Whether you’re a tradie or a civil plumbing and construction company, you will face the same questions and decisions about whether to buy or hire your equipment.

There are many advantages to both options for companies and operators. However, finding the best choice for your project will depend on the nature of the job, your budget, and how much flexibility you need. Cost-effectiveness, choice, risk mitigation, and low to zero maintenance costs are just some of the advantages of hiring your electrofusion or butt fusion tooling and equipment for your next project.

Cost

Poly welding equipment, large or small, typically requires a medium to large initial outlay or financing. You will need to carefully consider the investment based on your business’s cash flow and financial situation. When hiring, you don’t have all the costs related to owning the equipment, such as storage, maintenance, calibration. etc. Meaning that you will have more working capital available. Knowing what your hiring costs will be on a week to week basis as well as for the duration of the project, can make budgeting easier.

Risk Mitigation

Situations change all the time. It could be a fall in demand, delays, the loss of a contract, or change of workplace practices. Hiring pipe welding equipment avoids having your asset or equipment stood idle without getting a return. Based on these periods of uncertainty or if you’re unsure about how much you’ll be using the equipment, it’s worth considering hiring to mitigate your risk.

Flexibility and Technology

Hiring can give you much more flexibility and access to the latest machinery if you don’t have the capital or long term projects to buy the equipment. Accessing the most up-to-date poly welding equipment and technology allows you to run your projects efficiently, minimising paperwork and offering full quality assurance standards, while passing on the benefits to your customers.

Ongoing or One-off Usage

If you have long term projects or high utilisation of your assets, you might opt to buy rather than hire. Obviously, this will be a more cost-effective option, and you’ll end up paying less for the equipment in the long run. However, if you’re working on specific contracts or one-off jobs, and are unsure when you will use the equipment next. Hiring is probably the better option. A general guide or rule of thumb, if your utilisation of the equipment is less than 60% of the time, it may be better to hire.

Repairs and Maintenance

Owning equipment demands that you know more about its inner workings than if you hired it. When hiring equipment, many find that they only really need to know how to operate the machine as the supplier handles all the maintenance, support, and servicing. If you’re buying equipment, this constitutes additional costs associated with ownership. What’s more, if a piece of machinery is out of the warranty period, the costs of repair and maintenance is on the owner.

Most manufacturers have accredited service agents that have undergone training and purchased the correct equipment to carry out repairs. Electronic equipment will usually have a password feature to gain access to the service functions of the equipment. This is often overlooked when repairs are required, and calibrations are due. Hiring your welding equipment will take care of all servicing and maintenance for you, guaranteeing that the equipment is always in peak condition.

Try Before You Buy

Hiring gives you a great opportunity to trial the equipment without committing to any significant capital investments. It’s also best practice to test and see how the equipment fits in your operation or even using it as a low-risk strategy to try and penetrate new markets and be less financially exposed.

The decision of whether to hire or buy your welding equipment will depend on the nature of the project, your company’s financial situation, and the level of flexibility that you are after. However, as long as you plan it carefully and consider all factors mentioned above, you should end up with a hire or purchase outcome that closely matches your budget and needs. If you’re interested in hiring or buying your next PE pipe fusion or flow control equipment, get in touch, and get expert advice and recommendations from our Team at Caldertech Australia. Our company has been supporting its customers globally for over 30 years, so we are confident we will help you choose the right solution for all your pipe jointing needs.