How to Choose the Right Plant and Machinery Hire Partner for Your Construction Project

When choosing plant and machinery hire, you need to partner with a reputable company who will help your business achieve its goals.

As a construction manager, you will already have a growing to-do list, and the last thing you need to worry about is your equipment.

Whether you’re dealing with invoices, project planning, budgets, training and recruitment, or anything else your role requires, you will have a lot on your plate.

As a result, you need to partner with a plant hire company you can trust; one that goes beyond the traditional role of simply supplying your equipment.

Instead, imagine having one central platform that does it all?

A platform that not only enables you to hire the equipment you need, but also allows you to manage invoices, keep track of your rental equipment, and make easy payments.

As such, this alleviates some of the pressure from your day-to-day job role, and allows you to focus on other things, safe in the knowledge that your construction hire is being taken care of.

In this blog post, we’ll run through some of the most important considerations when choosing the right plant and machinery hire to ensure you choose the right partner.

We’ll also discuss the benefits of having an all-in-one platform that allows you to manage these separate components from a central hub.

Why Is Choosing the Right Plant and Machinery Hire Important?

For any construction manager, reputation is highly important. After all, a lot of business comes through word-of-mouth and it’s important your clients are satisfied.

Regardless of the project you’re working on, you will need the right equipment to get the job done. Whether that’s large excavators and diggers for a demolition, or thermal imaging cameras to carry out a survey, your equipment is the foundation of your project.

Having the right plant and machinery hire allows you to get the job completed to a high standard, which increases the likelihood of customers using your company in the future.

Aside from customer satisfaction, there are lots of problems that can arise as a result of choosing the wrong plant and machinery hire company.

Whether that’s experiencing delays, incurring high costs, or wasting time ringing several different suppliers, your time could be much better spent.

However, all of these issues can be resolved by doing your research first and finding a tool hire company that controls everything from one platform.

To break this down, let’s take a look at some of the most common problems construction managers face, and how these can be solved by using the right tool hire company.

Problem:

You’ve hired several different pieces of equipment, each from a different supplier. For example, you’ve hired an excavator from one company, and drilling equipment from another. However, none of these items have arrived on site, and your client is annoyed.

As a result, you’re going to have to spend your precious time calling various companies and liaising with several members of their team. You simply want to know where your equipment is, and when it will be delivered to site, yet it has taken you all afternoon to get in contact with the right person.

Not only does this become a logistical nightmare, but you have also wasted a lot of time making phone calls when you could have been focussing on other things.

Solution:

With an all-in-one platform such as YardLink, you can monitor all of your equipment hire from one, easy-to-access place. Simply log in to your online account and see which pieces of equipment are arriving on site and by what date.

This gives you total control over your equipment, and mitigates the possibility of any delays or disruptions.

Setting up an online account with YardLink is easy and only takes a few minutes!

Problem:

You need several pieces of equipment to complete a building project, but you’re unsure which company to order from. You’ve been given some recommendations from colleagues and clients, but you don’t know if they are trustworthy.

This is a huge project and you can’t afford for anything to go wrong, so you need reliable equipment that you know will arrive on time.

Solution:

YardLink only works with a network of local and trusted suppliers.

As such, these companies have already been vetted, which gives you complete confidence that the equipment will fulfill your business needs. You don’t need to spend time doing your research to find reputable suppliers, as YardLink has already done the work for you.

You will also get a short term hire insurance policy designed specifically to cover you for damage or theft of equipment. Again, this gives you extra peace of mind that your business is protected should anything go wrong.

Problem:

You’re in charge of the budget, and you need construction equipment which is both high quality and affordable.

On top of that, you need the equipment the next working day – without paying a fortune for quick delivery. You don’t have time to ring several suppliers to enquire about delivery times as you’ve got meetings planned for the rest of the day.

Solution:

With YardLink, our equipment can be delivered to the site the next working day. This means your team can start working immediately without having to hang around waiting for different pieces of machinery to arrive.

We’re also up to 60% cheaper than other tool hire companies, so you can be confident you’re getting a good deal.

Our online platform provides transparent, no-haggle pricing and you can manage your bookings 24/7. As such, you don’t need to worry about the where-abouts of your equipment as all of this information is available at your fingertips.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Plant and Machinery Hire Partner

Now we’ve addressed some of the most common issues associated with plant and machinery hire, let’s take a look at some of the key considerations.

If you’ve been tasked with sourcing the equipment, then you need to make sure you find a company you can rely on. Otherwise, you’ll have lots of unhappy clients and colleagues to answer to!

When doing your research, make sure you consider the below points first.

Availability of Equipment

Before confirming any type of contract with a machinery hire service, you need to make sure they have the right equipment for your project.

In some cases, you will need lots of different tools in order to complete the job at hand. For example, if you’re erecting a new office building, you might need a range of hand tools, power tools, large diggers, drills, skips, dumpers, and scaffolding, just to name a few.

You will also need portable office services whilst the project is underway including portable toilets, offices, and welfare units to keep your team warm and dry on site.

Therefore you need to ask yourself, ‘Does this tool hire company have all of the equipment I need for each stage of the project?’

If the answer is no, then you need to look elsewhere. Unless you don’t mind hiring equipment from several different places, which as we’ve discussed, can lead to a plethora of problems.

You also need to check that equipment is available for the dates you require. After all, only because a supplier has an item of equipment in its catalogue, it doesn’t mean it’s readily available. This can be a particular issue during busy seasons as lots of companies need the same pieces of equipment at the same time.

