Valuation of Plant and Machinery
This publication is intended for Valuation Officers. It may contain links to internal resources that are not available through this version.
Plant and machinery (‘plant’) will be valued as part of a hereditament if it is included within the current plant and machinery regulations. Such rateable plant is to be found in, or on, most hereditaments.
‘Plant’ can be understood to include items that are static in use, whereas ‘machinery’ suggests an item that features moving parts. The term ‘plant’ will generally be used for the remainder of this section as an inclusive, abbreviated term.
1.1 Plant and the hereditament
A hereditament will normally be made up of:
a. land, buildings and other (non-plant) items that form part of the rateable premises
b. chattels, which are not plant, but which are sufficiently attached to and enjoyed with land so that its value is enhanced
c. rateable plant
2.1 Definition of ‘plant’
Plant will be found in just about every business property there is - not all plant is rateable, but firstly it is necessary to decide if the item under consideration is ‘plant’.
Plant is not defined in statute, but the most commonly used definition of plant can be found in Yarmouth v France CA (1887) 19 QBD:
“in its ordinary sense, (plant) includes whatever apparatus is used by a business man for carrying on his business – not his stock-in-trade which he buys or makes for sale; but all goods and chattels, fixed or moveable, live or dead, which he keeps for the permanent employment in his business”
Subsequent case law has added further considerations, including:
Hinton v Maden & Ireland Ltd HL ( 1959 ) 1 WLR
“But the word [plant] does, I think, connote some degree of durability, and I would find it difficult to include articles which are quickly consumed or worn out in the course of a few operations ”
Plant will therefore include most durable items that are used for any business purpose.
2.2 The difference between plant and premises
Plant may be in the nature of a chattel (a portable electricity generator for example); or it may be in the nature of a substantial structure, like a large storage tank. Both function as, and are generally, ‘plant’.
Sometimes items can be on the margins between plant on the one hand, and premises on the other.
A distinction between plant and something that is simply part of the premises has been made in various cases, for example:
Jarrold v John Goode & Sons Ltd ( CA) 1963 1 WLR
In respect of demountable partitioning “…whether [it] is part of the premises in which business is carried on, or part of the plant with which the business is carried on… ” [emphasis added]
As a general guide, ‘premises’ will comprise the land and buildings, including things like doors, windows, wall and floor finishes, embedded pipes and wiring, stairways, certain supported first floors, fixed full height partitioning and general lighting, All the things that make up the physical environment ‘in which’ business is carried on.
If something is part of the premises ‘in which’ business is carried on, it will almost always be rateable as part of the hereditament. If something is plant ‘with which’ business is carried on, rateability depends upon whether that item of plant is included in:
SI 2000 No. 540 The Valuation for Rating ( Plant and Machinery ) ( England ) Regulations 2000 (as amended) or;
SI 2000 No. 1097 ( W.75 ) The Valuation for Rating ( Plant and Machinery ) ( Wales ) Regulations 2000 (as amended)
The current ‘regulations’
The following text is generally written with reference to England. If you are dealing with a Welsh hereditament the appropriate Welsh Regulations are noted above and are, other than some dates on which the amended Regulations take effect, identical.
The regulations broadly divide rateable plant into 4 ‘classes’, Class 1 ‘power’, Class 2 ‘services’, Class 3 ‘transport’ and Class 4 ‘ structures’. A more detailed overview of the Classes follows later in this note.
It is recommended that you have a copy of the regulations to hand, for reference purposes, to supplement the advice given here.
2.3 The current Regulations and the Wood Committees
In 1991, a Committee under the chairmanship of Derek Wood QC was appointed with wide terms of reference to review the rating of plant and in particular to make recommendations as to harmonising the law and practice in all parts of the United Kingdom.
In March 1996 a second Committee under the same chairmanship was appointed with restricted terms to review the rating of plant, and in particular to make recommendations as to fairly treating the ‘Utility Industries’ in order that they may be brought into the scope of conventional rating. (At the time these hereditaments were valued according to a statutory formula.) The Committee reported in March 1999.
Whilst not a statement of the law, (and not all their recommendations have since been written into law), the Wood Committee reports have been used by the courts as a persuasive guide to interpretation of the regulations.
2.4 Ancillary Regulations
Regulations have been made since 2000 that amend the current English and Welsh regulations.
2.4.1 Combined heat and power (CHP) exemptions
The 2000 Regulations were amended in 2001 by exempting from rating specified plant and machinery comprised in a combined heat and power station, which is fully or partially exempt from climate change levy and which produces, (at least in part), electrical power.
These amendments were incorporated in :
SI 2001 No.846 The Valuation for Rating ( Plant and Machinery ) ( England ) ( Amendment ) Regulations 2001 and
SI 2001 No.2357 ( W.195 ) The Valuation for Rating ( Plant and Machinery ) ( Wales ) ( Amendment ) Regulations 2001
For guidance on application of the CHP provisions, please refer to 7.1.1. (B) below.
2.4.2 Renewables and Microgeneration
The 2000 Regulations were further amended in 2008 by inserting a new Regulation 2A which provides for a temporary exclusion of the value of defined microgeneration plant from the rateable value of a hereditament.
SI 2008 No.2332 The Valuation for Rating ( Plant and Machinery ) ( England ) ( Amendment ) Regulations 2008
The regulations apply to England and have effect from 1st October 2008. Similar regulations came into force for Wales, effective from 1 April 2010.
SI 2010 No.146 W21 Valuation for Rating (Plant and Machinery) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations
These amending Regulations exempt all plant from rateability to the extent that such plant has ‘microgeneration capacity’.
Microgeneration capacity is defined by reference to allowable sources of energy and the output capacity, which must not exceed 50kW (electrical), or 45 kW (thermal).
2.4.3 Exception from Class 1 of ‘Renewables’ Fuelled power plant is effected by further amending regulations
S.I. 2022 No. 405 The Valuation for Rating (Plant and Machinery) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (Applying to England only)
These amending Regulations except power plant from valuation where that plant relies mainly on defined sources of ‘renewable’ fuel or technologies.
Similar regulations covering Wales S.I. 2023 No. 1229 ( W.217 ) The Valuation for Rating (Plant and Machinery)(Wales)(Amendment) Regulations 2023 will come into force with effect from 1st April 2024.
Further guidance is given at 7.1.1. below.
3.1 Identification of rateable plant and machinery
The naming (and therefore identification) of items of plant in the Regulations may be clear from the use of everyday language, like ‘air compressors’. Those names which are familiar only to the technician (‘recuperators’ for example) should be given the meaning which would be accorded to them by a person familiar with the particular plant.
