Hire Terms

1. DEFINITIONS

a) For the purposes of this hire Airblast Ltd shall be deemed to be the Owner of the Equipment whether such is the fact or not and the expression “the Owner” shall mean Airblast Ltd to the exclusion of any other company or person.
b) The “Hirer” is the Company, firm, person, Corporation or public authority taking the Owners Equipment on hire and includes their successors or personal representatives.
c) “Equipment” covers all classes of Equipment and application units or any other item which the Owner agrees to hire to the Hirer, in plural as well as singular.
d) A “Day” shall be 24 hours or part thereof unless otherwise specified in the Agreement.
e) The “hire period” shall commence from the time when the Equipment leaves the Owner’s depot or place where
last deployed and shall continue until the Equipment is received back at the Owner’s named depot or other
agreed location. The hire period includes Saturdays, Sundays or Bank or other statutory holidays.
f) The “Head Office” is 26 King Street Industrial Estate, Langtoft, Peterborough, PE6 9NF

2. EXTENT OF AGREEMENT

No conditions other than specifically set forth shall be deemed to be incorporated in or to form part of the Agreement or shall otherwise govern the relationship between the Owner and the Hirer in relation to the hire of any particular Equipment. The Agreement does not create any right enforceable by or purport to confer any benefit on any person not a party to it except that a person who is a successor to or an assignee of the rights of the Owner is deemed to become a party to the Agreement after the date of succession or assignment (as the case may be).

3. ACCEPTANCE OF EQUIPMENT

Acceptance of the Equipment on site implies unqualified acceptance of all terms and conditions herein unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Owner.

4. UNLOADING AND LOADING

The Hirer shall be responsible for the unobstructed access and, unless otherwise agreed in writing, for unloading and loading of the Equipment at the site and any personnel supplied by the Owner for such unloading and/or lading shall be deemed to be under the direction and control of the Hirer. Such personnel shall for all purposes in connection with their employment in the unloading and/or loading be regarded as the servants or agents of the Hirer (but without prejudice to any of the provisions of Clause 11) who alone shall be responsible for all claims arising in connection with unloading and or loading of the Equipment by, or with the assistance of, such personnel.

5. DELIVERY AND COLLECTION

Delivery or collection undertaken by the Owner is not included in the hire charges and is charged as an extra. Where the
Owner has agreed to provide transport for the Equipment to or from the Hirer’s site:

a) The Hirer shall provide or ensure that access to and over the Hirer’s site is in every respect suitable for the vehicle used for transporting Equipment.

b) The Hirer shall not suffer or permit the transport vehicle to be unduly delayed on site. The Owner may make a charge for any delays on site, or may not complete the delivery at the Owner’s entire discretion if the delay is deemed to be unreasonable.

c) The Owner will not deliver Equipments over roads or grounds that in the Owner’s (or its authorised representative’s) opinion is considered to be unsuitable. The decision of the Owner’s (or its authorised representative’s) driver is final. If delivery is not completed for this reason, the Equipments will be returned to the Owner, the Hirer will still be liable for the delivery charge.

d) The Hirer shall indemnify the Owner against any claims for injury to persons or loss or of damage to property (including land), during loading or unloading of the Equipment.

e) The Owners shall not be liable for the consequences of any delay in the delivery or collection at the Hirer’s site howsoever arising.

f) No less than 72 hours notice in writing must be given to the Owner if the Hirer wishes the Equipment to be collected. When Equipment out on hire is to be collected from its location by the Owner on the instruction of the Hirer, the Hirer remains responsible for the safekeeping of the Equipment until collection is effected being not more than ten working days after the date the Equipment is placed off hire.

g) Equipments will not be delivered by the Owners in the absence of the Hirer or his representative, unless agreed beforehand in writing. If delivery is completed by the Owners in the absence of the Hirer or his representative, the Hire Delivery Note shall be forwarded to the Hirer’s address and deemed to be conclusive proof of delivery of the Equipment in good condition, listed thereon.

6. SERVICING AND INSPECTION

The Hirer shall at all reasonable times allow the Owner, his Agents or his Insurers to have access to the Equipment to inspect, test, adjust, repair or replace the same. So far as reasonably possible, such work will be carried out at times to suit the convenience of the Hirer.

