Before purchasing any equipment
it is necessary to take into consideration the cost of the equipment and the
amount required for its maintenance including the salary required to be paid to
the one who would operate the equipment. The cost of equipment depends upon the
size of work in hand. The available record of the performance of construction
equipment on any other projects may serve as a guide for the purpose.
Generally speaking, the cost of
equipment is about 5% of the total cost of the project. In case of a particular
project work, for example, earth fill dams etc. The cost of equipment may go
high up to 80% of the estimated cost of the project work. But these are the
exceptional cases not to be compared with the personal works. Following are the
most important factors which affect the cost of owning and operating any
equipment:
- The cost which the owner is capable to recover from owning the equipment.
- The exact number of years the equipment is likely to be used.
- The exact number of years the equipment can give trouble free service.
- Severity of the conditions under which the owned equipment is likely to be used.
- Method of maintenance and repairs of the equipment.
