CPA Bulletin

36 CPA Bulletin > August 2021 www.cpa.uk.net If the hire was for an indeterminate period, i.e., a specific start date but no specific end date, then the customer is responsible for the plant for 7 calendar days after it has been off-hired. This comes under clause 24(a) of the Model Conditions. The key point to ascertain is how was the ‘off-hire’ communicated back up the contractual chain. Is it customary for you to provide an ‘off-hire’ number on receipt of the email/call coming in? As your contract is with your customer, and not their customer, it is critical how this notification was provided to you. Without some sort of proof (i.e., email, off-hire number, the name of your employee who was informed when the customer contacted your depot) then there is an argument that the machine was still on hire - with the onus on your customer maintaining responsibility for the safety of the machine until those 7 days had elapsed. This same point could be raised by your customer to their customer. This may help narrow down the timeframe on who contacted whom to off-hire the machine. Please get in touch if you wish to discuss this further. We had hired a machine to another hire company for an indeterminate period under the Model Conditions. They in turn hired it to their customer. From information we have just discovered, it looks like we have ‘missed’ the off-hire instruction by a few weeks. We immediately visited the site to collect the machine, but it could not be found. I would just like to know what our position is under the Model Conditions, and whether we have any redress against our customer, the other hire company. If you look at clause 24(c), reproduced below, then you will see the reference to cancellations. If the Hirer terminates the Contract before the Hire Period commences, then the Hirer is liable for all reasonable costs and charges incurred by the Owner or to which the Owner is committed at the time of termination. If you need any further advice on this issue, then please get in touch. Is there a section in the CPAModel Conditions that refers to customers cancelling orders with the owner? Q&As: 3