5 Reasons To Choose Survey Equipment Hire Over Purchase
Posted by Nurul Basher on
Purchasing new survey equipment outright can get very expensive very quickly. Because of this, many senior engineers and independent surveyors now hire instead.
In this post, we take a look at the benefits of survey equipment hire in the UK and why more and more companies are choosing it.
Current Market Volatility
When markets are volatile – as they have been since the advent of the pandemic – companies need to hunker down and protect themselves from the economic storm. Therefore, many are thinking twice about large capital outlays, such as buying new survey equipment.
As such, hiring helps to mitigate risk. It avoids the significant up-front investment and, instead, allows the firm to only pay for what it needs.
The Rental Company Manages Maintenance
When you buy survey equipment, you’re responsible for maintenance. Nobody else is going to come along and do it for you.
However, when you hire, it’s the responsibility of the rental company. They’re the ones on the hook for quarterly or annual servicing, not you.
Servicing, calibration and repairs of survey equipment, such as GNSS receivers, rotating lasers, and covermeters are notoriously expensive. When equipment breaks, it often requires specialists to put it right. If you buy outright, you have to foot this expense entirely yourself. But with laser and other survey equipment hire, you don’t.
Furthermore, because the rental company has servicing and maintenance systems in place, they can provide these services at a lower overall cost, driving down the cost of ongoing survey equipment use for everyone.
Deduct Hiring Costs From Taxable Income
Another big benefit of hiring survey equipment is that you can usually deduct the costs from your taxable income. HMRC rules view survey hiring as a project cost, meaning that it is part of the cost of running a business.
Thus, hiring could make your business more competitive. You can increase profits while reducing the taxman’s stake in your enterprise.
Get The Latest High-End Technology
Survey equipment tech doesn’t remain static over time. Instead, it evolves and develops, just like technology in other sectors.
If you buy equipment outright, it’s often obsolete within a few years, putting your operations at a disadvantage. However, if you rent, then you avoid these sunk costs and can get access to the latest equipment. Additionally, if your engineers are stepping outside of their comfort zone with different equipment, there’s no financial commitment – you can always swap out your rented equipment for something more suited to your team.
What’s more, GPS survey equipment hire makes the best survey tech more affordable. You avoid paying out in one gigantic lump sum and, instead, pay fixed fees for the time you use it, available for next day delivery.
Cut down on your total station expenses with hire equipment, and get ongoing training support for your newer team members.
Get The Right Tool For The Job
Sometimes you might arrive at a site without any control points and therefore require a GNSS receiver, but the rest of the job will be done with a total station. Hiring gives you the flexibility to choose the right piece of survey equipment for the task at hand. Utility surveys may require Ground Penetrating Radar (like the Leica DS-2000) for some of the work, but not all - why pay for such an expensive piece of kit to store it in a portakabin most of the time? You can hire the GPR for when you need it, then use your standard CAT and genny for the rest of the build. And if you're not sure whether a laser scanner or a total station is the right tool for the job, Surveytech's technical team are always happy to provide free advice.Survey Tech offers many pieces of survey equipment for hire – great for standalone projects and firms with ongoing survey requirements alike. Contact us today to find out more.