Plant hire or construction equipment rental as it is more commonly known isn’t exactly a new concept. However, the trend has continued to rise tremendously in recent years among contractors and the construction industry as a whole due to the many advantages that it boasts compared to the ownership of the equipment. Not only is it a cheaper option to rent, but you’ll be avoiding additional expenditure in maintenance, storage and transporation as well as being free from any worries from the depreciation of value when the time comes to resell. But there are a few things to consider before deciding on pursuing a rental.
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Duration and number of projects
In any industry, the bottom-line has always been profit, and in construction, this is usually determined by careful management of resources more so than any other business. The first thing to consider in this case is the consistency of the number of projects that the company will be most likely tackling as well as the duration of these. The advantage of rentals from the likes of plant hire Chesterfield primarily relies heavily on the short-term, and if there are gaps in-between each project then you’ll be saving more by renting rather than letting the equipment collect dust with ownership during any downtime.
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Up-front costs and additional expenditure
No other industry relies as heavily on their tools as the construction business does. However, the up-front costs and additional expenditure for the equipment requires nothing less than a small fortune. While there are certainly benefits to ownership such as the availability of the machines at any time for the projects as well as other long-term benefits, it can easily put a financial strain on smaller companies that can ill-afford to invest the vast majority of their resources in equipment alone. If the budget allocated for the equipment is limited, it becomes much more cost-effective to rent.
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Perpetual technological development
Technology has always been an element that continues to challenge any line of business and industry, from mobile devices to automobiles. Because of its continuous and rapid development, it can be quite a challenge for construction companies to keep up with the times because of the cost. Everything will eventually deteriorate in time and become antiquated, and if the company cannot afford to upgrade or buy newer and better models, it would no doubt be a more logical approach to rely on the plant hire industry as opposed to having a wide range of equipment that has been succeeded by newer machines.
While there are naturally situations where ownership becomes a better and more cost-effective approach, it’s a huge investment that will only pay off in the long-term. But if resources are limited and if the construction equipment won’t be used too often in the foreseeable future, rental will undoubtedly be the cheaper and more effective approach.
