1. The hirer expressly warrants that he or she is aware that it remains the hirer's responsibility at all times to ensure the return of the equipment to the business. 2. Interest at the rate of five percent per month, or part thereof, accrues on any monies due to the business by the hirer. 3. This agreement to hire may be terminated by the business at any time by written notice posted to the hirer's address shown on the document, and the business is entitled to retake possession of the equipment immediately upon delivery of that notice. If the agreement is cancelled by the business, the company undertakes to refund, on a pro rata basis, the unused period of hire. 4. The business may retain from any deposit paid by the hirer such amounts as it determines are sufficient to compensate the business for any loss, damage, or inconvenience caused under this agreement. 5. If the business agrees to deliver equipment to the hirer at an agreed address, delivery is deemed complete when the equipment arrives at the external entrance to that address. Any practical assistance given by the business, its employees, or agents to place the equipment inside the delivery address is at the hirer's risk, and the hirer indemnifies the business against any claim for damage or injury connected with handling or use of the equipment. The hirer acknowledges that the owner is not a general contractor but rather a hirer of equipment for reward, and that this agreement reflects that distinction. This agreement comes into existence immediately upon the hirer's acceptance of the owner's quotation for the charges, with retrospective effect from the quotation date.
Quotations remain valid for thirty days. The owner reserves the right to issue a new quotation or adjust the quoted price for any manifest error, and to make adjustments for increases in labour, material, or overhead costs after the thirty-day period expires.
Hire commences at the time noted by the owner when the equipment departs the owner's warehouse and ceases at the time noted by the owner when the owner collects the equipment or when the hirer delivers it back to the owner. The period includes all time during that interval, including public holidays, site non-working days, inclement weather, or other events not caused by the owner's default where the equipment remains unused. The hirer may terminate the hiring by notifying the owner's office and obtaining a return instruction number, and the owner's records are conclusive, absent manifest error, regarding the timing of notice and the commencement and conclusion of hire. The owner issues an off-hire receipt when equipment is collected, and the hirer should retain it as proof of return. Ascend Access System Scaffolding will use reasonable efforts to deliver goods to site at the specified time but is not liable for delay. Upon expiration of the initial hire period, the owner may terminate the hiring by giving three days' notice. If the owner is to collect the equipment, the hirer must give twenty-four hours' notice before 4:00 p.m. Saturday to Thursday to avoid an additional day's hire, locate all equipment in one secure collection area accessible to vehicles, and accept that part of a day is charged as a full day and that a day is deemed to end at 4:00 p.m.
The hirer must pay the agreed charges, the cost of each call-out to collect equipment from each location, and any sums for damaged, lost, stolen, or unreturned equipment, whether caused by the hirer or a third party, until the equipment is repaired and fit for rehire or replaced, and at the owner's option the replacement cost may apply. Where required, the hirer must pay the owner's estimate of reasonable repair costs before repairs commence. Hire charges for lost goods continue until the hirer notifies Ascend Access Scaffolding LLC that the goods, or any part of them, are lost. All charges must be paid within thirty days of the invoice date where the owner grants a credit account, or otherwise for the initial hire period as required by the agreement.
The hirer remains responsible for the equipment until it is collected by the owner. Where the hirer erects the scaffolding, the hirer warrants that the erection will be carried out in accordance with the law. The hirer must pay Ascend for any costs or damages suffered due to failure to carry out obligations under the agreement. The hirer must ensure that the foundation or surface on which the owner is asked to start erection is sufficiently firm and otherwise suitable to carry the equipment and any load without subsidence or collapse. The hirer must use the equipment safely and properly, ensure it is used only by persons qualified by law, immediately notify the owner of any damage, defective operation, accident, or event that may give rise to a claim, must not alter, add to, or tamper with the equipment without prior written consent, and must not encumber, re-hire, deal with, incorporate into a building, move from site, or deny the owner's ownership of the equipment without prior written consent.
All equipment remains the property of the owner, and the hirer acknowledges that its use and possession are subject to these conditions. Risk in the goods passes to the hirer upon delivery from Ascend Scaffolds. The hirer acknowledges that the owner does not insure the equipment and that the hirer is solely responsible for theft or damage to the equipment and for third-party loss, damage, or injury resulting from the hirer's fault. The hirer must fully and adequately insure the equipment in the joint names of the owner and the hirer against loss or damage, and must maintain any insurance necessary to cover all liabilities assumed under the agreement. Proof of current insurance must be provided when requested.
The hirer acknowledges that due and punctual payment of charges is a fundamental obligation. If the hirer fails to pay charges by the payment date, breaches any provision of the agreement, becomes bankrupt, is subject to winding up, or ceases to be able to pay debts as they fall due, the hirer is deemed to be in default. In that event, hiring terminates immediately, and the hirer authorizes Ascend Scaffolds, its employees, and agents to enter the hirer's workplace or premises to remove or recover the goods. Any waiver by the owner of a default is not a waiver of a subsequent default, and termination for default does not affect the owner's right to recover charges or damages for breach.
The hirer indemnifies the owner against all actions, claims, demands, losses, damages, costs, and expenses which the owner may incur during or after the initial hire period or any subsequent hire period in relation to the provision of the equipment and the owner's work, the owner entering the site, the hirer's or any third party's use or misuse of the equipment, and any breach of the agreement by the hirer, its agents, or employees.
Any officer, employee, or agent of the hirer who signs this agreement or any related document may be treated by the owner as having full authority to do so and binds the hirer accordingly. If the hirer is a corporation, any person signing the agreement warrants to the owner that he has the hirer's full authority to sign.
