Scissor Lift Hire for Warehouse Fit-Outs

The short answer

A warehouse fit-out is a sequence of trades working overhead before the floor fills up: services, cable tray, sprinklers, lighting, ceilings, then racking, then signage and mezzanine work. For most of that, on a flat concrete slab, start with an electric scissor lift. It runs without exhaust indoors and gives a platform with room for a person, tools and fittings. Where the work moves between racking that is already standing, move to a narrow scissor lift or a vertical mast lift. Where you have to reach up and over racking, plant or a mezzanine edge, use a boom lift.

Before you ask for a price, settle three things: the working height you need, the narrowest point on the route to the work, and what the floor can carry. This guide is about planning machines for the fit-out itself. Once the warehouse is trading, the recurring work is covered in access equipment for warehouse maintenance.

Fit-out trades and work zones

Fit-outs run late when one machine is expected to serve every trade in every zone. Plan the machines by zone and by stage instead.

Fit-out stages, trades and where to start

Stage and trade	Usual starting point	Check first
Overhead services: electrical, data, cable tray, mechanical	Electric scissor lift, one per active zone	Height to the highest fixing, and the platform capacity for people plus materials
Fire services and sprinkler mains	Electric scissor lift	Height to the mains, and clearance around pipework when the platform rises
High-bay lighting and ceilings	Electric scissor lift, or a vertical mast lift once aisles are formed	Height of the fitting and where the machine can stand beneath it
Racking installation and finishing work between bays	Narrow scissor lift or vertical mast lift	Clear aisle width, the turn at each aisle end, and whether stock or materials must be moved
Reaching over racking, plant or a mezzanine edge	Boom lift	Horizontal outreach, and floor space for the base
External signage, gutters and cladding	Boom lift, or a rough terrain scissor on unsealed ground	The ground outside the slab, not the floor inside

When two trades need to be up at the same time in different zones, two smaller machines usually beat one larger one. The way to split them is worked through in hiring two scissor lifts for a warehouse fit-out.

Plan machines before racking closes access

The single most expensive mistake on a fit-out is doing the overhead work after the racking is up. An open slab takes a standard electric scissor lift anywhere. Once racking is installed, the same work has to be done from the aisle width that is left, which usually means a narrower machine, a lower platform capacity and slower progress, or reaching over the racking with a boom.

1. Sequence the overhead trades first. Services, sprinklers, lighting and ceilings go in while the floor is open, from a machine chosen for height and capacity rather than width.
2. Fix the aisle widths before you book the second-stage machines. The racking drawings give the clear aisle width and the end-of-aisle turn. Compare them against the fleet with the doorway access checker.
3. Leave a route in. Keep one roller door and one clear route from the unloading point to each zone until the last machine has gone. A machine that cannot get out is a machine still on hire.
4. Book the dates by stage, not for the whole program. A scissor lift on hire for twelve weeks because it might be needed costs more than two shorter hires planned around the stages. Planning your hire duration covers how.

Three measurements to take before you ask for a quote

1. Working height

Working height is the platform height plus about 2 m, the height a person standing on the platform can comfortably reach. Measure to the highest point you actually need to work on, not to the roof sheeting. Our guide on working height versus platform height and the working height calculator cover the detail.

2. The narrowest point

Measure every doorway, roller door, aisle and goods lift between where the truck unloads and where the work is. The narrowest one decides the machine. Check the turn at the end of each aisle as well as its straight width.

3. The floor

A ground-floor slab usually carries a scissor lift without fuss, but mezzanines, suspended floors, pit covers, trench grates and older slabs need checking. We supply the machine’s weight from its record. Whether a particular floor can carry it is for the building owner or their engineer to confirm, and we will not approve a floor on their behalf.

Electric scissor lifts on the current fleet

The figures below are read from each machine’s record when the page loads. A figure we have not confirmed shows as Confirm rather than a guess.

Fit-out work in a warehouse that is already operating

• Forklift traffic. Agree an exclusion zone around the machine with the site before work starts, and who controls it.
• Charging. Electric machines are charged overnight from a power point. Tell us where the machine can be parked and charged, and whether that point is available after hours.
• Floor finishes. If the floor has a coating or finish that must not be marked, say so in the enquiry. Tyre type varies between models and is confirmed on the quote.
• Licences. A scissor lift does not need a high risk work licence, but the operator must be trained and familiar with the machine. A boom-type elevating work platform with a boom length of 11 m or more needs a WP licence. See scissor lift licence requirements in NSW.

What to send with your enquiry

1. The site address and the stage of the fit-out, in a sentence.
2. The highest point you need to work on in each zone.
3. The narrowest doorway, aisle or lift on the route, now and after racking.
4. The floor type, and any mezzanine or suspended floor the machine must cross.
5. Your hire dates by stage, site hours and any induction or delivery booking the site requires.

Request a hire quote and we will come back with the machines, the hire and the delivery and collection priced together.