During tender stage, time is often at a premium and costs for vital plant requirements can often be assessed recklessly. On some projects, these may be on site for a considerable time, and can easily cost £1000 per week for hire alone. I have produced a simple spreadsheet which ultimately identifies the number of hoists required to perform identified duties over a specific programme period. This is an invaluable exercise which requires only entry of programme data, hoist spec, cycle and loading times and quantities of materials being used. It ultimately determines how many hoists are required.