ERA launches new tools at IRE show

The European Rental Association (ERA) will launch a series of new business and promotional items for its members during its annual convention at the International Rental Exhibition.

Among the developments being launched by ERA are:

- Proposed Guidelines for General Rental Conditions. These will not attempt to replace existing conditions and will not cover every issue that commercial conditions cover, but will provide rental companies with a ‘checklist' of best and common practice from around Europe.

- A best estimate of the size of Europe's Rental industry and assessment of market changes since the last ERA Convention in June 2007. The ERA has engaged consultant Global Insight to prepare a comprehensive estimate of the European rental market, and it will report to the ERA before the end of this year. However, ERA has drawn on some initial work by Global Insight and its own sources to produce an updated ‘best estimate'.

- A 'Rent or Buy Calculator' allowing any client of the rental industry to assess whether in his specific situation it makes more sense to rent or purchase construction equipment. The calculator allows companies to enter in detail the different cost elements of owning and renting a piece of equipment, providing a quick guide to whether a product should be rented or bought.

- An official ERA Best Practice Statement on In-service Inspection of Work Equipment, which the ERA will promote at EU level to encourage a consistency of approach to equipment inspections. The statement covers important issues such as inspection intervals and inspection reports.

- 'Good reasons to rent' arguments - downloadable from the ERA website - that any rental company can use as arguments to promote the rental concept to its customers.

In addition to the presentation of these tools, the convention programme has been designed around a series of roundtables and sectors topics to discuss issues of specific interest to the rental industry, such as:

- Theft;
- Sustainability and the greening of the industry;
- Transportation of equipment;
- Tower Cranes;
- Relations between manufacturers and rental companies;
- Financing models for the rental industry;
- Tool Hire;
- Increased efficiency with new technologies;

Key speakers at the event will include Dan Kaplan, the renowned US rental consultant and Bertrand Piccard, the scientist-adventurer.

All those attending the ERA events have to register in advance (at www.erarental.org). There is no cost for ERA members, although non-members have to pay a fee.