Responsibilities and functions
The LA.T.I.F. ( Technological Laboratory for Cableway Systems) of theAutonomous Province of Trento was established in 1971 (Regional Law 3/68) by the Trentino Region - South Tyrol, which at the time was responsible for safety matters in the public cableway transport sector.
Subsequently, following the division into the two technical inspection offices of the Provinces of Bolzano and Trento, it was definitively transferred to the latter in 1976. The factors that had prompted the establishment of this organisation at the time remain relevant today, namely:
- the availability, for the supervisory offices forming part of the public administration, of equipment and staff ready to carry out inspections of cableway components, with the utmost reliability and objectivity of judgement;
- the laboratory’s proximity to the mountain areas with the highest concentration of cableway installations, enabling rapid response times and ongoing dialogue between the technicians involved;
- an effective contribution to the technological improvement of cableway installations, with the potential for continuous development and increased competitiveness of the national cableway industry;
- the creation of a highly specialised environment within a very specific yet important sector for the economy of the Trentino-Alto Adige Region: this is a source of prestige and, at the same time, a concrete step forward in the field of cableway safety.
Today, LA.T.I.F. forms part of the Cableway Service, the body responsible for cableway transport within the Autonomous Province of Trento, acting as an experimental section of that Service.
The laboratory carries out tests for the Administration’s internal technical departments and on behalf of third parties, based on the fee schedule established by resolution of the Provincial Executive in accordance with Article 32 of Provincial Law No. 7/1987, issuing the relevant test reports in Italian and English.
In addition to carrying out testing activities, the staff participate in the Service’s institutional duties: the issuing of licences, the examination of designs, commissioning, periodic inspections and the certification of personnel working on cableway installations. The laboratory’s technical staff also collaborate with national and international working groups on issues relating to the safety of cableway transport and on testing and inspection procedures.
Since 2000, the laboratory has been equipped with a testing machine capable of testing large-diameter ropes up to a maximum breaking load of 10,000 kN. This machine enables the testing not only of all cableway cables but also of cables used in large cable-stayed structures (stadiums, bridges, Ferris wheels, etc.), as well as cables for offshore applications and general lifting operations.
Since 2008, the laboratory has been a CICPND-approvedexamination centre for the certification of personnel specialising in non-destructive testing of steel cables used for lifting, the transport of people and goods, and for cable-stayed structures.
Accreditation
LA.T.I.F. is accredited in accordance with the UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018 standard ‘General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories’, through Accredia, which is the sole national accreditation body designated by the Italian government and supervised by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy.
Accreditation is the formal recognition that attests to the laboratory’s competence, impartiality and independence. It ensures that test results comply with applicable international standards, guaranteeing reliability and validity both in Italy and internationally. Thanks to mutual recognition agreements (EA, IAF, ILAC), certificates bearing the Accredia mark are also valid abroad.
The list of accredited tests is available in the ‘Documents’ section of this website.
For further information on accreditation, please also see the link:
https://www.accredia.it/accreditamento/cose-laccreditamento/
Laboratory details
- Available floor space: approximately 3,200 m², about half of which is covered, comprising a test hall and offices, with a room equipped for training courses and examinations
- A fully equipped mechanical workshop and metalworking facility for the construction of the equipment required for testing
- Staff: 3 engineers, 4 specialist test operators, 1 administrative staff member