7. HANDLING/USE OF EQUIPMENT

a) The Equipment shall be used only for the purpose for which it is designed by the makers. The Hirer shall be responsible for ensuring the observance of all proper safeguards and precautions against accidents in connection with the use of the Equipment, and for ensuring its use by authorised persons only.

b) The Hirer will be responsible for compliance with relevant regulations issued by the Government or Local Authorities, including regulations under the Factories Acts, Health and Safety at Work Act etc and observance of the Road Traffic Acts should they apply, and any insurances made necessary thereby.

c) Final determination of the suitability of the Equipment for any specific use is the Hirers responsibility and the Hirer assumes all risk and liability in this regard.

d) The Hirer shall indemnify the Owner for injury to persons or loss of or damage property caused by the Hirers use of the Equipment or the Hirers failure to use the Equipment in a safe and proper manner.

e) The Hirer shall not move, repair or modify the Equipment without the written consent of the Owner, including when the Equipment is off hire and awaiting collection. Any damage caused in opinion of the Owner by the unauthorised movement, repair or modification of the Equipment, will be charged to the Hirer in accordance with Clause 12.

8. MAINTENANCE

a) The Hirer shall take all reasonable steps to keep acquainted with the state and condition of the Equipment. If the Equipment be continued in use after it is known by the Hirer to be in an unsafe or unsatisfactory state the Hirer shall be solely responsible for any further damage, loss or accident.

b) The Hirer shall be responsible for all expense involved arising from all loss or damage incurred by the Owner due to negligence, misdirection or misuse of the Equipment whether by the Hirer or other persons and for the payment of hire charges at the Owners standard rate during the period the Equipment is necessarily unusable due to such damage.

9. EQUIPMENT FAILURE

No claims will be admitted for stoppages through causes outside the Owners control, including bad weather or ground conditions nor shall the Owner be responsible for the cost or expense of recovering any Equipment from soft ground.

Each Equipment is hired as a separate unit and any failure by one or more Equipments (whether the property of the Owner or otherwise) through any cause whatsoever, shall not entitle the Hirer to compensation or allowance for the loss of working time.

10. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

Except for liability on the part of the Owner which is expressly provided for in the Agreement (including these
Clauses):

a) the Owner shall have no liability or responsibility for any loss or damage of whatever nature due to or arising
through any cause beyond his reasonable control including late or non arrival of the Equipment to the location of
hire.

b) the Owner shall have no liability or responsibility, whether by way of indemnity or by reason or any breach of the
Agreement, breach of statutory duty or misrepresentation or by reason of the commission of any tort (including but not limited to negligence) in connection with the hire, for any of the Hirer’s loss of profit, loss of use of the Equipment or any other asset or facility, loss of production or productivity, loss of Agreements with any third party, liabilities of whatever nature to any third party, and/or any other financial or economic loss or indirect or consequential loss or damage or whatever nature; and

c) whenever the Agreement (including these Clauses) provides that any allowance is to made against hire charges, such allowance shall be the Hirer’s sole and exclusive remedy in respect of the circumstances giving rise to the allowance, and such remedy shall be limited to the amount of hire charges which would otherwise be or become due if the allowance in question had not been made.

11. HIRERS RESPONSIBILITY

a) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared and agreed that nothing in this Clause affects the operation of Clauses 4, 5, 7 and 10 of this Agreement.

b) During the continuance of the hire period the Hirer shall subject to the provisions referred to in sub paragraph (a) make good to the Owner all loss of or damage to the Equipment whatever cause the same may arise, fair wear and tear excepted, and shall also fully and completely indemnify the Owner in respect of all claims by any person whatsoever for injury to person or property caused by or in connection with or arising out of the storage, transit, transport, unloading, loading or use of the Equipment during the continuance of the hire period, and in respect of all costs and charges in connection therewith whether arising under statue or common law. In the event of loss of or damage to the Equipment, hire charges shall be continued until settlement has been effected.

c) Notwithstanding the above, the Hirer shall not be responsible for damage, loss or injury due to or arising:

(i) prior to delivery of any Equipment to the site (or, where the site is not immediately adjacent to a highway
maintainable at the public expense, prior to its leaving such highway) where the Equipment is in transit by
transport of the Owner or as otherwise arranged by the Owner.

