Hiring an EWP moves the ownership burden to someone else, but it does not move the thinking. The hirer still has to specify the right machine for the task, and still carries real obligations while the machine is on site. Most hire frustrations — the machine that cannot reach, cannot fit or cannot legally work — trace back to a vague enquiry rather than a bad machine. This guide covers how to specify a hire properly and what to check when the machine arrives.
Match the machine class to the task
The starting point is the same taxonomy that governs purchase decisions. Scissor lifts give straight-up access with a generous deck and suit flat, firm surfaces. Boom lifts — knuckle or telescopic — reach up and over obstructions. Truck-mounted EWPs bring road mobility for multi-site work such as utility and streetlight maintenance. Trailer-mounted machines offer towable reach for lighter, occasional tasks. Insulated machines are the specialised class for work near energised electrical apparatus.
The task picks the class: vertical access to a ceiling suggests a scissor; reaching over a parapet or plant suggests a boom; a run of jobs across town suggests truck-mounted. Only after the class is settled do reach, capacity and dimensions narrow the specific machine.
Specify with numbers, not adjectives
A provider given these numbers can put the right machine on the truck the first time. A provider given 'something that reaches pretty high' is guessing, and the hirer pays for the guess.
Give the hire provider the facts that determine the machine:
- Required working height and, for booms, the horizontal outreach at that height.
- Platform load: how many people plus tools and materials at once.
- Ground conditions — sealed slab, compacted gravel, soft or sloping ground — which drive wheel, track and outrigger choices.
- Access constraints: gate and door widths, ceiling heights, weight limits on the route to the work.
- Power constraints: enclosed spaces generally need electric machines; remote sites may need engine power.
- The hire duration and shift pattern, so battery endurance and servicing can be planned.
- Any work near overhead electrical assets, which raises the question of an insulated machine and the specific rules that apply to that work.
Check the machine's compliance status on delivery
A hired EWP arrives with obligations already attached to it, and a professional hire machine should arrive able to prove it is meeting them. Under AS 2550.10 the machine should have current periodic inspection by a competent person, a logbook on board recording its inspection history, and — if it is more than ten years old — evidence of its major inspection.
It is reasonable and normal to sight the logbook and inspection status before the machine goes to work, exactly as you would check any plant coming onto a controlled site. A hire machine with no logbook, missing decals or an overdue inspection should not be accepted, whatever the delivery schedule pressure.
What stays your responsibility during the hire
Hiring transfers ownership tasks, not operational ones:
- Daily operator pre-start checks, recorded in the logbook, every day the machine is used.
- Ensuring operators hold the correct credential for the machine — an industry training card for the relevant classes, or the WP high risk work licence for boom-type machines of 11 metres or more.
- Operating within the machine's rated capacity and the site conditions it was specified for.
- Reporting faults and damage to the hire provider promptly, and standing the machine down rather than working around a defect.
- Site-specific planning: exclusion zones, ground assessment, overhead hazards and rescue arrangements remain the site's obligations.
Longer hires and the buy signal
Hire economics change with duration. Short hires buy flexibility; long-running hires on the same class of machine are a signal worth reading, because sustained utilisation is exactly the evidence that justifies considering a purchase. Many businesses use a long hire deliberately — as a live trial of a machine class before committing to ownership, with the hire period answering the utilisation question no forecast can.
When the evidence says buy, the procurement disciplines apply: define the requirement, count whole-of-life costs including the inspection regime, and verify any used machine independently before committing. For advice on machine selection, or to have a machine's compliance status verified, call 0416 689 689.
This guide is general information prepared by EWP Australia and is grounded in publicly available Australian Standards and Safe Work Australia material. It is not a substitute for the current published edition of the relevant standard or for site-specific engineering advice. Always work from the current standard and consult a competent person for your specific equipment and application.