Plant registration takes off

The plant registration scheme CESAR (Construction Equipment Security And Registration scheme) has finally gone live following the signing of contracts between data provider Datatag and the Construction Equipment Association (CEA).

Already there are details of 600 machines on the database with new entries being added each day.

Plant manufacturers JCB and Doosan have committed to registering all their new machines for the UK market and other manufacturers are expected to follow now that the scheme has been signed off.

Hirers such as A-Plant and Hewden have committed to register their new machines and the use of registered machines is likely to be a precondition on contracts from many public bodies and large private firms.

Pirtek, which registers in-service machines, has more than 90 technicians trained to undertake all-makes registration, which costs between £95 and £145 per machine. Its business development director Alistair Wiggins said: "It's all kicking off and we are doing installations every day."

The 24/7 access for police has been established and more officers are receiving training on the system. Potential purchasers wanting to undertake due diligence on registered machines can now do so and change of ownership details can now be processed.

Mike Revell, who chairs the Construction Industry Theft Solutions, which worked with the Plant Theft Action Group to get the scheme started, is delighted it has finally come together. Delays in signing the contracts were overcome when Datatag director Kevin Howells finalised a buy-out of the company from Japanese conglomerate Mitsui.

The Japanese company wanted to sell Datatag and was objecting to the CEA's insistence on a veto over who could buy the data provider. "We couldn't have a situation where one of the plant manufacturers owned the data," said the CEA's Tim Faithful, adding that Howells taking control had been the best outcome.

For his part, Howells said the scheme was gathering support rapidly and he couldn't have wished for more support than that shown by JCB, Doosan, A-Plant and others.