This International Standard establishes general principles for the care and maintenance, and inspection and discard of steel wire ropes used on cranes and hoists. This International Standard is applicable to those ropes used on the following types of cranes, the majority of which are defined in ISO 4306-1: a) cable and portal cable cranes; b) cantilever cranes (pillar jib, wall or walking); c) deck cranes; d) derrick and guy derrick cranes; e) derrick cranes with rigid bracing; f) floating cranes; g) mobile cranes; h) overhead travelling cranes; i) portal or semi-portal bridge cranes; j) portal or semi-portal cranes; k) railway cranes; l) tower cranes; m) offshore cranes, i.e. cranes mounted on a fixed structure supported by the sea bed or on a floating unit supported by buoyancy forces. This International Standard applies to rope on cranes used for hook, grabbing, magnet, ladle, excavator or stacking duties, whether operated manually, electrically or hydraulically. This International Standard also applies to rope used on hoists and hoist blocks. In view of the fact that the exclusive use of synthetic sheaves or metal sheaves incorporating synthetic linings is not recommended when single-layer spooling at the drum, due to the inevitability of wire breaks occurring internally in large numbers before there is any visible evidence of any wire breaks or signs of substantial wear on the periphery of the rope, no discard criteria are given for this combination.