Equipment

The NEC Equipment definition has a simple practical test: is this something the Contractor uses to build the works, without the Scope requiring it to become part of them? If so, it's Equipment. A tower crane, formwork, site cabins and a hired pump are the obvious cases. Note that the term is much wider than machinery.

The definition is in clause 11.2 (item 7 in NEC3 ECC). Its counterpart is Plant and Materials, and every physical item on the job falls on one side of that line or the other. It's also where everyday language misleads people, because a pump can be either. For how it's paid, see Equipment in the Schedule of Cost Components. This page is part of the NEC definitions glossary.

Test cases

Item	Which is it?	Why
Dewatering pump, removed at the end	Equipment	Used to do the work, then taken away
Foul water pump the Scope requires in the new pumping station	Plant and Materials	Stays in the works
Scaffolding	Equipment	Not required to remain
Temporary sheet piles, removed	Equipment	Used, then taken away
Sheet piles the Scope requires to stay as the permanent wall	Plant and Materials	Scope makes them part of the works
Sheet piles left in because extraction is awkward, with the Project Manager's permission	Equipment left in the works	The Scope didn't require them. See clause 72.1
Site compound fencing the Client asks to keep after Completion	Depends	If the Scope is changed to require it, it becomes part of the works, and a change like that is normally a compensation event

The deciding factor is what the Scope requires, not what the item looks like or who paid for it.

Why it causes problems

The difference shows up in four places.

• Cost. On cost-based Options and when assessing compensation events, Equipment and Plant and Materials fall under separate sections of the Schedule of Cost Components. Those sections use different rules, and Equipment is often priced from time-based rates in the Contract Data.
• Removal. The Contractor removes Equipment from the Site once the job has finished with it, unless the Project Manager agrees it can stay (72.1).
• Ownership. Title rules in clause 70 apply to Plant and Materials and not to Equipment, so the Client doesn't automatically own it when it arrives on Site.
• Marking. Clause 71 lets Equipment outside the Working Areas be marked if the contract identifies it for payment and it's been prepared for marking as required. That's unusual, so check whether it applies.

A worked example

A fictional bridge deck on Option C. The temporary falsework is a hired steel system with a hire charge of £12,000 per month, an illustrative figure. A change to the deck sequence means it stays up for two more months.

On a Scope change, the Contractor's quotation includes two months of further falsework hire as Equipment, valued by the schedule's rules. It wouldn't appear as a permanent material cost, and the falsework goes away afterwards. If the Client later asks to keep part of the system as a permanent access platform, the Project Manager would need to change the Scope. From then on, that part is intended to stay, and the assessment should treat it accordingly, likely with hire charges replaced by a purchase.

Design of Equipment

The Project Manager can instruct the Contractor to submit the design of an item of Equipment for acceptance (23.1). That power gives the Client some oversight on things like cofferdams, where the temporary works can affect the permanent works or neighbouring land. It doesn't move responsibility for the design. The guide to Equipment and Plant covers how the two terms play out in testing and quality.

What people get wrong

• Reading "plant" in its everyday sense. On site, "plant" usually means excavators and dumpers. Under NEC, those are Equipment. "Plant" in Plant and Materials is permanent machinery going into the works.
• Assuming ownership decides it. Hired or owned, it's Equipment if it's used and not required to stay.
• Omitting the Scope check. Temporary works are often badly described. Spell out in the Scope anything meant to be left behind.

Related guides

• NEC Definitions: A Glossary of Key Terms
• Fee
• Key Date
• Others
• Defects Date
• Early Warning Register

This guide is general information in our own words, not legal advice. Your contract and its Contract Data always govern. NEC, NEC3 and NEC4 are trade marks of Thomas Telford Ltd; Contract Status is not affiliated with or endorsed by NEC.