(ii) after the Equipment has been removed from the site and is in transit on a highway maintainable at the public
expense (or where the site in not immediately adjacent to a highway maintainable at the public expense after it has joined such a highway) to the Owner by transport of the Owner or as otherwise arranged by the Owner.

12. LOST, NON-RETURNED OR DAMAGED EQUIPMENT

a) When a Equipment is lost or stolen, damaged beyond economical repair, or cannot be retrieved by the Owner, the hire will be deemed to end when the Hirer pays to the Owner the Owner’s invoiced charges for the loss of the Equipment. Charges for loss or necessary disposal of a Equipment will be based on current purchase prices.

b) Equipments deemed by the Owner to be damaged other than with reasonable wear and tear will be held for three days for the Hirer to inspect. After the expiration of the third day necessary repairs, cleaning or disposal will be carried out. The Hirer agrees to pay the Owner all costs incurred by the Owner in rectifying the condition of Equipments returned damaged, up to a maximum of the current purchase price for each Equipment returned damaged. Hire charges will continue until such rectification is complete and the Owner’s invoiced charges for the rectification have been paid.

c) The Hirer is responsible for all costs the Owner may incur in recovering any lost or stolen Equipment.

13. RE-HIRINGETC.

The Equipment or any part thereof shall not be re-hired, sub-let, or lent to any third party without the written permission of the Owner.

14. CHANGE OF SITE

The Equipment shall not be moved from the site to which it was delivered or consigned without the written permission of the Owner.

15. RETURN OF EQUIPMENT FOR REPAIRS

a) If during the hire period the Owner decides that urgent repairs to a Equipment are necessary he may arrange for such repairs to be carried out on site or at any location of his nomination. In that event the Owner shall be obliged to replace the Equipment with a similar Equipment (provided delivery/ collection conditions of clause 5 can be met), the Owner paying all transport charges involved.

16. COMMENCEMENT AND TERMINATION OF HIRING

a) Hire will commence on the date the Equipment leaves the Owner’s premises and will terminate on the day it is returned to the Owner’s premises. The day of hiring and the day of return will be charged respectively as whole days. 72 hours notice of termination of hire must be given by the Hirer to the Owner in writing.

b) The Owner shall not charge the Hirer any hire charges for any period of off-hire. In accordance with clause 5 the Hirer remains responsible for the Equipment until collection. In the event that any Equipment which is ‘off-hire’ is not made available for collection when the Owner attends the site to collect it, such Equipment shall be deemed with immediate effect to be placed back on hire, and all hire charges shall be due in accordance with these conditions. The Hirer shall be responsible for the reasonable costs and expenses incurred by the Owner in seeking to collect such off-hired items.

17. PROTECTION OF OWNERS RIGHTS

a) The Hirer shall not re-hire, sell, mortgage, charge, pledge, part with possession of or otherwise deal with the Equipment and shall protect the same against distress, execution or seizure and shall indemnify the Owner against all losses, damage, costs, charges and expenses arising as a direct result of any failure to observe and perform this condition except in the event of Government requisition.

b) If the Hirer makes default in punctual payment of any sum due to the Owner for hire of Equipment or other charges or shall fail to observe and perform the terms and conditions of this Agreement, or if the Hirer shall suffer any distress or execution to be levied against him or make or propose to make any arrangement with his creditors or becomes insolvent; or shall do or cause to be done or permit or suffer any act or thing whereby the Owner’s rights in the Equipment may be prejudiced or put into jeopardy, this Agreement may forthwith be determined by notice from the Owner to the Hirer (notwithstanding that the Owner may have waived some previous default matter of the same or a like nature). The Agreement shall thereupon be deemed determined by reason of the Hirer’s breach and it shall be lawful for the Owner to retake possession of the said Equipment and for that purpose enter into or upon any premises where the same may be and the determination of the hiring under this condition shall not affect the right of the Owner to recover from the Hirer any monies due to the Owner under the Agreement or any of the Owner’s rights and remedies. In particular, without limitation, the Owner shall be entitled to claim the hire charges outstanding as at the date of determination of the hire under this clause, return transport charges, and damages for the Hirer’s actual or deemed breach of the Agreement under this clause.

c) The Hirer shall not remove, deface or cover up the Owner’s name plate, Equipment number or mark on the Equipment indicating that it his property.

