Providing specialist plant, tools, machinery or equipment on short or long-term hire.
Occupational Profile
The hire sector for Plant, Tools and Equipment (PTE) offers a service to both commercial and domestic customers. It provides specialist plant, tools, machinery or equipment on short or long-term hire to carry out specific tasks across the construction and other sectors including mechanical, electrical, facilities management and civil engineering.
Predominately, customers are those from the commercial Construction and allied industries and the type of product hired could range from powered hand tools e.g. a Concrete Breaker to machinery such as Excavators & Loaders up to a tower crane with a qualified operator. The hire sector employers range from small local companies with fewer than 10 employees up to large national organisations. Some companies specialise in just one equipment type (such as cranes) and others offer a range of over 2000 products servicing all commercial sectors and domestic customers.
The Hire Controller is key to the success of their organisation and one of the main points of contact for the customers. They usually report to a Depot Manager who provides support and advice to the Controller on more difficult queries and also work as part of a team which typically includes a depot manager, supervisor(s), maintenance staff and delivery staff. Hire Controllers have an in-depth technical product knowledge in terms of operation of the equipment, health, safety and environmental considerations and can advise customers on the right plant, tools or equipment for a job and how to use it. They understand the specific requirements of the sectors in which their customers operate e.g construction site CPCS cards for crane operators. The role has a responsibility of being one of the main sources of technical advice and instruction for customers and the person responsible for ensuring stock is maintained to the required standard, helping to ensure that all legal, health, safety and environmental requirements are met. They are however supported by the Depot Manager in more complex enquiries and non-standard processes.
The Hire Controller (PTE) typical duties include:
- Providing technical information to commercial construction and domestic customers to help them select and use suitable equipment for the planned activities e.g. Health & Safety in operation, instructions for use, suitability for construction site and project, transportation requirements;
- Ensuring equipment for hire is compliant with Health & Safety requirements e.g. PAT testing, inspections and operational testing, plant operator site cards;
- Completing contract documentation at both on-hire and off-hire stages including all legal and health & safety documentation;
- Processing payments including calculating hire & rental charges (vary depending on domestic or commercial construction clients), damage charges, fraud prevention measures and insurance payments.
- Being a central point of information for colleagues in terms of stock control, maintenance, staffing (of driver-operated construction plant) and delivery/collection requirements;
- Handling commercial and domestic customer technical enquiries and complaints.
Summary of Standard
Full Standard
