CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > February/March 2021 37 Q&As: 2 Can we incorporate some of the clauses within the CPA’s Model Conditions into our own conditions? I am afraid you cannot. The CPA’s Model Conditions is under copyright, and cannot be altered, adjusted, or amended, even by CPA Members. The correct procedure is that if a company wishes to create a set of conditions which reflects their particular type of plant, and/or the company’s operations which differ from the Model Conditions, e.g. longer daily/weekly hours; then they would need to create an addendum set of clauses on a separate document. Once this was completed, for all future hires, customers would need to receive both the CPA’s Model Conditions and your own addendum terms until a ‘course of trading’ had been established. Do I have to send the Model Conditions for hire out to all our customers booking a hire prior to us arriving at the job? I want tomake sure that I have the correct process in place going forward. At themoment we have hire conditions attached to a ‘job sheet’ which is given to the customer when we arrive on site. Those customers who you have an established relationship with, i.e. those who have previously received the Model Conditions on numerous occasions, will not need a copy of them for each subsequent hire. This is because you have an established ‘course of trading’, where each party is aware of their responsibilities under the terms. To reinforce this, what you should do at least once a year, is to send an email to all your business customers, with the Model Conditions attached, reminding them that all current and future hires are subject to these terms, and ask for confirmation of receipt. For brand new customers, you will need to continue to send them a copy of the terms, until a ‘course of trading’ has been established. I have an employee who failed to carry out critical safety checks on one of our lorries, despite his check sheet being ticked off by him. This issue was only discovered when an independent/random check was carried out. The driver has been offered re-training rather than disciplinary action; but refused to accept this and intimated that he will leave. His decision seems to be confirmed, as he has not returned to work since the Christmas shutdown. How should I proceed? If the employee has failed to return to work, then it appears that he has resigned his position with the company. However, it will be necessary to confirm this in writing with him. Your letter needs to remind him of the offer of retraining, should he wish to return, and the fact that so far, there has been no explanation to justify his absence. The letter should state that if he fails to respond or return by a certain date, then the company will view his actions as a resignation, with all paperwork and any outstanding monies sent in due course. Does the CPA have a Modern/Anti- Slavery template document which members can download? A copy of the document can be found near the bottom of the Employment page within the Legal Section of the website at www.cpa.uk.net/employment I have been in discussion with my insurance provider regarding an item of plant that was damaged whilst it was on hire under the CPA’s Model Conditions. My insurer believes that the on-going ‘Idle Time’ rate should be at three quarters of the normal rate. Is that correct? Within clause 13(b) of the Model Conditions, the ‘Idle Time’ rate is two thirds of the hire rate. If an operator has been supplied with the machine, within the final line of clause 25 states the following: ‘Where an “All-In” rate is charged, idle time is calculated on the machine element only. Full rate will be charged for the operator.’ Factoring in the operator’s rate may be the reason why the insurer feels that the on-going Idle Time rate should be three quarters rather than two thirds of the hire rate. I would check with them how they reached their answer.