Common law can give some guidance on how the naming of items in the regulations should be understood.
Chesterfield Tube Co Ltd v Thomas (VO) [1970] RA 471: The contents of the regulations “must be construed according to its meaning to rating valuers and surveyors, the occupiers of hereditaments and the practical technicians concerned with the design, making and operation of plant and machinery, and not to philosophers and physicists.”
Whitfield (VO) v National Transcommunications Ltd [1994] RA 214: The physical evidence, such as signage and planning applications was persuasive, along with the opinion of a surveyor, in finding that a ‘stayed mast radiator’ was not an ‘aerial’ but was a ‘mast’. Even if it functioned technically as an aerial, it was physically a mast.
3.2 Referencing
Where it is safe to do so (and you have the ratepayer’s permission) always take photos of the plant or machinery found on site, together with any identification plate showing the type, size and output of the item. Note what the item does if in doubt, ask. But above all, do not take risks while inspecting, measuring or taking photos. Obey all site requirements for personal protective equipment and obey any health and safety instructions given to you.
Appropriate details will be required of all rateable plant and machinery. In many cases relevant details can be obtained from the manufacturer’s name plate on the item, or by asking the site engineer.
In the case of high voltage electrical equipment, it will rarely be possible to obtain the necessary information from inspection alone. A circuit layout diagram should be obtained where possible. Exercise extreme caution around high voltage equipment and obey all warning signs and the instructions of the site occupier.
3.3 Supply of written particulars - Plant and machinery regulations - Regulation 3
[Note that the operation of the CCA (Check, Challenge, Appeal) procedure permit the occupier to obtain details of the plant and machinery included as separate items within the valuation. This will possibly be as part of a quasi ‘Detailed Valuation Request’, in which case we will provide a detailed valuation breakdown if it is available and if not an overall P&M value. For CCA in most circumstances a request under Regulation 3 is unlikely to be necessary to meet the occupier’s requirements. However, this will not always be the case – see for example ‘d.’ below; and in any event the Valuation Officer must comply with a validly-made request under Regulation 3 unless the occupier withdraws it]
Regulation 3. provides that “…the Valuation Officer shall, on being so required in writing by the occupier, supply to him particulars in writing showing what plant and machinery, or whether any particular plant and machinery, has been assumed…to form part of the hereditament.”
In connection with any such requirement by an occupier or their representative:
a. No time limit is imposed, but whilst it should be dealt with promptly, care should be taken to give a fully considered reply.
b. The VO is not required to provide any valuation information and the particulars supplied in response to a request should not include nor indicate any figures relating to value.
c. No reference should be made in the particulars supplied to the separate classes in the schedule to the Regulations under which the items are assumed to be part of the hereditament.
d. The particulars should include all rateable plant, irrespective of whether it has been valued separately or its value reflected in the value placed on the land or buildings.
e. The particulars should not include rateable plant which is known to exist on the premises at the date of the request, but which has yet to be included in the assessment. In this respect the assessment in the Rating List inserted at the start of the form must be that which includes the plant detailed on that form.
f. The particulars should not include nor make any reference to plant which does not fall within the Regulations and is therefore not rateable.
There is no statutory form in which particulars have to be supplied (other than the requirement that they are in writing), it is recommended that the standard format indicated below is used.
If the rating survey has been agreed with the occupier or his representative, the agreed plan number should be stated where indicated. In other cases, the works identification number or the plant’s serial number can be adopted.
The plant must be described sufficiently to identify specific items individually. Care should be exercised where there is more than one item in the same building or location.
The location must identify in which building, or where on site, the item can be found.
The standard format sets out a form of words to be used to cover that plant which may not have been specifically separately identified and which has been reflected in the value placed on the land or buildings. This form of words should not be used to circumvent listing of plant that has been individually identified and valued. A common sense approach should be adopted, so that substantial items, in terms of size or value, are separately listed while minor items need not be, if included in the standard form of words at the end.
In cases where the use of the standard form of words is appropriate and there are no additional items, the form should still be completed and returned even though the spaces in the columns remain blank.
Regulation 3: supply of written particulars – Recommended form for reply
“Particulars of plant and machinery showing what plant and machinery, or whether any plant and machinery, has been assumed in pursuance of regulation 2(a) to form part of the hereditament.
Billing Authority Assessment No.
Name of occupier
Description of hereditament
Address of hereditament
Assessment in Rating List RV £………………
| Plan number | Description of Plant and Machinery | Location on site |
|---|---|---|
The following plant and machinery, where present, (and - where applicable - in addition to the plant and machinery particularised above) has been assumed in pursuance of regulation 2(a) to form part of the hereditament:- foundations; settings; lifts; escalators; and, plant and machinery used in connection with the main transmission of power in or on the hereditament together with plant and machinery used in connection with services to the hereditament or part of it for heating, cooling and ventilating; lighting; draining; supplying water; and protection from fire or other hazard.
Date Signed ………………………
Valuation Officer”
4.1 General
In general the same principles which apply to the valuation of land and buildings are relevant to the valuation of plant.
Thus, subject to the reliability of the evidence, where the plant is reflected in the base price per square metre the direct or comparative rentals approach is normally to be preferred.
Where the plant is not reflected in the basic price per square metre it will usually be valued by reference to cost, through the application of the contractor’s basis of valuation.
4.2 Rental evidence
When considering rental evidence it is always necessary to keep in mind that the rent paid may reflect the value of plant. Care must be taken to adjust rents to ensure that you ‘value as you devalue’.
Rents will usually reflect the value of the service plant which is present in a building, heating for example. It is not usual for rental evidence to be available for all types of plant as separate items.
Where rateable plant not reflected in rental evidence is present, it will normally be appropriate to value such plant by use of the contractor’s basis even though the main part of the hereditament may be valued on the rentals basis.
4.3 Contractor’s basis
Under the contractor’s basis of valuation, the hypothetical tenant is considered to have the option of either paying the rent demanded by the hypothetical landlord for the right to occupy the hereditament, or expending money on providing a suitable alternative hereditament, (or part of it), themselves.
This method of valuation may therefore be used for the valuation of separately identified items of plant, either where the remainder of the hereditament is valued on the contractor’s basis, or where the item is to be included in an otherwise rental based valuation. Reference should be made to RM: Section 4 Pt 3 as to the contractor’s basis generally, it is not intended to replicate that advice in full here.
In separately valuing an item of plant on the contractor’s basis it is still necessary to consider the various stages of the method. However, it is probable that the value of the land (Stage 3 within the contractor’s basis methodology) is likely to be reflected already elsewhere in the valuation.
