Construction equipment rental rates vary widely according to factors such as type and age of the equipment, capacity, estimated operating costs, availability, and the geographic and climatic conditions at the job site. In 1986, the Florida Department of Transportation retained the services of the Engineering and Industrial Experiment Station at the University of Florida for the purpose of developing a model method for the determination of construction equipment rental rates for the state of Florida. Research of the cost factors involved in the determination of equipment rental rates was conducted in the form of a nationwide survey of state departments of transportation and of several federal government agencies, analysis of the methodology used by rental rate guides, and a study of federal guidelines concerning equipment cost reimbursement. The method thus developed, if implemented, would establish compensation rates for equipment force account work. This method could replace both the negotiation process -- which may lead to inequitable compensation for the same equipment services -- and the use of nationwide guides of average rates in which the user has no control over the costs and formulas applied. Research clearly indicates that the use of the developed method could result in considerable cost and time savings and in fewer claim disputes by providing standard, realistic, and equitable compensation to contractors for their use of construction equipment in force account work for governmental agencies.
Abstract