Plant & Machinery Installation

Plant and machinery is all the machines, equipment, installations, apparatus, tools and motor vehicles used by a business. It refers to all assets which are used by a business for the purpose of the business, which is not stock for resale. Plant and machinery can be used for capital allowance for tax purposes. In a lot of industries, plant and machinery refer to specialist equipment such as diggers, loaders, excavators and more. In general, this is equipment used in construction, landscaping, site investigation and forestry.

Plant equipment refers to all types of machinery and equipment that are on a large scale. In general, any machinery that is not operated solely by hand could be referred to as plant equipment. This type of equipment is also sometimes referred to as heavy-duty machinery or factory machinery. The term comes from the Latin word plantare which means to drive into the ground or to fix in place. This is because plant equipment is a fixed asset for a business. Plant equipment could include dumpers, rollers, loaders, excavators and telehandlers.

Plant and machinery are often lumped together, but they do mean slightly different things. The key difference between plant and machinery is that plant equipment is immovable, whereas machinery can be readily moved around. Another important difference is that plant can hold value or even increase in value over time, while machinery is goods that lose their value with time. In accountancy, plant and machinery are placed into one category and do not need to be differentiated. In installation, different equipment will be considered either plant or machinery.

The plant machinery installation process is when plant or machinery is installed and set in place for a business. It involves machinery being unpacked, assembled, connected, aligned and tested. The testing is the most important part of the process as it ensures that equipment is at peak operating efficiency before use. Installation is generally required for plant relocation or new plant set ups, and specialised installers, fitters or engineers are often required. They can ensure that plant machinery is properly installed and will help familiarise business teams in how to use it to the best of its ability. Most plant machinery installation teams are made up of mechanical and electronic engineers, as well as experts in heavy lifting.

Plant and machinery need to be verified for accounting processes. All money spent on plant and machinery is put into one account called the plant and machinery account. An auditor will need to check the balance sheet using ledger accounts and make sure that assets are clearly stated. These assets will be verified using original invoices, purchase correspondence and more. Verification of plant and machinery include examining the register to check costs, records and depreciation. If some of the assets are sold, then the necessary entries need to be accounted for.