4.4 Approach to valuation – value of the whole hereditament
In all cases, but in particular where the plant item is valued on the contractor’s basis in an otherwise rentals valuation, the caseworker should be mindful that it is not appropriate to treat the value of the plant merely as an ‘add on’ at the end of the valuation. The plant is deemed to be part of the hereditament for valuation purposes and it is the rateable value of the whole hereditament that is required. This means that the level of adjustments applied to the Estimated Replacement Cost (ERC) of the plant item (like an addition for fees and the Contract Size Adjustment) should have regard to the ERC of the whole hereditament – not just that of the item of plant itself.
4.5 Stand-by plant
Some items of plant are, by their nature, used either irregularly or rarely – examples include fire protection equipment and standby generators. This has no effect on how their valuation should be approached – such plant fulfils its function simply by being present and ready to operate whenever called upon.
4.6 Non-rateable plant
Non-rateable plant is deemed not to be part of the hereditament for the particular purpose of estimating the value of that hereditament, (Regulation 2).
“2. For the purposes of determining the rateable value of a hereditament…….in applying the provisions of sub-paragraphs (1) to (7) of paragraph 2 of Schedule 6 to the Local Government Finance Act 1988 –
(a) In relation to a hereditament in or on which there is plant or machinery which belongs to any of the classes set out in the Schedule to these Regulations, the prescribed assumptions are that:
(i) Any such plant or machinery is part of the hereditament; and
(ii) The value of any other plant and machinery has no effect on the rent to be estimated as required by paragraph 2(1); and
(b) In relation to any other hereditament, the prescribed assumption is that the value of any plant or machinery has no effect on the rent to be so estimated.”
The application of the assumption was considered by the Court of appeal in:
Edmondson v Teesside Textiles Ltd 1984 CA RA 247: A factory was involved in the processing of artificial fibres. The factory ceased production but for a time the non-rateable process plant remained in situ. It was held that the hereditament must be valued ‘vacant and to let’ with the assumption that the presence of the non-rateable plant had no effect on rateable value one way or the other.
Edmundson, in applying the effect of Regulation 2, is consistent with the wider ‘vacant and to let’ assumption. Regardless of who actually installed the plant on the hereditament, the assumption is that non-rateable items are deemed to be provided by the tenant, who would therefore not pay rent to the landlord in respect of those items. Similarly, the landlord would be unwilling to grant a rent reduction in respect of items that are the responsibility of the tenant, since, if such items were an encumbrance, the landlord could simply insist on their removal.
The actual presence of non-rateable items on the hereditament, for valuation purposes, is therefore neutral as to the rent to be determined under the hypothesis.
However, it must be borne in mind that the value of a ‘vacant and to let’ hereditament should reflect the ability of the hypothetical tenant to utilise non-rateable items on the hereditament. For example, Hays Business Services Ltd v Raley (VO) [1986] 1 EGLR 226 concerned a goods lift, (non-rateable under the regulations then in force). It was decided that the enhanced value that the goods lift brought to the upper floors of the building should not be ignored, as that would result in an absurdity. The valuation should reflect the fact that the hypothetical tenant would simply install a lift into the building and the rent he would pay to the landlord for the hereditament would reflect that reality.
Hence, while the value of the non rateable plant itself is to be neutral in the exercise of estimating the hypothetical rent, the fact that the hypothetical tenant will employ non-rateable items on the hereditament is an intrinsic characteristic of the hereditament and will be reflected in the ‘higgling’ between the hypothetical landlord and tenant in agreeing a rent for rating purposes.
That the scope of the Regulation 2 assumption should only extend to the question of value in accordance with Schedule 6 Paragraph 2 of LGFA 1988 is confirmed in Cardtronics UK Ltd and others (Respondents) v Sykes and others (Valuation Officers) (Appellants) [2020] UKSC 21 where the Supreme Court considered the question of the unit of assessment in respect of non - rateable ATM (automated teller) machines and the various retail outlets where they were sited. One question was whether the physical presence of the ATM machine itself had to be ignored or not. In considering Regulation 2 and the previous case law, the Supreme Court found that “The statutory assumption applies only for the purpose of valuation”. Thus, in that case, the physical presence of the ATM machine was properly to be taken account of in the task of establishing the extent and existence of a hereditament.
4.7 Value to occupier
The regulations, by deeming an item of plant rateable, deem it to be provided by the hypothetical landlord. However, in reality rateable plant is usually provided by the occupier of the hereditament. Plant will often be specific to the requirements of that occupier and it may be hard to envisage any other occupier paying additional rent for it.
However, providing the actual occupier can still be regarded as being in the market at the AVD, then no adjustment should be made on that basis.
In the majority of cases, it will be necessary to arrive at a value for rateable plant on the basis of the cost of its provision. The VOA Rating Cost Guide (RCG) is a useful source of cost information and should be the first point of reference. If you also know the actual ‘in situ’ cost of the item, then that cost may also prove helpful.
The estimated replacement cost (ERC) should include the purchase price of the new item, delivery, installation, commissioning and testing of the item at Antecedent Valuation Date (AVD) cost levels. (These adjustments are already reflected in the costs quoted in the RCG – see 5.1 below.)
Adjustments for professional fees and size of the overall contract are usually required – guidance on this may be found in the RCG. Care should be taken to reflect that it is the entire hereditament that is envisaged to be provided by the hypothetical landlord at the AVD, even if the land and buildings might be valued by reference to rents.
5.1 Rating cost guide
The Rating Cost Guide provides a guide to replacement cost for the items listed in it. These costs are estimated adjusted costs at the AVD and include the cost of purchasing, shipping, installing, testing and commissioning the item.
The Rating Cost Guide (and Guidance Notes) contain guidance as to the description, relevant measurement methods and survey information required, level of costs, and rateability of numerous items of plant and machinery.
5.2 Collating cost evidence
Whether or not they are adopted, it is important that actual costs are not ignored, nor their relevance disregarded, as the Rating Cost Guide will continue to be maintained, amended and expanded as appropriate and updated in due course for subsequent revaluations.
Cost evidence can be requested using form VO 6005 (02/21) , however, when sending the form, it is essential that the specific item of plant on which costs are required is properly identified.
It is also essential to inform the occupier that, any apportionment between rateable and non-rateable elements, (i.e. Class 4 Table 4 items), will be undertaken by the Valuation Office where appropriate.
