Employing specialist contractors

Except for the largest of organisations it is not possible or sensible for every organisation to have the full range of maintenance equipment. This would be very expensive and would require permanent secure storage at the site 

When necessary it is the groundsperson’s responsibility to obtain access to the necessary equipment in the most effective way. The equipment can normally be obtained by one of the following methods:

• Contracting the services of a specialist contractor who will supply and operate the equipment. This approach has the benefit that the contractor is a specialist used to regularly doing the specific operation with their own equipment
• Obtaining the equipment from an equipment pool shared with other organisations. This is often the cheaper route however it is essential that the equipment is operated by an experienced trained operative. You must not use any equipment for which the operative has not had the proper training.

It is essential to plan ahead for when you will need the equipment:

• As you will need to book a slot/window for your site as many other organisations will also being looking to do similar operations at the same time
• Make the case for a proper budget from the organisations committee (see Financial considerations)
• Obtain more competitive prices by buying in bulk, especially if you can join up with other organisations.

You should put together a simple specification of the service/equipment that you require and use it to obtain written quotes from at least three reputable contractors with the right experience and ideally contractors who you know have been used successfully by other local organisations. You should retain the written quotes as these may be required by the Treasurer.