With YardLink, you can easily log into your online account to check the availability of different products, allowing you to plan your projects more efficiently.

Safety

As a construction manager, the safety of your employees has to be a priority, and this includes the equipment they are using.

You have a duty to keep them safe, so it’s important any tools or equipment they use are fit for purpose.

You need to ask the plant hire services about their safety requirements, and also check to see if they are certified to handle the type of machinery that they may have in their storage.

At YardLink, we handle the task of assuring the quality of suppliers, so you don’t have to. All of our suppliers are thoroughly verified, so you can be confident that their products are high quality, and most importantly, safe.

The safety of equipment can be analysed on a deeper level by checking the age of the products. Generally, the older the machine, the more likely it is to break down or to be a danger to your employees.

In many cases, businesses make the mistake of hiring from less reputable sources and find their equipment suddenly stops working. This would be highly frustrating and could also lead to several delays on a project.

Therefore when choosing the right plant hire services, make sure you find a company that puts safety at the forefront.

Credibility

No one wants to partner with a company that has a bad reputation as this means previous customers have had a poor experience using the services.

Therefore, make sure you choose a plant and machinery hire company that has a good reputation and is trusted by other businesses.

At YardLink, we’re proud of our customer service and the reputation we maintain.

But don’t just take our word for it! Here’s what some of our previous customers have to say:

“I was advised to try YardLink after I had called all other tool hire companies and was really frustrated that no one could provide what I needed at a timely delivery. YardLink sorted it out, really 5 stars for service. Next time my company needs plant or tools, it’s going to be yardlink.com” – Andrei

“Great site for all of your hire needs, makes hiring equipment so much easier. Excellent value and excellent service. Fully recommend!” – Matt

“Hiring plants and tools has never been easier. We use YardLink for all our kit, from diggers to wood chippers and even site offices. Great quality equipment is always delivered on time!” – Richard

And you too could be one of our happy customers.

We built YardLink with the goal of building the easiest, most convenient way for contractors and project managers to hire and manage their equipment.

For more information or for help setting up an account with us, simply get in touch with a member of our team.

Delivery time

Knowing when you can expect to have your equipment delivered is essential, especially when you’re working towards tight deadlines.

Therefore, it’s important to select companies that can adhere to your time restraints.

You should avoid companies that will take longer than usual to deliver the results you need as this will push your project back. As such, you will have to source alternative products or wait for things to arrive on site.

Not only will this dampen your reputation but it will also be very costly.

At YardLink, we deliver products the next working day which allows you and your team to concentrate on the job at hand with minimal disruptions.

Through our online portal, you can also specify a date and time that you would like your equipment delivered which makes project planning much easier. You can also choose to pick up equipment from the closest local depot in our network, which gives you total flexibility and control.

This is also a much more sustainable means of hiring equipment as YardLink have a network of suppliers throughout London. Therefore, you can be sure there’s a depot within close proximity to your site, which reduces carbon emissions in terms of travel.

Insurance cover

Should the plant you hire break or fail on the job, you need to know that your plant hire company will take care of it. Make sure you partner with a company that will fix any malfunctioning equipment, and that won’t charge breakdown fees for problems that are not your fault.

Carefully read the terms and conditions on the company’s websites to find out what their policy is so you don’t incur any unnecessary fees.

At YardLink, you can rest easy knowing this is taken care of.

We provide you with a short term hire insurance policy designed specifically to cover you for damage or theft of equipment.

So, if something goes wrong, you’re protected in the event of damage, loss, or theft of equipment whilst on hire.

Although customers are not obliged to take out this damage waiver, every hirer is required to have suitable insurance in place before any plant or equipment may be hired from YardLink.

You read more about our damage waiver here.

Sustainability

When choosing the right plant and machinery hire company, you need to consider their approach to sustainability.

Lots of carbon emissions are emitted when tools are transported from one place to another, which is often the case when you’re hiring from traditional tool hire companies.

If they only have one, central depot where everything is stored, they will need to transport these items to your site, which could be miles away. In fact, transportation generates the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions which primarily come from burning fossil fuel.

Over 90% of the fuel used for transportation is petroleum based, which includes gasoline and diesel.

However at YardLink, we’re committed to building a more sustainable future.

As previously mentioned, we have lots of depots across London which means there is a high chance that one of these depots will be located close to your job site. Therefore, the tools you require won’t have far to travel, which reduces the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted into the atmosphere.

How to Choose the Right Plant and Machinery Hire Partner for Your Construction Project

When it comes to choosing the right plant and machinery hire partner, doing your research first is very important.

Not only do you need to find a company that has the right equipment in stock, but you also need to consider their reputation, delivery times, and the type of insurance they offer.

There’s a lot riding on the quality of your construction equipment, so getting this right is key. Without the right tools and pieces of machinery, you and your team are unable to complete the job at hand, which can be very stressful and costly.

The solution?

Choose an all-in-one construction platform such as YardLink.

From an easy-to-access account, you can manage all of your construction hire from one place. You can browse through large catalogues of equipment, book equipment online 24/7, manage your invoices, make easy payments, and choose your own delivery slot.

We’ll even send you notifications to remind you when your recruitment is due back, allowing you to plan your projects more efficiently. We also verify the reliability of all of our suppliers, giving you total peace of mind that your equipment is high-quality.

For more information about how we can help your next project, simply get in touch.