It is essential that details of all costs, as they become known, whether authenticated or not, should be submitted to the BEAMS team, together with relevant specifications, and where appropriate, photographs.
BEAMS will prepare or maintain the Rating Cost Guide, using, amongst other sources, the information obtained on these returns.
5.3 Costs of ‘second hand’ plant as evidence of ERC
Many items of plant are advertised and are available on the second hand market so that the actual second hand cost of an item, or reference to the availability (as at the AVD) of similar plant at a particular cost level, may be introduced as evidence.
No evidence should be dismissed outright, but equally it should be weighted having regard to all the circumstances surrounding it. These should include the nature and use of the plant item; the date of sale; the circumstances surrounding the sale; and whether the price quoted includes all relevant transport, installation and commissioning costs.
The offering for sale of an item on the second hand market is by its nature a speculative act. It may be available to a limited number of purchasers (as there are only a few items available at any one time) and may only be available for a limited period of time. There is uncertainty as to the past use and maintenance of the item, whilst in most cases the manufacturers guarantee is invalidated on resale.
Particular care needs to be taken where specialist plant is involved as this has a limited second hand market, in many cases equating to scrap value only.
For all the above reasons, requests to adopt the second hand value should generally be resisted.
5.4 Allowances for plant obsolescence
The 2017 RICS “Contractor’s basis of valuation for rating purposes” Guidance Note, gives the traditional explanation of the contractor’s (CB) basis that, “the hypothetical tenant, instead of taking the subject property at a rent, has the option of building a precisely similar property for their own occupation, and that the rental bid for the subject property will be related to the annual equivalent of the capital cost of building such a property, including provision of the site.”
In conducting this theoretical exercise, the tenant is assumed to compare his new, hypothetical property, with the actual hereditament offered to him by the hypothetical landlord. Both will almost always contain rateable plant.
As the actual hereditament, or part of it, (an item of plant perhaps), might be older and potentially less functional and or suffering physical obsolescence compared with the new hypothetical one, the hypothetical tenant is assumed to make allowances to reflect this, in order to arrive at the Adjusted replacement Cost (ARC) of the actual hereditament.
The Rating Cost Guide contains guidance notes, accessible from its front page. The guidance notes discuss the allowances that may be appropriate to convert the ERC of an item of plant to ARC.
The guidance notes also contain recommended scales of allowances, based on the age of an item.
These scales should generally be used, however it is acknowledged that the guidance notes are just that and lesser or greater allowances may be appropriate, having regard to the particular circumstances.
When valuing plant and machinery for rating purposes, coordination is required at three levels.
Rateability
It is important that a consistent approach is adopted to the rateability of plant and machinery. If, after consideration of the guidance herein, any doubt remains as to an item of plant or machinery, no concession on the question of rateability should be made without prior reference to the National Valuation Unit (NVU) via the prescribed channels.
Costs
The Rating Cost Guide is the primary means of coordinating costs. Do not depart from the guidance given without prior reference to the NVU.
If evidence of actual costs is submitted which appears to conflict with the guidance contained in the Rating Cost Guide, such evidence should not be accepted or adopted in the valuation without prior reference to the NVU.
Allowances
Where the valuer is considering applying a greater allowance which would represent more than a marginal variation from the Rating Cost Guide guidance notes, this should not be conceded without prior reference to, and consultation with, the NVU.
The regulations, by reference to Schedule 6, Paragraph 2, Sub-paragraphs (1) – (7) of the Local Finance Act 1988, deem plant to be part of the hereditament for the purposes of determining the rateable value of that hereditament.
Plant will only be rateable if it is included within the lists of items, or accessories, listed under the Classes within the regulations.
Rateability of an item of plant may occur within any, (or more than one) of the four Classes.
For example, Union Cold Storage Company Ltd. v Assessment Committee of the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark [1932] R & IT 160: Held that insulation material forming the walls of a cold store, while not rateable within Class 2, was rateable within Class 4.
It is recommended that a methodical approach is adopted, considering potential rateability of an item within all four Classes in turn, before deciding whether the item is rateable or not.
7.1 Class 1
Power plant – Plant “which is used or intended to be used mainly or exclusively in connection with the generation, storage, primary transformation or main transmission of power in or on the hereditament.”
The Regulations define some of the words used in the heading quoted above. The meaning of ‘transformer’, ‘Primary transformation of power’ and ‘main transmission of power’ are all defined.
Potentially rateable items are listed at Table 1 to the Regulations and in the ‘List of Accessories’.
Some items of plant will be excepted from Class 1, even if listed within Table 1 or as ‘Accessories’- exception depends on where the item is located and/or what it is used for.
For example:
Electrical transformers will not be rateable if they are situated beyond the first distribution board after a point of supply, or generating plant on the hereditament, or they are integral to an item that is used for manufacturing operations or trade processes. (See more detailed advice regarding transformers below).
Some commonly encountered items within Class 1 are; high voltage distribution boards and the switches on them; compressed air systems used for power purposes and hydraulic pumps.
Whether an item is rateable within Class 1 will depend on its exclusive or main use being for power purposes.
For example a boiler producing steam exclusively to drive a turbine is generally rateable within Class 1.
Where an item has a mixed use (for example the boiler above might be used mainly for power, but also partly for heating the hereditament) it is still rateable within Class 1.
7.1.1 Specific exceptions to Class 1
A. Where power is sold to consumers
S.I. 2000 No. 540 (2.) (2) (d) (i) “‘Excepted plant and machinery’ means plant and machinery on a hereditament used or intended to be used for the generation, storage, transformation, or transmission of power, where the power is mainly or exclusively for distribution for sale to consumers.”
This exception is self- explanatory and primarily designed for hereditaments which are, in themselves, power stations. However, the scope of exception will cover generating (and storage, transformation or transmission) plant on any type of hereditament where that plant meets the exception qualification quoted above.
For any questions arising about the intent of the exception, reference can be made to the second Wood Committee Report.
A2. Time limited (until 1 April 2035) Exception From Class 1, of Power Plant Reliant on ‘Renewable’ Sources of Energy
S.I. 2022 No. 405 The Valuation for Rating (Plant and Machinery) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 and S.I. 2023 No. 1229(W.217) The Valuation for Rating (Plant and Machinery)(Wales)(Amendment) Regulations 2023. Have the effect of extending the exception at A. above to otherwise Class 1 plant that relies on specified sources of energy. Those sources of energy being:
“(i) biomass; (ii) biofuels; (iii) biogas; (iv) fuel cells; (v) photovoltaics; (vi) water (including waves and tides); (vii) wind; (viii) solar power; (ix) geothermal; (x) heat from air, water or the ground;”
The practical effect of the amendment regulations are that plant used to generate, store, transform or transmit power produced from the listed sources of fuel or technologies, will be excepted from valuation until 1 Apr 2035, whether the power is consumed on the hereditament, or sold to consumers.
