The CPA — the Construction Plant-hire Association — is the principal UK trade body for plant hire and the author of the CPA Model Conditions: the standard contract terms most UK plant hires run on. The Model Conditions matter because they set who is responsible for the machine once it is on site — and the headline most hirers miss is that, under unmodified CPA terms, the risk for loss of or damage to the plant sits with the hirer, not the owner.
Why the CPA Model Conditions decide who pays
The CPA Model Conditions are the closest thing UK plant hire has to a default rulebook, and they are weighted towards the owner. Under the General Conditions for the supply of plant (without an operator — "dry hire"), the hirer takes on responsibility for the plant from the moment it arrives until it is collected: loss, damage, continuing hire charges while a damaged machine is repaired, even liability to third parties in many cases.
That allocation of risk is exactly why the contract you hire on is not a formality. A customer who signs CPA terms and then has a machine stolen off site is liable for it — and a hire company that quietly drops onto its own softer terms has given that protection away. Knowing which conditions you are actually contracting on is worth more than most operators realise until the claim lands.
What the CPA Model Conditions cover
The CPA publishes several sets of conditions for different hire situations; the General Conditions for plant hire are the ones most operators use day to day.
- Risk and responsibility: under dry-hire General Conditions, the hirer is responsible for the plant on site, including loss, damage and continuing hire during repair.
- Operated hire: separate conditions apply where the owner supplies an operator — the operator is generally deemed the hirer's servant for the work directed.
- Contract Lift: for crane hire, a distinct CPA contract under which the owner takes far more of the planning and lifting responsibility.
- Hire period, rates, breakdown, and what counts as fair wear and tear versus chargeable damage.
- The conditions only bind if they are properly incorporated into the contract — referenced and accepted before the hire starts, not produced afterwards.
Common mistakes
The four traps that account for most of the bad answers we hear when we ask operators about CPA.
- Assuming the customer knows CPA terms put the risk on them. Most do not, and the time to explain it is at quote, not at claim.
- Quoting on CPA conditions but never actually incorporating them — no reference, no acceptance, so a court treats the contract as if they were never there.
- Confusing dry hire and operated hire. The risk allocation is different and so is the liability for how the machine is used.
- Treating the CPA and HAE as the same body. CPA is plant-specific; HAE spans plant, tool and event hire — overlapping memberships, different remits.
How MovoGo handles CPA
MovoGo carries CPA-aligned contract templates so the conditions are referenced and accepted as part of the e-signed hire — dry hire, operated hire and the off-hire terms — which means the risk allocation you intended is the one that is actually in force when a machine goes missing.
The terms most often confused with, or directly tied to, CPA.
- Plant hire — The UK construction-focused term for short-term machinery supply, distinct from the broader US "equipment rental" label.
- Cross-hire — Sourcing equipment from another hire company — rather than from your own fleet — to fulfil a customer's request.
- HAE — Hire Association Europe — the UK and Ireland trade body for plant, tool and event hire, and the body behind SafeHire.
- Damage waiver — A daily or weekly fee that caps the customer's liability for accidental damage, with the rental company carrying the cost above the cap.
- Back to the full glossary
Tomas is co-founder and CEO of MovoGo. With a background in tech startups and a drive to solve complex problems, he leads the company's mission to digitise the construction industry.
