Key takeaways
- Plant and machinery at auction is sold voetstoots, as it stands, so the viewing is your protection: check the hours against the wear and the service history, match the serial or PIN plate to the paperwork, and price repairs into your limit.
- Most plant has no registration certificate. Ownership is shown by invoices and the asset register, so ask whether a lot is financed, leased or under a notarial bond. Trucks and trailers are registered and transfer like vehicles. Wheeled machines must also be registered unless an exemption applies, and machines on crawler tracks are exempt.
- VAT at 15% (the standard rate since 1 April 2018; SARS: VAT) generally applies to the hammer price when the seller is a VAT vendor, and to the auctioneer’s commission. The catalogue or conditions of sale say which lots are sold plus VAT.
- Collection, transport and any rigging are normally the purchaser’s responsibility within the deadline in the conditions of sale, so price the move, and any abnormal load permit, before you bid.
- Sellers draw more bidders by presenting machines clean, complete and running, with keys, attachments and records, and with any finance settled or arranged before the sale.
What sells on a plant and machinery auction
Almost anything with an engine, a motor or a hydraulic ram can go under the hammer: earthmoving machines, forklifts and cranes, trucks and trailers, tractors, generators and compressors, and workshop and factory contents. Our movable assets auctions cover all of these, mining equipment included.
Three things decide how many serious bidders a machine draws:
- How many businesses can use it. A general-purpose machine has a deep pool of buyers. A specialised production line may suit a handful, so it is sometimes sold as one lot, sometimes broken up.
- Whether it can be kept running. A recognised make with local parts and dealer support is easier to bid on than an orphan brand.
- What a bidder can verify. Keys, attachments and a service history remove guesswork, which bidders discount for.
Auction plant comes from liquidations, business rescue, estates and companies replacing equipment or closing a site. We act for liquidators, trustees, executors and business rescue practitioners (see estate and insolvency auctions), and for owners of single machines. We do not hold bank repossession contracts.
Timed online or live: how the sale runs
The auction page says which format you are in:
| Format | How it works | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Timed online | Each lot closes at its own time; a late bid extends it by the period shown on the auction page. | Set an Auto Bid limit on each lot you want. |
| Live, with webcast | The auctioneer calls each lot in real time, to bidders in the room and online. | The pace is quick: fix every limit beforehand. |
Treat a winning bid as a commitment. Subject to any reserve and the seller’s acceptance, the highest bidder becomes the purchaser when the auctioneer announces the sale complete (regulation 28(6)), and the conditions of sale govern from there (see our rules of auction).
Each lot is generally a separate sale unless the conditions of sale or other evidence show otherwise, as section 45(2) of the Consumer Protection Act provides for the buyers it covers (not juristic persons at or above the Minister’s threshold: section 5(2)(b)). Winning the excavator does not oblige you to buy the bucket in the next lot, so bid on attachments as if they may go elsewhere.
Registration, FICA and Auto Bid are covered in how to register and bid online, and current sales are on upcoming auctions.
Inspecting a machine before you bid
Everything we sell is sold voetstoots, so the viewing is where you protect yourself. The auction regulations require the auctioneer to give consumers a reasonable opportunity to inspect, free of charge (regulation 28(5)), and our viewing times are published with each auction. Take a mechanic who knows the type.
Hours
The hour meter is plant’s odometer, and it can be replaced or stop working without anyone noting it. Look for agreement between the hours and the wear: seat, pedals, pins and bushes, the cutting edge, the undercarriage or tyres. “Hours as indicated” in a catalogue is a reading, not a promise.
Service records, oil analysis reports and invoices for major work are worth more than fresh paint, and their dates and hours should climb steadily to match the meter.
Serial and identification plates
Check that the manufacturer’s plate and the number stamped into the frame agree with each other and with the paperwork. Many newer earth-moving machines carry a 17-character product identification number (PIN) in the ISO 10261 format; older ones often have shorter serials. A missing plate, fresh rivets or restamped numbers are reasons to walk away, not to bid lower.
What to look at, by type
| Machine | Check |
|---|---|
| Excavators, TLBs, dozers, loaders | Cracks and weld repairs on the boom, arm and frame; leaking or scored cylinders; play in the slew ring and pins; undercarriage wear; smoke on a cold start |
| Forklifts | Mast, chains and rollers; wear at the fork heels; brakes and steering; on electric units, the traction battery |
| Generators and compressors | Hours; whether it starts and takes a load; the air receiver’s inspection records |
| Workshop and factory machines | That the controller powers up, the tooling is in the lot, and you have the power supply, often three-phase |
| Tractors and implements | Clutch, PTO and hydraulics; whether the implements in the photos are in the lot |
Proof of ownership, finance and paperwork
Most plant has no title document. What shows ownership depends on the type:
| Machine | Registered? | What shows ownership |
|---|---|---|
| Trucks, trailers, bakkies | Yes, on eNatis | The registration certificate, matched to the VIN and engine number. Check the title holder: if it is a bank or finance house, the vehicle cannot transfer without its release |
| Wheeled self-propelled plant (TLBs, graders, loaders, tractors) | Should be, unless exempt | If registered, as for vehicles. Every motor vehicle must be registered, on a public road or not (regulation 3), unless exempt: one exemption is a machine too large or heavy for a public road that is not operated on one |
| Machines on crawler tracks | No: exempt (regulation 5) | Invoice, asset register and the PIN or serial number |
| Static generators, compressors and workshop machines | No | Invoice, asset register and serial plate. A towable unit may be registered as a trailer |
Then ask about money still owed:
- Finance. Ask whether a lot is financed and how it is being settled. On sequestration, an instalment agreement gives the finance house a hypothec over the machine, and it can require the trustee to hand it over (section 84, Insolvency Act), so it may be realised by the finance house rather than at the trustee’s auction (see insolvency and liquidation auctions).