The above applies to England with effect 1st April 2022 and Wales with effect 1st April 2024.
In cases of doubt regarding A. or A2. above, enquiries should be made to the NVU.
B. Where plant is part of a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) scheme
S.I. 2000 No. 540 as amended by S.I. 2001 No. 846 (2.) (2) (d) (ii) “The plant and machinery is that of a combined heat and power station which is fully exempt or partly exempt within the meaning of paragraph 148 (2) or, as the case may be, 148 (3) of Schedule 6 to the Finance Act 2000 (c),…..”
S.I. 2001 No. 846 amended S.I. 2000 No. 540 to provide partial exception from valuation of specific items otherwise within Class 1, where those items are used as part of equipment that comprises a certified good quality CHP installation.
Exception only extends to specified items, as detailed below, these items are all associated with electrical generation or storage, together with their ‘Accessories’.
Exception will only be given by Valuation Officers where a valid exemption certificate exists at the Material Day, as detailed below.
What is a qualifying CHP scheme?
CHP stations certified under The Climate Change (Combined Heat and Power Stations) Exemption Certificate Regulations 2001.
Excepted items
Exception applies if:
“(bb) the plant and machinery is within head (b), (c), (d) or (k) of Table 1 (to S.I. 2000 No. 540)….., and
(cc) the power is at least in part electrical power.”
Table 1 lists:
“(b) Steam engines; steam turbines; gas turbines; internal combustion engines; hot-air engines; barring engines.
(c) Continuous and alternating current dynamos; couplings to engines and turbines; field exciter gear; three-wire or phase balancers.
(d) Storage batteries with stands and insulators, regulating switches, boosters and connections forming part of any such equipment.
(k) Shafting, couplings, clutches, worm-gear, pulleys and wheels.”
Certification requirements
The question of issuing CHP certificates and what qualifies for such certification is not the responsibility of the Valuation Office Agency. Full details of the exemption scheme can be obtained by occupiers from the Combined Heat and Power Quality Assurance ( CHPQA) web-site:
The Valuation Officer will not exempt any item of plant and machinery contained within a CHP scheme unless a valid certificate, The Secretary of State (CHP) exemption certificate, is presented. The certificate should accompany a request for the Valuation Officer to alter the Rating List.
The Exemption Certificate
To qualify, a valid Secretary of State (CHP) exemption certificate must be in force.
Comprehensive guidance can be found in Guidance Note 43 which is also to be found on the CHPQA web-site.
Value to be removed from Valuation - where plant items are specifically valued
The rateable value of the ‘excepted plant and machinery’ should be the relevant decapitalised ARC of the specific items as found in the valuation. This figure should be adjusted to take into account any stage 5 allowances providing these are relevant to plant and machinery items.
Only the value of items falling within the specified parts of Table 1 will qualify, hence a ‘gas turbine’ otherwise falling within Table 1 (b) may be exempted, but a ‘steam boiler’ within Table 1 (a) would not.
Value to be removed from Valuation - where no specific value has been attributed
In many cases (for example, Hospitals, Offices and Local Authority buildings) the relevant Class 1 items have been included within the overall rental or beacon cost figure and thus no specific figure appears in the valuation for this plant and machinery. A reduction is nevertheless required in these circumstances and any ERC of the ‘excepted plant and machinery’, will have to be adjusted for the site specific circumstances appertaining to the actual hereditament.
Procedure on receipt of an application to the Valuation Officer for relief under the CHP exception provisions
The Valuation Officer should ensure that accompanying a request is a valid Secretary of State (CHP) exemption certificate, which should be signed and have a Date of Exemption entered.
The VO should ask the occupier for a Form F2 (which gives details of the qualifying scheme), in order to assist the recognition of those areas that are included in the CHP scheme.
On the receipt of the above, the VO should, without undue delay, consult the relevant records and amend the list as appropriate.
C. Where plant has microgeneration capacity
SI 2008 No.2332 The Valuation for Rating ( Plant and Machinery ) ( England ) ( Amendment ) Regulations 2008
These Regulations deem that any value attributable to the microgeneration capacity of a hereditament is ignored until the next revaluation (or when the capacity ceases if earlier). They have effect for any qualifying scheme in England that was installed on or after 1st October 2008.
In the case of Wales, the effective date is on or after 1st April 2010.
Clearly both those dates are historic and so there is now no practical difference between the application of the Microgeneration Regulations to England or Wales.
For example, a wind turbine or solar panel with a capacity of 40 kW on the roof of a shop or factory, installed on or after 1st April 2019, will have no effect on the value of that shop or factory during the life of the 2017 rating list. From the day on which the next list is compiled it will however be rated conventionally.
Allowable sources of energy, technologies and installed capacity
The Regulations refer to Section 26 of the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006 in order to define what is meant by ‘microgeneration’.
Allowable sources of energy and technologies:
Biomass, bio fuels, fuel cells, photovoltaics, water (including waves and tides), wind, solar power, geothermal sources, combined heat and power systems and other sources and technologies specified by the Secretary of State.
Limits to capacity:
Generation of electricity – does not exceed 50 kW.
Generation of heat – does not exceed 45 kW (thermal).
Recommended valuation practice
Renewables fuelled plant installations in England and Wales that do not qualify for exception via the Microgeneration provisions (see 2.4.2 above), either because they are above the 50kW or 45 kWe threshold, or were installed during the course of a prior rating list, will still enjoy exception from value of the otherwise Class 1 plant as a result of the renewable sources of energy provisions now in force. (Until 1 April 2035).
For example, a solar photovoltaic installation on a rooftop with an installed capacity of 50 kW, that was installed on or after 1st April 2024 and with the electricity being produced consumed mainly on site, should have no value attributed to the otherwise Class 1 plant. (Solar panels, transformers, wiring, inverters, or any storage batteries).
On dealing with a case involving a microgeneration installation that is exempt for the life of the current rating list, (having been installed on or before 31 March 2017 (2017 list) or on or before 31 March 2023 (2023 list)) remarks will be required to record this fact.
Remarks should include: “Microgeneration, temporarily exempt under SI 2332”, and the code ‘FIT’ entered into case remarks on RSA. Details of the scheme sufficient to allow assessment of the installation for the next revaluation are also required. Fuller guidance can be found here: Rating Manual Section 5a - 530 Power Generators App1
For advice in respect of all other types of ‘generation’ forming part of larger rateable hereditaments, or where installations form part of otherwise exempt farm hereditaments which require valuation, please contact the NVU.
