CPA Bulletin

40 CPA Bulletin > November 2023 www.cpa.uk.net Q&As: 3 You are quite correct in referring to clause 8 of the Model Conditions. The clause also states that the operator will be deemed to be the customer’s employee - the Hirer’s servant or agent - for the duration of the hire period and will be under their direction and control. The customer will be liable for their actions/omissions during the hire period, as well as covering the owner against any claims raised by any injured third party - as per clause 13(b), as well as responsibility for the machine’s welfare during the hire period. You may wish to go back to the company who supplied you the machine and operator and ask them about the operator’s work history. If the operator was sourced from a third party, i.e., an agency, then your supplier could refer to them, and ask the same question(s). You may wish to ask, as per clause 8, as to the level of supervision which was in place at the time of the accident. Once you have received further information on this, if you still need additional assistance, then please get in touch. We cross-hired in amachine and operator for our customer’s needs. Whilst on site, our customer claims that the driver had caused some damage to themachine. The operator has a current CPCS card for that class of machine and was operating under our customer’s instructions. I feel that the wholematter hinges under clause 8 of the Model Conditions, and specifically whether the operator was competent. Clause 8 stipulates that the operator must be competent for themachine they will be operating, and if it is shown that they have a CPCS card, then that would suffice. There is now a dispute as to who is responsible - as far as an insurance claim is concerned - and I would appreciate your advice on the subject. For me, there are four things to consider with electronic signatures: a) Has the use of electronic signatures been pre-agreed by both parties. b) Is the person ‘signing’ the contract, duly authorised by the customer to do so. c) Is there any comparator with an actual signature previously submitted - reference back to my point (a). d) Are both the email address from the signature, and the signature the same. If not, has this been previously covered as per my point (a) and (b). All that being said, if this is something an increased number of customers are asking for/ insisting upon, then you can proceed with this method. It would be useful to inform those customers that want this, that they should immediately inform you of any changes to personnel authorised to sign in this way. I am happy to chat this through further if you wish. We have had a couple of clients sign our CPA Hire Agreement recently with an electronic signature as opposed to an original signature. Could you tell me if this is acceptable or if we should insist on an original signature? I can see this becoming amore popular trend so I would be keen to get your opinion on this. We are currently working on several projects and sites in mainland Europe. We want to establish whether the CPA itself is a recognised body in Europe, and whether the terms and conditions are relevant and can be applied? The CPA, I believe, is the oldest trade association for plant hire in Europe - established in 1941, and over my tenure as Legal Manager, I am aware that members have hired out plant and equipment under the CPA’s Model Conditions to customers in the Republic of Ireland, France, Belgium, etc., without issue. The CPA’s 2021 Model Conditions makes it very clear that in the event of a dispute, then under clause 36, it states that the court’s jurisdiction overseeing any dispute will be wherever the Plant Owner’s Head Office is located. It is always advisable to check the customer’s paperwork to ensure that the customer’s own terms (including any Purchase Order) do not render the CPA’s terms invalid. Should you wish to discuss this further, then please get in touch.