- Leases. A leased or rented machine belongs to the lessor and is not the user’s to sell.
- Notarial bonds. A special notarial bond describing a machine so that it is readily recognisable is treated as a pledge of it to the bondholder (section 1, Security by Means of Movable Property Act). A conveyancer can search the Deeds Office for bonds against the seller.
Under the National Road Traffic Act, a self-propelled machine designed mainly to travel on wheels or crawler tracks, or a trailer, is a motor vehicle (pedestrian-controlled battery units, such as walk-behind pallet stackers, are not). While it is on view, regulation 32 of the auction regulations requires a notice on it showing, among other things, its engine number and VIN: check them against the plates.
File the auction invoice and release documents with the PIN: for an unregistered machine they are your record of title. A registered one needs a change of ownership registered in your name, for which we provide the documents: see buying a vehicle on auction and vehicle auctions.
VAT on plant and machinery auctions
VAT on the hammer price
When an auctioneer sells as agent, the VAT Act generally treats the sale as made by the seller, not the auctioneer (section 54(1)), so VAT on the hammer price usually follows the seller:
| Seller | VAT on the hammer price |
|---|---|
| A VAT-registered business selling its plant | Generally yes, at 15% (SARS: VAT): the lot is sold plus VAT |
| A VAT vendor in liquidation, or a deceased or sequestrated vendor’s estate | Generally yes; for an individual’s estate, section 53 treats the estate as the vendor |
| A private individual, or a seller not registered for VAT | Usually no, but the seller and auctioneer can agree to treat it as the auctioneer’s sale, with VAT charged (section 54(5)), so check the lot |
| A whole business sold as a going concern | Can be zero-rated if strict conditions are met (section 11(1)(e)): see selling a business as a going concern |
The catalogue or conditions of sale say which lots are sold plus VAT. The buyer’s commission is our own charge and, as we are a VAT vendor, generally carries VAT; its rate is set per auction (see the buyer’s premium explained).
Input tax and exports
A VAT vendor can generally claim both as input tax, to the extent the machine is for making taxable supplies, with a valid tax invoice in the name of the entity that bid. The catch is a “motor car”, which by definition includes a double-cab bakkie: no input tax is allowed on one unless you bought it to sell or rent in a business that regularly does so (section 17(2)(c)). On a lot not sold plus VAT, notional input tax on second-hand goods may be claimable, to the extent you have paid, if you keep the records section 20(8) requires.
If the machine is leaving South Africa, do not assume a zero rate: the export rules are strict. A “qualifying purchaser” under the Export Regulations (broadly a non-resident, a tourist or a foreign enterprise) who exports the goods through a designated commercial port, generally within 90 days of the tax invoice, may be able to claim the VAT back from the VAT Refund Administrator (SARS VAT 404 guide, section 12.1). Ask how the sale handles exports before you register, and check with your accountant.
Collection, removal and transport
The conditions of sale set when payment is due, when risk passes, the collection deadline and what happens to anything left behind. Expect a deposit to be payable at the fall of the hammer, the buyer’s commission as they set out, and the balance within the period they state. Goods are released once payment has cleared, and storage charges can apply after the deadline. Unless the conditions say otherwise, transport, loading and rigging are your responsibility, so line them up before you bid.
- Price the move. Lowbed transport, a crane to load, dismantling and escorts add up: get a quote and take it off your maximum bid.
- Abnormal loads. A lowbed carrying a large machine can exceed the legal dimension or mass limits, and moving it on a public road then needs an abnormal load permit, the province’s written authorisation under section 81 of the National Road Traffic Act.
- Fixed machinery. A lathe bolted to the floor needs riggers, and an electrician to disconnect it safely. Check what the conditions say about removal damage.
- Insurance. If risk passes before collection, insure from that moment, and check your transporter’s goods-in-transit cover.
- On the day. Bring proof of payment, your ID, and a letter of authority if a transporter collects for you.
If an email says our banking details have changed, phone 086 155 2288 before you pay anything.
Before the machine goes back to work
Some machines carry statutory duties for whoever uses them next:
- Cranes, forklifts and other lifting machines. One may not be used unless the manufacturer’s identification plate is affixed and the safe working load is clearly marked. The user must have it thoroughly examined and performance tested by a lifting machinery inspector before it is put into use, each time it is dismantled and re-erected, and at intervals not exceeding 12 months; must keep a register of those tests and of repairs; and must use operators trained for that type of machine (Driven Machinery Regulations, regulation 18). Ask to see the register at viewing, and budget for a test.
- Air receivers and other pressure vessels. A pressure vessel that is installed or reinstalled generally needs a witnessed inspection and hydraulic pressure test by an approved inspection authority before it is commissioned, and in-service inspection and testing at intervals not exceeding 36 months. