CPA Bulletin

Q&As: 2 I am looking to draft a contract hire agreement to use with business terms and conditions, where plant will typically be leased to a business over a number of years, but the plant won’t be owned by the lessee. Do you have something we can use? You can use a standard hire agreement with the Model Conditions for long- term hire agreements (lease agreements), whether this is 1 - 2 or 2 - 3 years, depending on the circumstances. The agreement needs to state: On what date the agreement begins and ends - this is essential, Who the customer/leasee is, What is being leased/hired and, How much you are going to charge per week or month. You may also wish to consider a caveat within the agreement, which allows you to increase the hire rates for each machine at the anniversary of when the contract began, and who will be responsible for servicing / maintaining the plant. a Can you informme what information should we give our Hirers, when we deliver one of our machines? a When hiring out any machine(s) to a customer, it would be advisable to take the following precautions when the machine(s) arrive(s) on site: 1) Ensure that familiarisation on the Plant’s workings are given to the person who will operate the machine or who is accepting the machine on the operator’s / Hirer’s behalf. 2) Provide a copy of the machine’s safety leaflet - a list of “Dos and Don’ts”. 3) Provide a copy of the manufacturer’s manual. This information can be referred to in the delivery ticket, which through the operator’s or Hirer’s site representative’s signature, confirms whether or not they have received information on any of the above points. [When dealing with a business Hirer, the Hirer must ensure that the operator is already competent to operate the machine, with the required skills, training and documentation - i.e. hold a current CPCS or recognised equivalent card.] When hiring a machine to a home owner (a consumer) - the above points (1) - (3) are essential. After the familiarisation has been provided to the operator, the Plant Owner’s representative must be confident that the operator can safely operate the machine and poses no risk to himself or to others. If there are any doubts as to the operator’s abilities, then the representative must contact the depot to seek further guidance before leaving. [The operator has a duty of care to himself and to others whilst in control of the machine.] In the event that an incident / accident occurs due to operator error, (and not a failure with the machine), the level of information provided by the Plant Owner, may help defeat any claims brought by the Hirer or an injured third party. Other than the Construction Industry Joint Council (CIJC), I’m afraid we don’t have any other sources we can suggest that could guide you. As you may appreciate, the rates of pay that a company may offer new operators can vary depending on: The company’s location in the country; and/or, The size of the organisation; and/or, The skill/experience/versatility of the operator; and/or The type and size of the machine that is to be operated. For the variables which are listed, it is impossible for us to maintain a meaningful guide for pay rates. I’m sorry we couldn’t be of more assistance with this particular query. a I have just received the latest communication from the Construction Industry Joint Council (CIJC) announcing the new minimum pay Craft Rates for construction operatives. I wondered whether CPA had access to any other data, which might help our research into ascertaining the rates for skilled plant operatives? 48 CPA Bulletin > August 2018 www.cpa.uk.net