7.1.2. Class 1 notes and commentary
The meaning of ‘power’
The Regulations do not define ‘power’. However, case law offers some assistance: I.C.I. v Owen [RA 1 (1955)]
In the case of electrical equipment employed in the process of the electrolysis of brine, that equipment was also engaged in the delivery of ‘power’. ‘Power’ means the use of force or energy applied to the doing of ‘work’.
Generation of power includes generation of steam power, electrical power, pneumatic power, hydraulic power and any motive power. The use of power in one form to generate power in another form, is ‘generation of power’ for the purposes of the Regulations.
Electrical motors
Electrical motors are not usually rateable as generators of power, since they are not in themselves ‘generators’.
However, electric motors which are used for driving any machinery or plant listed in Tables 1 and 2 are rateable by their special inclusion in paragraph (k), (l), (m) of Table 1 and (a) ‘General’ at Table 2. Thus motors driving air compressors or hydraulic pumps will be rateable and the costs given in the VO Rating Cost Guide for these items reflect this.
Electrical distribution boards
Many modern distribution boards have a bus bar (a conductive strip that distributes the current), with switchgear to each circuit suspended underneath the bar. The distribution bus bar and the switchgear are an integral piece of equipment. The wording of Table 1 (f) establishes that these integral switches are rateable as part of the distribution board: “and all switchgear and other apparatus on any such equipment”.
Assumptions as to ‘standard’ electricity supply equipment
In most non-domestic properties it is generally the case that the incoming electrical supply is available at 415 v (+6% to -10%) which, where applicable, is reduced to 230v ( +10% to – 6%). In the analysis of rental evidence and the application of Cost Guide information in the valuation of buildings it is appropriate to assume that connection to this level of electrical power is ordinarily available on the hereditament and thus no specific addition to the valuation need be made.
For example a small workshop will be assumed to have a 415V supply and no addition for switchboard and distribution equipment is required, as this is reflected in the basic price per square metre adopted from rental evidence. However, a large workshop may have an electrical supply at 11,000v. Equipment associated with this, subject to the limits of rateability within Class 1 (c), should generally be valued as an addition to the rateable value of the wider hereditament.
Electricity Generating Equipment
Generating plant is rateable wherever it is situated on the hereditament, usually generator sets produce electricity at 415V, but they can produce higher voltages. Unless excepted via the ‘sale to consumers’ exception, generator sets and their accessories are rateable, together with the first distribution board thereafter.
Electrical transformers and point of supply
Transformers will be rateable where they appear before the first distribution board following a point of supply, per Class 1 (b) & (c).
An example would be a transformer (that is under the control of the hereditament occupier) which ‘steps down’ the 33kV mains supply to 11kV, before that supply is distributed around the hereditament via a distribution board.
A ‘point of supply’ can be either the ‘mains’ supply from the National Grid, and some large hereditaments have more than one of these ‘main’ supplies. Or it may be that the point of ‘supply’ is a generator (‘generating plant’) under the control of the hereditament occupier.
Class 1 (a), as well as defining ‘transformer’ for the purposes of the Regulations, exempts from rateability, transformers which form an integral part of an item of plant or machinery in or on the hereditament for manufacturing operations or trade processes.
The Class 1 (b) and (c) limits on the rateability of transformers mean that the exemption proviso in Class 1 (a) will only rarely be encountered, that is, in respect of trade process plant situated before the first distribution board following a point of supply or generating plant.
Guidance to the interpretation of the ‘manufacturing operations or trade processes’ proviso is given at 7.2.2. below, in respect of Class 2.
A difference between the proviso at Class 1 (a) and that at Class 2, is the use of the words ‘forms an integral part of an item’, whereas in Class 2 the operative words are ‘used in connection with’. For Class 1 (a) to apply, the transformer will need to be ‘integral’ to the process plant.
Air compressors
Compressed air systems are commonly found, and if they are used mainly as a source of power they will be rateable in Class 1.
Air compressors commonly have a number of associated plant items, which will be rateable along with the compressor itself. Table 1 includes; ‘air compressors’. Table 2 (a) ‘General’ includes the motor that drives the compressor (usually an integral part of the compressor itself). The List of Accessories includes; ‘settings’, ‘storage cylinders’, ‘pipes’, ‘filters’, ‘instruments’.
Typically an air compressor used for power purposes and its associated air receiver (storage cylinder), filter, mains distribution pipework and all ‘instruments’, are rateable as a system.
7.2 Class 2 service plant
“which is used or intended to be used in connection with services to the hereditament or part of it, other than …plant …which is used …in connection with services mainly or exclusively as part of manufacturing operations or trade processes.”
Defined services
“In this Class, ‘services’ means heating, cooling, ventilating, lighting, draining or supplying of water and protection from trespass, criminal damage, theft, fire or other hazard.”
An item under consideration for rateability within Class 2, will only be rateable in this Class if it forms part of a defined service. For example a de-humidifier would not be rateable if it did not form part of a wider ‘heating, cooling or ventilating’ service.
Plant items are listed in Table 2 and where applicable, paragraph 2 of the List of Accessories.
7.2.1. Rateable service plant
Common ‘items’ include, air handling systems, heating systems, lighting, fire detection equipment, fire alarms and fire suppression systems.
Much service plant is embedded in the hereditament - heating and lighting installations are examples and will often be included within passing rents and thus are already reflected in the basic rate per square metre applied to a building. Many buildings also have a basic level of fire detection and alarm, which will also be ordinarily reflected in rents passing.
Rateability occurs where the plant item (a) is part of a defined ‘service’; (b) is a service ‘to’ the hereditament; and (c) is not outside rateability by virtue of the ‘manufacturing operations or trade processes’ proviso.
7.2.2 Non-rateable service plant
Guidance on the scope of the ‘manufacturing operations or trade processes’ proviso can be found in:
Iceland Foods Ltd v Berry (VO) [2018] UKSC 15
In the case of an air handling system installed in a retail refrigerated food shop, the Supreme Court found that the proviso should be given a wide construction. The following passages from the judgement state:
“35……Trade is a familiar word which naturally extends to Iceland’s retail activities. Subject to the interpretation of the word ‘process’, there is nothing in the proviso or its context to justify a narrower approach.”
“39…..A ‘trade process’ is simply a process (in that wide sense) carried on for the purposes of a trade.”
