(Photo by Russ Hendricks)
Construction equipment is expensive but they are worth every penny because no serious construction work in the modern world can continue without them. Now, the real confusion on the mind of everyone who is new to the trade will be whether to buy or to rent them. Consider the fact that almost every modern construction business and even some of the big ones usually rent most or all of their equipment instead of buying them outright. This is an obvious indication of the fact that the industry has clearly found a more economic and feasible option in construction tool rental than it did earlier in purchasing all those the expensive machines. To help new contractors understand why this has become the trend and why it makes more sense to rent construction equipment than it does to buy now, the following points should be helpful.
Make Short Term Projects a Lot Less Expensive
Take into Account that for a mini digger hire from Boels, a contractor would only need to shell out about £318 per day, but if he decides to buy a good quality compact excavator of his own, the cost could go north of £15,000 – £25,000 easily. It might take a long time for the price to be covered, almost too long. Similarly, any expensive construction equipment that the business doesn’t own already just makes more sense to rent than to buy, because that would enable the contractor to include the tool rental costs within daily expenses and see actual profits in the end.
Don’t Waste Money on Buying Seldom-Used Equipment
There is some niche machinery in the construction business that a contractor may only need on rare occasions (planers, sanders and scabblers being good examples) and unless the concerned business deals particularly with that kind of work, it would most likely take forever to cover the cost of such equipment to justify the purchase. Renting such equipment only when needed is a much better idea here for obvious reasons.
Rent Instead of Buying to Stay Updated with Technology
Technology in the construction trade is improving at a rapid rate now, making it harder to keep up with new machines. Updated models come with better functionality and therefore, they boost the performance of your work, along with increasing productivity. This of course, translates to faster project completions, better work quality and a lowered total expense in terms of labour and tool rental cost. Unfortunately, very few construction companies in the UK are big enough to update their equipment as soon as the new ones come out. However, when the contractor is simply renting the equipment, he can choose to switch to a better model whenever he wishes to.
In some situations, though, the contractor is expected to own at least some of the machinery which he will be using on a regular basis and that’s understandable. However, it is very important to list the most important and regularly used construction equipment in your specific situation. Only after you have made that list can you start buying the absolute must-have equipment, one or two at a time. Keep in mind that even this is not necessary, especially in the beginning of the business when you may already have a huge loan to repay.