Guide
What a plant hire day rate includes, and the six things it does not
Updated
The rate is the smallest number in the transaction. Everything that follows is what turns a cheap rate into an expensive invoice, and it is all negotiable if you ask before you book rather than after.
What the rate buys
The machine, on hire, for the period. That is genuinely it in most cases. The machine should arrive serviced, in a safe condition and with the paperwork for it, and on lifting plant that paperwork includes a valid thorough examination report. Everything else on the invoice is a separate line, and hire companies differ on which lines they include by default.
The six that catch people out
- Delivery and collection. Two priced movements, charged from the depot. Nearest depot beats cheapest rate on short hires almost every time. See transport costs.
- Fuel. Usually delivered full and charged for refuelling on return at the hire company's rate. Fill it yourself before it goes back if that rate is high.
- Damage waiver or your own hire in plant cover. Typically a percentage of the hire charge, with an excess. If you carry your own cover you can usually decline it, but you will be asked to evidence it.
- The minimum hire period. A machine on site for a day and a half often bills as more. Ask for the minimum in days before you agree the rate.
- Idle and standing time. The clock generally runs while the machine is on your site. Weekends, bad weather and the day you waited for a delivery are commonly chargeable.
- Attachments and consumables. Breakers, augers, grading buckets and their chains and points are priced separately, and sometimes transported separately too.
Terms: read which set applies
Most UK plant hire runs on the hire company's own conditions or on an industry model set such as the Construction Plant-hire Association model conditions. These are not identical, and the differences matter on who bears the risk for the machine while it is on site, what counts as fair wear and tear, and what notice ends the hire. Ask which conditions apply, ask for a copy before the machine arrives, and read the clauses on damage, insurance and off-hire specifically. If you only read one thing, read how to off-hire and keep the reference number, because the hire runs until the supplier records that it stopped.
Lifting plant carries its own paperwork
Where the machine or attachment is lifting equipment, HSE states that thorough examinations should be conducted every 6 months for lifting equipment and accessories used to lift people, every 6 months for all lifting accessories, and every 12 months for all other lifting equipment, unless an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person specifies other intervals. The written report must contain the examination date, the date the next examination is due, and any defects that are or could become a danger to people (HSE). Ask for the current report with the machine and check the next due date falls after your hire ends.
Get everything on one quote: machine, transport both ways, fuel policy, waiver, minimum period and attachments. Ask for it in one go.