The short answer
With crane hire, the customer plans the lift, supplies the trained people and insures the crane and the load. With a contract lift, the crane company does all of that under its own appointed person. For a one-off lift at a house, a contract lift is nearly always the right choice, unless your extension firm employs a qualified lift planner of its own.
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You will not book the crane yourself. Your extension firm will. But the way it books it decides who is responsible if a finished room is dropped, a wall is clipped or a pavement gives way, so the question deserves five minutes before you sign anything.
The two ways to get a crane
Crane companies in the UK offer their machines on two standard sets of terms, both published by the Construction Plant-hire Association.
Crane hire gives the customer a crane and an operator. Everything else belongs to the customer: choosing the right crane, planning the lift, checking the ground, supplying a trained slinger and signaller, supervising on the day, and insuring both the crane and whatever hangs from it.
A contract lift gives the customer a finished job. The crane company sends its own appointed person to plan the lift, chooses the crane, writes the method statement, brings the supervisor and the slinger, and carries insurance for the operation. The customer’s part is to give accurate information: the weight of the load, where it is going, what is under the ground.
What the law asks for
The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 say that every lifting operation must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out safely. The British Standard for cranes, BS 7121, turns that into named roles. The central one is the appointed person, who has the training and experience to plan the lift and takes overall control of it.
Neither hiring method removes the duty. What changes is whose appointed person it is. Under crane hire it is the hirer’s. Under a contract lift it is the crane company’s.
Who carries what
| Crane hire | Contract lift | |
|---|---|---|
| Plans the lift and picks the crane | The hirer | The crane company |
| Appointed person and supervisor | The hirer’s | The crane company’s |
| Slinger and signaller | The hirer’s | The crane company’s |
| Insurance for the crane | The hirer | The crane company |
| Insurance for the load | The hirer | The crane company, up to a stated limit |
| Ground conditions and site information | The hirer | The customer must report them accurately |
Two lines in that table matter to a homeowner. The first is the load. A contract lift insures the thing being lifted, but only up to a limit written in the terms. A fully finished kitchen module can be worth more than that limit, so compare the cover with the value of your room and have it topped up if it falls short.
The second is the ground. Under either arrangement, the crane company relies on what it is told about the place the crane will stand. If there is a cellar under the pavement or a drain run beneath your drive, say so.
Why a house is different from a building site
On a large site, crane hire is normal. The main contractor has its own appointed persons, lifts happen daily and everyone on site is trained. A back garden has none of that. There is one lift, in a street with parked cars and overhead wires, next to people’s homes.
That is the situation contract lifts were made for. The crane company sees the site, takes on the planning and stands behind it. It costs more than bare hire, because you are buying the planning, the extra people and the insurance along with the machine. For the one day that carries the most risk in the whole project, that is money well spent.
There is one reasonable exception. Some makers of modular house extensions lift their own products every week and employ a qualified appointed person on staff. They may take a crane on hire terms and plan the lift in-house. That is fine, provided the person is named, holds a current appointed person qualification, and the firm’s insurance covers hired-in plant and the load.
What to ask your extension firm
- Is the lift a contract lift or crane hire?
- Who is the appointed person, and who do they work for?
- Has that person visited the street, or planned it from photographs?
- What is the insured value of the module while it is on the hook?
- May I see the lift plan a week before the day?
You are not being difficult. As a domestic client, the law places the safety duties on your contractor, not on you. Asking how those duties are being met is the only check you have.
What the lift plan should show
A proper plan for a house is a few pages, not a single sheet. Expect a drawing of where the crane stands and where its outriggers go, the weight of each module, the radius of each lift, the crane chosen and its capacity at that radius, the route the load takes through the air, any overhead lines and how they are being dealt with, how the public is kept clear, and the wind speed at which work stops.
If the load passes over your house, the plan will say the house must be empty. If it passes over a neighbour’s, it should say how their agreement was obtained. Our guide to delivery and cranes covers the permits and the street in more detail.
Does it change the price?
A little. As a national guide for 2026, a mobile crane costs about £400 to £1,500 a day, depending mostly on the size of machine, and a one-day contract lift with a 25 tonne crane, appointed person, crane supervisor and slinger comes to about £1,400, including VAT. Against a project of £50,000 or more, the difference between hire and a contract lift is small. The cost calculator shows how access affects the whole figure.
If a quote looks cheap because the crane is “by others” or “client to arrange”, ask for it to be priced as a contract lift and compare again. Then get a quote from a firm that plans its lifts properly.