“38…it is recognised that plant which is used in connection with ‘services to the hereditament’ may also be used in connection with ‘services…as part of manufacturing operations or trade processes…’. Viewed in this way, the key distinction lies in the main use to which the services are put: in connection with the hereditament, or the processes within it.”
This case clarifies that the proviso should be widely rather than narrowly applied, and in cases of doubt reference should be made to NVU.
If it is found that the item of plant under consideration is “used in connection with…trade processes”, a view must be taken on whether that is the main or exclusive use. Factors to take into account may include, time spent on alternate uses, amount of relative output on the alternate uses, relative physical size or ‘service’ output of the plant compared to that which you would normally expect for a service ‘to’ the hereditament. Again, in cases of doubt, refer to NVU.
7.2.3 Class 2 notes
Fire protection and the hereditament Table 2 (f)
Following the Scottish Lands Tribunal decision in: Shell UK Exploration and Production Limited v Assessor for Grampian Joint Board 2000 LTS/VA/1998/47: The 2nd Wood Committee made this recommendation: “Class 2 (f) should be amended to make clear that fire protection equipment is rateable unless installed mainly or exclusively to protect non-rateable plant and machinery.”
It is rare for fire protection plant to be used in connection with “…trade processes”, however, specialist systems can be designed so as to protect ‘processes’ within a hereditament. In cases where this is raised, refer to NVU.
Protection from trespass, criminal damage, theft, fire or other hazards Table 2 (f)
Common items include closed circuit TV cameras, physical security items (barriers) and alarm systems. While particular items may not be named in this Table, use of the word ‘systems’ allows some flexibility.
Interpretive guidance can be gained from the 1st Wood Committee Report.
“9.18 We consider that the existing definition of plant and machinery which services the hereditament requires an addition to deal with ‘Security’. Under this heading would come plant and machinery that is used to protect the property from trespass or criminal damage, for example, security and alarm systems.”
Thus a security system installed on a hereditament to give protection from theft of property is generally rateable.
Pragmatically, when considering security cameras, VOA policy is to suggest that a ‘system’ consists of 4 or more cameras.
As with fire protection, it is rare for ‘hazard’ items to fall within the ‘trade processes’ proviso, if this is raised, please refer to NVU.
7.3 Class 3 infrastructure plant
Overview
Class 3 deems items to be rateable that are used for the transport of people or goods and for communications. The rateability of some items is qualified, and guidance is offered below where the wording of the Regulations is not self- explanatory.
7.3.1 Class 3 (a) railway tracks and lines
Railway and tramway lines and tracks are rateable, together with defined ‘relevant equipment’.
Power rails are specifically excluded.
Track ballast should be valued as an enhancement to the land.
(It should be noted that certain items, such as bridges and turntables, are included in Class 4 Table 3 and so will be rateable subject to the qualifications in Class 4.)
7.3.2 Class 3 (b) lifts, elevators, hoists, escalators and travelators
Lifts will include items used for people or for goods.
Elevators would include items such as bucket elevators used to lift stone for example. Hoists might be considered to employ chains, ropes or cables and a pulley as the main means of raising items. Escalators and travelators are typically found in airports for example.
(Note that ‘conveyors’ do not appear within Class 3, but supports etc. for them may be rateable within Class 4 Table 3, subject to the Class 4 qualifications.)
7.3.3. Class 3 (c) and (d) electricity supply and transmission hereditaments
The items named in (c) are only rateable if they are used or intended to be used in connection with the transmission, distribution or supply of electricity. If items are used for switching or transforming electricity they are not rateable.
Items listed in Class 3 (d) will only be rateable if they are used in connection with items rated under Class 3 (c).
More detailed guidance on interpretation, if needed, can be found in the 2nd Wood Committee Report.
7.3.4 Class 3 (e) & (f) telecommunications hereditaments
Equipment listed at Class 3 (e) engaged in the processing and transmission of telecoms signals. Restricted to cables, wires and fibres, but only if they are located on transmission processing premises, which are defined.
Limits to rateability are also defined.
Class 3 (f) lists items that are rateable, but only when associated with items listed in Class 3 (e).
7.3.5 Class 3 (g) pipelines
Pipes and pipelines are rateable in this Class, subject to the exceptions set out, together with certain accessories.
Rateability in this part of Class 3 generally arises in respect of cross-country pipelines that carry oils, gases and other ‘goods’.
Class 3 (g) contains provisos and definitions which are summarised and paraphrased below:
(i) drains and sewers are not rateable
(ii) pipes that lie within ‘relevant premises’, are not rateable
‘Relevant premises’ includes premises falling within the definitions at Section 175 of the Factories Act 1961 and Section 180 of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954. There are also specific provisions to include a mineral field, natural gas storage or processing facilities and petroleum storage depots within the definition.
The limits on rateability of pipes coming to, or departing from ‘relevant premises’ are such that:
(aa) Pipes arriving at ‘relevant premises’ are rateable for their course outside the premises, up to and including the first control valve on the premises.
(bb) Pipes departing from ‘relevant premises’ are rateable after the last control valve on the premises and up to and beyond the boundary of the premises.
Other definitions are given, including ‘relevant equipment’.
‘Relevant equipment’, including foundations, supports, settings, etc. are rateable together with the pipe that they are occupied with.
7.3.6 Class 3 (h) lock gates and dock gates and caissons
Class 3 (h) is largely self-explanatory. Here a ‘caisson’ is a watertight structure from which water can be pumped out to allow work to be carried out (perhaps to a ship) in dry conditions.
7.4 Class 4: plant as a building or structure
Overview
The plant which is included in Class 4 is mostly that which would normally be regarded as the occupier’s or tenant’s process plant, but which is of such substance, that it should be treated as forming part of the landlord’s hereditament.
The overarching consideration for rateability in this Class is that the item of plant must be a building or structure, or in the nature of a building or structure. There are two ‘tables’ of items within Class 4, (Tables 3 & 4), which of the two Tables an item appears in is significant, as different tests for rateability apply.
7.4.1. Class 4 broad limits on rateability
Class 4 contains provisos, expressed in negative terms, the proviso for items listed in Table 3 is less restrictive than for those items listed in Table 4.
“The items specified in Tables 3 and 4 below, except–
(a) any such item which is not, and is not in the nature of, a building or structure;
(b) any part of any such item which does not form an integral part of such item as a building or structure or as being in the nature of a building or structure;
(c) so much of any refractory or other lining forming part of any plant or machinery as is customarily renewed by reason of normal use at intervals of less than fifty weeks;
(d) any item in Table 4 the total cubic capacity of which (measured externally and excluding foundations, settings, supports and anything which is not an integral part of the item) does not exceed four hundred cubic metres and which is readily capable of being moved from one site and re-erected in its original state on another without the substantial demolition of any surrounding structure.”
