Hiring a machine: what the regulators say the hirer, the supplier and the operator each owe

This page reports what the named codes, regulators and makers say. It is not training and does not teach the work. This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here.

Hire terms and hire rates are not covered and no hire company is named. Chipper and grinder hire to non-professionals is covered in the renting guide, lifts in the bucket trucks and EWPs guide, cranes in the cranes guide. Courses that teach machine work are listed in certifications by country.

United Kingdom: the paperwork travels with the machine

Regulation 9(4) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 says an employer must ensure no lifting equipment leaves the undertaking, or is used in it if obtained from another person's undertaking, unless it is accompanied by physical evidence that the last required thorough examination has been carried out. The HSE page on thorough examination lists hire among the cases where a written copy of the examination and inspection records is needed when equipment leaves the undertaking. Its stated intervals are 6 months for equipment used to lift people and for all lifting accessories, and 12 months for other lifting equipment.

The HSE information sheet GEIS6 on mobile elevating work platforms tells the hirer's side: the employer is responsible for making sure every platform operator has been adequately trained, and the report of the thorough examination of the platform is something the user should ask to see and keep. It says specific courses are not a strict legal requirement, but recognised schemes give a training card that lists the platform categories the holder may operate. It also says that before an operator is authorised on a particular make or model, the employer is responsible for adequate time for familiarisation with a competent person.

The HSE brief guide to the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (INDG291) says it describes what an employer should do before letting an individual work on a piece of equipment for the first time.

Australia: the hirer is a supplier and the user has control

The Safe Work Australia model code on managing the risks of plant, in the SafeWork NSW edition, says suppliers' duties apply whether plant is new, second-hand or hired out. For hiring it says both the hirer and the person it was hired from must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the plant is safe to use. The code adds that while the plant is in the hirer's possession, the hirer controls how it is used in the workplace. It says a person who hires or leases plant to others has duties both as a supplier and as a person with management or control, including providing information about how to operate it safely. In most cases, it says, the supplier is responsible for inspecting and maintaining the plant, and for a long hire the two sides may agree who does that.

SafeWork NSW's page on roles when hiring or using a mobile crane gives a worked example. It says a duty holder cannot transfer duties to another person by contract (section 272 of the WHS Act). It says the business using the crane should obtain the supplier's documents, including crew high risk work licences, safe work method statements, daily inspection checklists and a log book showing maintenance and periodic inspections. It says the crane supplier must ensure only persons with the appropriate high risk work licence operate the crane, and must keep the maker's operating manual with the crane or readily available to the crew.

New Zealand

The WorkSafe New Zealand good practice guide on safe use of machinery says the people who design, make, import and supply plant must make sure machinery is safe before it goes into use. It does not set out a separate hire rule: its supplier duties (section 42 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015) cover those who supply plant, and it says those duties do not apply to the sale of second-hand plant. WorkSafe's machinery index page lists no plant hire page, and the address for one returned a not found message on October 9, 2026.

Side by side

Place	What travels with a hired machine	Who the source says owes operator training
Australia (NSW)	Manufacturer information, maintenance records and logbook on the supplier's side; licences and daily checklists for a crane	For a hired crane, the supplier must ensure only licensed persons operate it
New Zealand	Not published	No official page found on October 9, 2026
United Kingdom	Physical evidence of the last thorough examination, with the 6 month and 12 month intervals	The employer, for platform operators, with familiarisation on the make or model

Canada and the United States are not covered here: no regulator page on hirer and supplier duties for hired lifts or chippers was read for this page.

Credit

HSE and legislation.gov.uk text is adapted under the Open Government Licence v3.0. SafeWork NSW text is adapted under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. The Safe Work Australia code and WorkSafe New Zealand guide are described in our own words.