot be searched when someone asks. A digital register with expiry monitoring solves both.
Sources
Rules change. Always check against the source before acting — this page is an overview, not legal advice.
- Work Environment Authority provisions on forklifts and lifting equipment — requirements for documented knowledge and written permission
- Brandskyddsföreningen, Heta Arbeten — certification and the insurance terms behind it
- Your own insurance policy terms — that is where the hot work requirement actually applies to you
Let the system watch the dates
Certificates per person with expiry dates and reminders in good time — so nobody discovers an expired hot work certificate the morning the welding is due to start.