Operated or self-drive plant hire?

Plant can be hired with an operator or without one. The hire terms, and who carries which risk, differ between the two. This guide sets out what the sources say. It is not legal advice.

Two ways to hire

• Operated hire: the owner supplies a driver or operator with the machine.
• Self-drive (bare) hire: you hire the machine only and use your own operator.

The Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) publishes Model Conditions for the Hiring of Plant. The 2021 version updated the 2011 one. The CPA says there were no fundamental changes to the principal effects, and 2011 stays valid for existing agreements ⁷. They are for business-to-business hire only, not consumer contracts ⁶⁷. Check which terms your own contract uses.

Who is responsible for what under the Model Conditions

Check the exact wording in your contract. The 2021 Model Conditions say the following ⁶.

• Operated hire: a person supplied with the plant must be competent in operating it. That person is under the hirer’s direction and control. The hirer is solely responsible for all site costs and claims arising from the operator’s operation of the plant.
• Self-drive hire: the hirer must not let anyone else operate the plant without the owner’s prior written consent.
• Safe use: the hirer is responsible for the plant’s safe keeping and for using it in a workmanlike way, within the manufacturer’s rated capacity.
• Site: the hirer is taken to know the site and its access road. The hirer is responsible for protecting, and is liable for damage to, underground, surface or above-ground services and utilities on or next to the site.
• Loss and damage: during the hire period the hirer is liable for loss of or damage to the plant, with listed exceptions such as some periods in transit. The hirer must also indemnify the owner and any personnel it supplies against all claims for injury to any person or property caused by or in connection with the storage, transit, transport, unloading, loading or use of the plant during the hire period.
• Operator costs: wages and other chargeable items for drivers and operators the owner supplies are paid by the hirer at the rates in the contract.

Operator competence

HSE says there are no government-issued licences for workplace transport. It also says employers must make sure their employees are trained and competent under regulation 9 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) ³. Employers can require a particular training scheme, if it makes employees competent on the equipment they will use ³.

For excavators, HSE says drivers should be trained, competent and authorised to operate the specific excavator. Certificates from recognised schemes help show competence, and should be checked for validity ¹.

For dumpers, HSE says employers must assess the competence of those involved in dumper operations. Drivers should be trained, competent and authorised for the specific dumper ². Certificates from recognised schemes help show competence ².

Two schemes issue plant operator cards:

• NPORS: a Red Trained Operator card is valid for two years from testing. A Blue Competent Operator card is valid for five years. Courses include excavator 180/360 and forward or rear tipping dumper ⁹.
• CPCS: part of the NOCN Group. Its site lists Red Trained Operator and Blue Competent Operator cards, and offers renewal of the Blue card ¹⁰. The page does not give validity periods.

HSE’s excavator and dumper pages do not name any scheme ¹².

Insurance

The CPA does not offer insurance to companies or individuals ⁸. It says that where a customer lacks cover, the owner should either have a subrogation waiver in place or ask the customer to obtain “hip” cover themselves ⁸. Waiver fees are usually 15 to 20 per cent of the hire rate, and the customer may still owe any excess after a loss ⁸.

Because the Model Conditions make the hirer liable for loss and damage during hire ⁶, check your insurance before the machine leaves the depot. This applies to operated and self-drive hire alike.

Buried services

HSE guidance HSG47, third edition (2014), sets out three parts of a safe system of work for excavation: plan the work, locate and identify buried services, and dig safely ⁴. It is for anyone who commissions, plans, manages or carries out work near underground services ⁴.

HSE’s page on electrical hazards adds that you should:

• get plans of buried services before digging, as they only indicate where services are;
• use a locator to trace and mark cables, and keep using it during the work;
• dig trial holes by hand to confirm positions;
• dig beside a service, not directly over it, and use insulated tools near electric cables ⁵.

HSE says locator operators need training ⁵.