Need A Crane - Rental Or Contract Lift?
Loreno Lepe
Crane rental companies have a complete range of industrial
cranes available for hire.
Even deciding what kind of crane you need is a complex process
that will require you to provide planned location, weight of
load and distance from the center of rotation (slew) of the
crane that the load will be moved. This is because a crane can
move a heavy load a small distance from the center of slew, or
a lighter load a larger distance from the center of slew. There
are tables for each crane type, detailing safe distances and
loads that can be moved.
You have two options, Crane Rental, or a Contract Lifting
Service
Crane Rental
Renting a crane is a much more complex procedure than you might
expect if you are a first-time hirer. If you are looking for a
crane in UK, check out http://www.cranes-today.co.uk
As can be expected with any large piece of industrial
machinery, there are complex health and safety procedures to
comply with.
When renting a crane, conditions are the client must provide an
appointed person and supply the rental company operator with a
detailed method and safety statements, drawn up by a competent
and trained person, prior to the lift. The appointed person
must supervise the lifting and provide qualified personnel such
as slingers, signalers and crane operators.
Renting cranes and plant is inevitably accompanied by risk. The
cost of a modern mobile crane ranges from 200,000 dollars to
more than 3 million dollars, so the financial consequences in
the event of an accident could be immense.
As a customer renting a crane or other item of plant, you will
have to satisfy the crane rental company that you have adequate
insurance cover for the following risks:
1. Loss of, or damage to, the crane whilst on rental.
2. Continuing rental charges whilst the crane is under repairs
3. Injury to the operator.
4. Third party cover (injury to other parties, including damage
to their property.)
Crane rental companies can arrange cover for loss of, or damage
to, the crane whilst on hire and continuing rental charges
whilst the crane is under repair. Insurance cover for lifted
materials is also available.
Contract Lifts
In a contract lift, the crane rental company will choose the
correct crane for the job, raise the risk assessment and method
statement, arrange traffic management and the correct level of
insurance. With the introduction of new safety regulations
governing the use of cranes, clients who do not have sufficient
experience and knowledge of crane operations usually prefer to
place orders on a contract lift basis.
A crane rental contract becomes a contract lift contract when
the crane owner supplies the appointed person and, hence,
accepts responsibility for all aspects of the lift.
All crane rental companies offer a contract lift service. This
relieves customers of the responsibility for preparing a method
statement, risk assessment, berthing study, lift diagram and
managing and supervising the lifting operation. The crane
rental company takes all the risk and concern away from
customers, with a complete and professional tailor made package
where their trained and experienced personnel manage the whole
lifting process from initial concept right through to
supervising the final lift.
In a contact lift, the customer is still responsible for
providing accurate information relating to both the items to be
lifted and to the ground conditions. The customer must also have
public liability insurance.
The preparation time required to produce the relevant method
statements and risk assessments for a contract lift will
require a longer notice period than for crane rental.
About The Author: Loreno Lepe has a background in the chemical
and construction industries. For more construction related
information check out
http://www.hoist-supply.info or
http://www.cranes-today.info
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