The practical effect of these provisos can be broadly summarised :
- An item must be named within Table 3 or 4.
- An item must be a building or structure, or in the nature of a building or structure (provision (a))
- Only the structural parts of an item will normally be rateable (provision (b))
- Furnace, and other linings, are rateable if they are not annually renewed. (provision (c))
- If in Table 4
- (i) the item must be larger than 400 cubic metres in external volume, or
- (ii) The item cannot be readily moved and re-erected in its original state without the substantial demolition of any surrounding structure(provision(d)).
Please refer any novel issues, or difficulties with interpretation, to NVU.
7.4.2 Class 4 (a) Meaning of the term ‘structure’
There is no definition of a structure given in the Regulations, although tests have evolved through common law.
Helpful indicators will be:
- The way in which the item is constructed: Was it pre-fabricated off site or built up from component parts on site?
- Its size and weight: Is it substantial?
- Its degree of attachment to the land or other buildings or structures: A relatively light item may still be a structure if it is firmly fixed to the land, or to other plant.
- Its degree of permanence: Is the item intended to remain in situ for a considerable time? (But temporary removal, for maintenance perhaps, will not necessarily defeat ‘permanence’.)
These tests are interdependent, and ‘size and weight’ will not always be conclusive on its own.
A summary of the common law position can be found in: Thames Water PLC v Handcock (VO) [2008] RA 413
7.4.3. Class 4 (b) ‘integral’ parts
Class 4 is concerned with structural plant and deems that only such parts of an item that are structural should be rated.
Class 4 (b) provides that parts of the item that are not integral to the structure of the item are not rateable.
In practice, these items will include:
- motors and other accessories which are detachable from the structure of the item
- fans (often found with condensers) and
- any parts of the item which are, or can be, detached for cleaning and replacement without general demolition of the item of plant as a whole
7.4.4. Class 4 (c) refractory linings
Any refractory or other lining, which forms part of an item of plant, but which is renewed at intervals of less than fifty weeks, is not deemed to be rateable.
7.4.5. Class 4 (d), size and capability of reconstruction
For items listed in Table 4, the Class 4 (d) proviso applies in addition to the provisos at (a) to (c).
It deems items with an external volume equal, or greater than, 400 cubic metres, to be rateable. For example a steel bulk liquid storage tank of 500 cubic metres will be rateable.
If an item listed in Table 4 has an external volume of less than 400 cubic it will not be rateable if it:
“is readily capable of being moved from one site and re-erected in its original state on another without the substantial demolition of any surrounding structure.”
“…readily capable of being moved…”
The test should be viewed through the eyes of the informed layman, or plant engineer.
Cumber (VO) v Associated Family Bakers (South West) Ltd 1979 LT RA 328: It was reasonable to assume, in the case of baker’s ovens, that they could be cut along existing welds, taken apart and re-erected elsewhere. The fact that new nuts and bolts and a degree of re-welding might be needed did not defeat this assumption.
For the avoidance of doubt, an oven that is larger than 400 cubic metres in external volume will be rateable.
“…re-erected in its original state…”
In the baker’s oven example, re-use of minor fixings was acceptable. However, examples of items that are unlikely to be readily capable of being re-erected in their ‘original state’ might include:
-
Cold storage chambers with frost-heave protected heated concrete floors – It would not normally be possible to re-use the original floor on re-erection of the chamber. The existing floor would have to be demolished and a new one constructed, hence the relocated item would not be in its ‘original state’.
-
Bulk storage tanks made of concrete – These would normally have to be re-constructed and thus would not be in their ‘original state’. This would also apply to tanks with concrete floors, even if the sides were of steel, for the same reason as the cold store example.
“Substantial demolition of any surrounding structure”
Demolition has a meaning close to ‘destruction’ and so craning items in and out through a factory roof, even if a hole has to be formed in the roof, would not normally be thought of as ‘substantial demolition’.
In cases of doubt, please refer to NVU.
7.4.6 Commentary and Class 4 notes
Racking
The Wood Committee Report recommended that ‘racking’ should not be rated and ‘racking’ does not, as a consequence, appear in the Regulations.
Items of plant, (for example stairways, or supports for a conveyor) associated with a non-rateable rack, may still potentially be rateable however. Such items must be listed within the Regulations and be identifiable separately from the rack itself.
Some high eaves warehouses are however built around structural racking systems and those systems form part of, and give structural support to, the warehouse itself. These are commonly known as ‘clad rack’ warehouses. The racking within these warehouses is rateable, not as an item named in the Order but as part of the ‘premises’.
Mezzanine floors
Mezzanine floors are not generally ‘plant’. They are rateable as being part of the wider hereditament, being part of the ‘premises’ ‘in which’ business is conducted. (See 2.2 above).
Rogers (VO) v Evans [1985] RVR 186: A mezzanine floor was held to be rateable as part of the setting or premises.
Cranes
The most commonly encountered cranes, known as overhead travelling cranes, are not named in the regulations and as such, are rateable only to the extent of their supports and settings. Appropriate costs reflecting the rateable extent of these items are to be found in the Rating Cost Guide.
Fixed cranes, which include those found in docks and wharves, may have a solid base but the upper parts revolve around a pivot. Such ‘fixed cranes’ are named in Table 3 and are rateable to the extent of their structural parts, usually including the section which rotates. Motors and other non-structural parts will not be rateable.
Cranes that travel on tracks, between two fixed points, are considered to be moving cranes and are not rateable, only the tracks on which they ‘travel’ are rateable, along with foundations and settings to those tracks.
Rarely, rateable cranes will arise as accessories to Class 1 or Class 2 items.
Tanks
Storage tanks with an external volume greater than or equal to 400 cubic metres will be rateable.
Smaller tanks may also be rateable, if they do not meet the Class 4 (d) proviso as to capability of being moved and re-erected elsewhere in their original state.
Tanks may also be rateable within Class 1 Table 1 and Class 2 Table 2 and/or the List of Accessories. For example a fuel tank serving a standby electrical generator.
Weighbridges
Weighbridges are not named under Class 4 and generally only the pit will fall to be rated under this Class.
However, note that weighing machines used in connection with the handling, preparing or storing of fuel required for the generation or storage of power in or on the hereditament will however be rated in their entirety since they are named in paragraph 1 of the List of Accessories to Class 1.