What Is Plant and Equipment?
Plant and equipment is the umbrella term for the machinery, powered tools and temporary equipment used to physically carry out construction work — excavators, cranes, scaffolding, elevated work platforms (EWPs), compactors, generators and similar gear. It is priced either as a hire rate per hour or per day, or as an owned-plant cost apportioned across the jobs it services, and that cost is then folded into the unit rates used to price a tender or estimate.
Key takeaways
- Plant and equipment covers the machinery and powered tools a job needs — earthmoving gear, cranes, access equipment and small plant such as compactors and generators.
- It is priced either as a hire rate (per hour or per day) or as an owned-plant cost apportioned across the jobs it services.
- Plant cost is rarely a standalone line — it is usually apportioned into the rate build-up for the activity that plant supports.
- Under-costing plant, particularly idle time, delivery and mobilisation, is one of the more common ways an estimate quietly loses margin.
What counts as plant and equipment
Plant and equipment spans everything from heavy earthmoving machinery down to hand-held power tools, and most estimators group it into a few broad categories when pricing a job.
The common thread is that plant does the work, rather than becoming part of the finished building — an excavator is plant, but the pipe it lays in the trench is material.
- Earthmoving and excavation plant — excavators, skid steers, bobcats, graders and rollers.
- Lifting and hoisting plant — tower cranes, mobile cranes, hoists and forklifts.
- Access equipment — scaffolding, elevated work platforms (EWPs) and mast climbers.
- Small plant and site equipment — compactors, generators, pumps, mixers and power tools.
Hire rate vs owned-plant cost
Most tradies and smaller builders hire plant for the period it is needed and price it into the estimate as a straightforward hire rate per hour or per day, including any delivery, pick-up and standing time.
Larger contractors who own plant outright instead work out an owned-plant cost — covering purchase or lease repayments, fuel, maintenance, insurance and depreciation — then apportion that cost across the jobs the plant works on, usually as an internal hourly or daily rate similar to what a hire company would charge.
Worth checking
A hire quote that looks cheap on the day rate can still blow a budget if it excludes delivery, fuel or a minimum hire period — always check what the rate actually includes before it goes into the estimate.
How plant cost gets built into a rate
Plant cost rarely stands alone as a line item in a Bill of Quantities. Instead, it is usually apportioned into the rate build-up for the activity that plant supports — the cost of an excavator and operator, for example, is divided by the cubic metres it can move in an hour to arrive at a plant cost per cubic metre of excavation.
That apportioned figure then sits alongside labour, materials, overheads and margin in the finished unit rate, so the true cost of the plant is reflected in every unit of measured work rather than left out or guessed at.
How My Trade Hub helps with plant and equipment
My Trade Hub’s rates library keeps plant costs — hired or owned — as an editable component of your rate build-ups, so a change to a hire rate or an owned-plant cost updates every rate it feeds into.
Once quantities are measured from your uploaded plans, those rates apply automatically to build a priced Bill of Quantities 60-75% faster than doing it manually, with every plant, labour and material component still yours to check and adjust. It is free to create a My Trade Hub account; estimating and takeoff tools sit on the paid Starter, Scale and Professional plans.
Frequently asked questions
What is plant and equipment in construction?
Plant and equipment refers to the machinery, powered tools and temporary equipment used to carry out construction work, such as excavators, cranes, scaffolding, elevated work platforms and site generators, as distinct from the materials that become part of the finished building.
How is plant and equipment priced in an estimate?
Plant is priced either as a hire rate per hour or per day for hired equipment, or as an owned-plant cost apportioned across the jobs it services, covering purchase, maintenance, fuel and depreciation. That cost is then built into the relevant unit rate.
What is the difference between hired and owned plant cost?
A hire rate is a straightforward cost charged by a plant hire company, usually per hour or day. An owned-plant cost is worked out internally, covering the full cost of owning and running the equipment, then apportioned across the jobs it works on.
What items typically count as plant on a construction site?
Plant typically includes earthmoving machinery such as excavators, skid steers and rollers, lifting equipment such as cranes, hoists and forklifts, access equipment such as scaffolding and EWPs, and small plant such as compactors, generators and power tools.
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