Before the onset of the pandemic, most facilities owners and cleaning service providers preferred to buy rather than rent their cleaning equipment.  According to CMM’s 2019 BSC Benchmarking Survey, approximately 52% of respondents purchased their equipment outright. Nearly 82% of respondents reported owning their equipment. However, it seems that the tables have turned and that this ownership preference might be changing with the current times. 

COVID-19 has created an atmosphere of uncertainty for facilities and created gaps which rental solutions can fill. With the current global crisis leading to economic volatility, many businesses operate with limited budgets and a heightened focus on cleaning and disinfecting. In this scenario, rental solutions have emerged as a preeminent choice. In fact, rental was always the go-to solution for short term projects but now we are witnessing its transition towards longer term projects as well. 

With the pandemic, facility owners have seen a surge in the need for the full deep cleaning of facilities with an emphasis on high-touch areas. This has led to an increased demand for electrostatic sprayers, touchless cleaning systems, indoor air quality equipment, and autonomous cleaning equipment.

Cleaning equipment rental market in UAE and Saudi Arabia 

Main rental requirement has been from the construction business since they only need machines for a shorter term. Investing in new equipment does not make sense. Also, they often do not want to own the equipment since they have nowhere to store it after the project is finished.

“We also see joint ventures trying to avoid having any equipment on their balance sheets since the JV will be dissolved at the end of the project. We have recently had more requests also from cleaning contractors and FM companies but often there is a misconception in regards to the differences between rent, lease and long payment plans. They are therefore requesting to rent for longer periods but this is normally not financially feasible compared to a purchase especially for projects in the 1-3 year time frame. The events industry has also been a user of rented equipment, and this has of course been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions,” says Joakim Franzen, Managing Director at ALBARIQ Group.

Factors considered in making the rent vs buy decision 

“There are two main factors that I would consider while buying new machinery

•  Client demand as per contract
• Duration of the contract. 

 If it’s a  long term contract, then it is always better to buy new machinery,” says Zulfikar Kazi, a senior FM expert who has extensive experience in the UAE market. Zulfikar does not see companies preferring to rent cleaning machines. However, high rise For example high rise cleaning equipment like boom lift etc could be rented. 

Zulfikar believes that rental solutions should not be used except if a high rise area needs to be cleaned. He cites the example of the inside roof of Ibn Batuta Mall inside roof or if you have high rise glasses where BMU, scalf folding or rope access doesn't work.

Key questions to ask when renting equipment from rental providers

• What is the make and model of the equipment you are providing?
• What model year is the equipment you are providing?
• How often will you be on site to perform preventative maintenance on the equipment?
• In a case where there is a breakdown, how quickly will we have our equipment in working order?
• Do you offer replacements in instances when the equipment will be down longer than 24 hours?
• Do you offer remote digital tracking of hours and location on your equipment?
• How close is your location to the site where the equipment will be needed?
• Do you offer operator training, if required?
• Can you offer on-site consultation to assist with the project?

Pros and cons of cleaning equipment rental

Franzen believes that the main advantage is that machine ownership, and therefore the service and maintenance of the machine is the responsibility of the rental company. The client will only pay for the days he is actually utilizing the machine and apart from damages caused by the operator, other maintenance costs are included in the rental costs. It is therefore easier to predict the cost of using the machine.

For shorter periods, this will be a significantly smaller investment than purchasing a machine.

Also as mentioned above, there are situations where companies prefer not to be the owner of equipment and having them on their balance sheet.

For longer periods, it is often financially more feasible to own equipment. Rental companies will have to calculate wear and tear based on the worst case scenario which often will make it more expensive than owning. Zulfikar reiterates that rented cleaning equipment is always expensive for a long term contract. Companies always prefer to have their own machines for so many reasons.

A manufacturer’s challenges in equipment renting

The main challenge related to rentals in this part of the world is that machines are unfortunately abused quite a bit. “Especially from the construction sector, machines are often coming back in a very poor state or require more support on site compared to equipment that is owned by the operator. Situations where the rented equipment is damaged by the client are difficult to handle in this part of the world and to some extent picture evidence is needed on before and after. Since these disputes often are difficult to resolve, we try to avoid certain projects or we will have to build in these risks into the pricing which pushes the rental prices up.

Payment is another challenge since there is no ownership after the rental period and we see that impacting the customers willingness to pay,” says Franzen.

Overcoming this problem is to some extent done through training and especially focusing that training on the most critical points, but it is also a reality that the user will care more for his own equipment than for rented equipment. Also, the choice of what equipment to offer for rent is important. The machines need to be heavy duty reliable, otherwise maintenance and breakdowns will be frequent costing both in terms of repair and time spent by the service organization.

Some actors are renting the bigger machines with operators, this eliminates many problems but also adds significant cost which the client will have difficulties to manage.

The most rented cleaning equipment

Normally it is the bigger sweepers and scrubbers which carry a larger initial investment that are being rented. Main reason is that it is the initial investment a rental customer is trying to avoid. The other reason is that the bigger machines generally have a longer life where they can be used over many rental contracts. Albariq is therefore having mainly PowerBoss and FactoryCat in its rental fleet simply due to their very robust design. Smaller equipment is more difficult to re-use for multiple projects.

Cost effectiveness: Renting vs Buying

For shorter periods, rental is definitely cost effective. For longer term contracts, buying is normally more beneficial. 

For longer periods, it is also a bit of a mind set issue compared to how rentals are evaluated in Europe or the US. A rental company will build in all maintenance costs and risks of excessive wear and tear. The rental costs therefore are perceived as more expensive than they are since they are being compared to only the initial purchase price by clients.

Future of cleaning equipment rental

Zulfikar firmly believes that the rental machinery business has no future except high rise machines like boom lift, etc. Simple reason is all in house machines are affordable compared to rental. Clients always prefer new machinery with new contracts because all contracts are for a minimum of 2 years and extendable to 1 or 2 years more.

With the new trend, clients are buying heavy duty machines by themselves and allowing subcontractors to use it and bear maintenance costs which is always beneficial for both parties. Subcontractors are always considering maintenance costs in their costing.

On the contrary, Franzen suggests that cleaning equipment rental will likely be an increasing trend since the Middle East is far away from the rental usage seen in Europe and the US. However it will take time before we reach those levels. To make rental costs lower, the end user needs operators that take good care of equipment to limit damage and excess wear. These costs end up built into the rental price which therefore indirectly costs the end user and also limits the cost effectiveness of rental. The other change needed is a mind set change in regards to costs of rental compared to the total cost of owning equipment. Today many purchasing organizations simply compare the cost of rental with the initial buying cost. Sometimes a very low maintenance cost is considered which often is well below real costs. The comparison therefore is not perfect. 

Popular opinion holds that the cleaning industry should expect availability, reliability, and ease when renting equipment—now and always. The foundation of the cleaning industry is built on people, chemistry, and products/equipment. Cleaning professionals around the world have stepped up as essential workers on the front lines to help keep facilities cleaner and safer. Rental industry professionals are here to help support them, providing immediate availability of the solutions they need—with proper training.