Hiring Tools and Access Equipment

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Hiring Tools and Access Equipment

When hiring beats buying, working at height, training and checking equipment

Hiring makes sense for anything used once a year, and the access equipment category carries obligations that go beyond simply collecting it.

When hiring wins

Floor sanders, wallpaper strippers, carpet cleaners, breakers, cement mixers, scaffold towers and anything requiring storage you do not have. A day's hire is frequently a tenth of the purchase price.

Hiring also gives you a maintained, tested machine rather than something that has sat in a garage for five years.

Working at height is the main risk

Falls from height are the most common cause of serious injury in construction and in home maintenance. Ladders suit short duration light work; anything longer or heavier needs a tower or a platform.

Ladders at roughly 75 degrees, footed or tied, three points of contact, and never stretching sideways. Never stand on the top rungs.

Towers need assembling correctly

Scaffold towers must be built to the manufacturer's instructions with stabilisers, guardrails and toe boards, on firm level ground. Assembly training exists for a reason, and many hirers require it.

Never move a tower with anyone or anything on it, and check it after wind.

Checking what you collect

Inspect for damage, check the test certificate and the date, and ask for a demonstration if you have not used it before. Photograph the condition before leaving.

Safety equipment

Eye protection, hearing protection and a mask rated for the dust. Silica dust from concrete, brick and tile cutting is a serious respiratory hazard and needs the correct extraction rather than a paper mask.

Planning a hire

Book ahead for weekends and bank holidays, and be realistic about how long a job takes, since an extra day's hire costs less than rushing. Ask what consumables are included.

Clean equipment before returning it, since cleaning charges are common and avoidable.

Hiring versus buying

Work out the hire cost against the purchase price and how many times you would genuinely use it. Anything used more than three or four times a year usually justifies buying.

Tool libraries and community workshops exist in many areas and cost a fraction of commercial hire.

Insurance and damage

Check whether a damage waiver is included and what it excludes, and whether your home insurance covers hired equipment. Photograph the item on collection and on return.

Dust and extraction

Cutting or grinding concrete, brick, stone and tile releases silica dust, which causes serious and irreversible lung disease. Use water suppression or an M class extractor and a properly fitted mask rather than a paper one.

Beards prevent a tight mask seal, which matters more than people expect.

Electrical safety

Use an RCD on any portable mains tool, check leads for damage before use, and unwind extension reels fully before drawing load.

Practical

Check the fuel, consumables and whether damage waiver is included, and confirm how the item transports.

WHERE TO BUY

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