18. DETERMINATION OF HIRE

The Owner shall be entitled at any time and for any reason whatsoever, without explanation, to terminate this Agreement (such termination to be effective immediately) and to repossess the Equipment or any part thereof. The Owner shall be entitled to enter upon the premises or site of the Hirer for the purpose of repossessing the Equipment and the Hirer shall pay the cost of recovering and collecting the Equipment.

19. PAYMENT TERMS

Unless otherwise agreed, the standard minimum hire period (28 days unless otherwise agreed) hire charges, delivery and collection charges are payable in advance and all other charges are due and payable immediately upon issue of invoice, unless otherwise agreed by the Owner in writing. The Hirer shall pay all sums due to the Owner under this Agreement without any set-off, deduction, counter claim and/or any other withholding of monies. Prompt payment of the Owners invoices shall be of the essence and the Owner may terminate the hire on the event that the Hirer fails to comply with the Owners payment terms. Payment shall not be deemed to be made until the Owners have received either cash or cleared funds in respect of the full amount outstanding.

20. RESPONSIBILITIES OF PERSON AGREEING THE AGREEMENT

The person agreeing the Agreement warrants that he has authority to the Hirer to make this Agreement on the Hirer’s behalf. The said person hereby indemnifies the Owner against all losses and costs that may be incurred by the Owner if this is not so. The said person hereby acknowledges that he has been instructed in the operation and use of the Equipment. The said person and the Hirer jointly and severally hereby undertake to ensure that no one uses the Equipment who is not properly instructed and shall not allow the Equipment to be misused.

21. HIRE CHARGE CALCULATION

The Owners standard minimum period for hire is 28 days, unless otherwise agreed in writing, payable in accordance with clause 19. A “day” shall be 24 hours or part thereof unless otherwise specified in the Agreement. Where the Hirer receives favourable hire rates below the list price rate for whatever reason (for example due to the number of Equipments or length of hire period) but then terminates the hire period earlier, the Hirer agrees to pay the list price rate for the actual hire period.

22. ADVICE

If advice or information is sought from and given by any representative of the Owner, the Hirer understands and accepts that such advice or information is given in good faith and does not relieve or reduce the Hirers requirement to make his own independent assessment as outlined above.

23. HOLIDAY PERIODS

It is the responsibility of the Hirer to ensure the safekeeping of all Equipment hired which is not returned to the Owner before the start of any holiday period. The Equipment will be deemed to be in use during the holiday period and will be charged in accordance with the terms of the Agreement. For the avoidance of doubt, the Equipment is deemed to be on-hire during public/bank holidays and weekends and the Hirer is responsible for its safekeeping.

24. AVAILABILITY

Equipments are offered for hire subject to availability at the time of order. The Owner will not be liable for any loss as a result of the Equipment being unavailable for hire.

25. INSURANCE

The Hirer shall take out and maintain insurance against any and all liabilities the Hirer might incur under the Agreement provided the same is commercially available. The Owner reserves the right at any reasonable time to require confirmation that the Hirer is complying with its insurance obligations.

26. INVOICE QUERIES

All invoice queries must be notified in writing to Head Office within 72 hours of invoice date.

27. HIRE CHARGE ALTERATIONS

28. VAT

The Owner shall be entitled to revise, increase or decrease the hire rate for any item of Equipment by giving seven days written notice to the Hirer’s address as detailed in the Agreement.
All prices shown on delivery or advice notes exclude VAT. VAT will be charged at the prevailing rate.

29. HEADINGS

The headings used in these Conditions of Hire are for convenience only and shall not affect the construction thereof.

30. SEPARATE TERM VALIDITY

In the event that any clause (or part thereof) of these conditions is held to be unlawful, unenforceable or invalid by any court or other competent body, this shall not in any way affect the validity of the remainder of such clause and the remainder of the other clauses in these conditions.

31. JURISDICTION

The Agreement and/or Conditions of Hire are subject to English Law.