The Machine's on Site, the Job's on Hold: Who Actually Pays for a Stalled MEWP Hire?

There's a moment in every MEWP hire where the day rate stops being the interesting number. It's usually around day two, when the machine won't start, or the wind is gusting at 45 mph, or the tenant hasn't cleared the unit and your blokes are standing around drinking tea on your money.

The hire agreement you signed — or more likely clicked — has an answer to all of that. It's just rarely the answer people assume. Here's where the traps tend to sit.

Repair is not the same as recovery

Most hire contracts promise that a machine will be maintained in working order and that a breakdown will be attended to. What they rarely promise is that you'll be back to work by lunchtime, or that the hire stops while you wait.

Read the response wording carefully. 'Reasonable endeavours' and 'as soon as practicable' are doing a lot of heavy lifting. A site in central Manchester and a farm track in mid-Wales will get very different service realities out of the same clause.

And even when the engineer turns up promptly, the downtime itself is usually your problem. Standard terms tend to exclude consequential loss — meaning the wages, the crane, the cancelled subcontractor and the penalty you're paying the main contractor aren't coming back. The machine might get fixed for free; your week doesn't.

What's worth asking before you sign:

• Is there a stated engineer response time, or only a vague commitment?
• Does the hire charge stop during an attended breakdown, or does it keep running?
• Is a replacement machine offered, and within what window?
• Does the breakdown cover extend to the machine being recovered from site?

If the answers aren't written down, assume the least helpful version.

Off-hire is a process, not a phone call

This one catches people every single week. You ring up on Friday and say the job's done, so you think the hire ended on Friday. It didn't. It ended when the hire company issued an off-hire number and the machine came back into their control.

Between those two points, you're paying. Weekends included. Bank holidays included. And if the collection lorry is booked for Wednesday, that's Wednesday.

There are variations. Some agreements stop charging once you've given written notice and the machine is available for collection on your site, safely and accessibly. Others keep charging until it's physically back at the depot. The difference can be several hundred pounds on a single hire.

A few things that make this easier:

1. Get off-hire confirmed in writing, with a reference number.
2. Find out whether you're responsible for making the machine available, or for getting it back.
3. Check the minimum hire period — a day's work on a weekly minimum is a weekly charge.
4. Watch the delivery and collection windows. If the lorry arrives and can't get in, standing time may be chargeable.

Also: fuel. Many agreements expect the machine back with a comparable fuel level, and refuelling charges at depot rates can be brisk. Same for cleaning — a machine back full of plaster dust and brick grit may attract a charge.

Weather is a cost, not an excuse

High wind stops MEWP work. That's not cautiousness, it's the manufacturer's manual — most boom lifts have a rated maximum wind speed, and above it the machine simply shouldn't be operated. Rain and lightning add their own reasons to come down.

The awkward truth is that weather rarely suspends your hire charges. The wind is your risk, not the hire company's. If you've booked a week on a boom lift and two days are blown out, you've usually bought a week.

So plan around it. Look at the forecast before you commit to a long hire. Consider whether a shorter hire with a re-hire later is cheaper than a week sitting idle. And check whether your own insurance, or a contract with your client, gives you any relief for weather delays — because the hire agreement almost certainly won't.

One practical point: whoever is supervising should know the wind limit for the specific machine and have a way of checking it on site. An anemometer on the machine or a handheld one is not a luxury.

Damage waivers: read the exclusions before you relax

A damage waiver is not insurance. It's a contractual cap on your liability for certain types of damage, in exchange for a percentage of the hire charge. It's often good value. It's also frequently misunderstood.

Typical exclusions include tyres and tubes, glass, misuse, overloading, overturning, damage from carrying passengers or unauthorised attachments, and theft without a crime reference number. Some waivers also exclude damage caused by the machine being operated outside the manufacturer's limits — which is exactly what happens when someone ignores the wind rating.

Compare the waiver cost against what your own plant insurance already covers. Don't pay twice for the same risk, and don't assume a waiver means you can stop worrying about how the machine is treated.

The clauses nobody reads until it's too late

• Access responsibility. Who's liable if the lorry can't get onto site because the gate's blocked?
• Operator competence. The hirer usually confirms competence. That's a real obligation, not a box-ticking exercise.
• Machine condition on delivery. Photograph it. Every panel, every tyre, every hour reading.
• Sub-hire and site transfers. Moving a machine to another site or passing it to another contractor may need consent.
• Termination. How do you end a long hire early, and what does it cost?

Price the risk, not just the rate

A cheap day rate on a machine with no replacement commitment, off-hire that only bites on collection and a wafer-thin damage waiver can end up dearer than a slightly higher rate with clearer terms. The rate is the visible number; the clauses are where the actual money sits.

Before the kit lands, get the breakdown, off-hire and weather position in writing from the hire desk. Ask the daft questions. Then plan the job so the machine isn't sitting on your yard waiting for a forecast that never comes good.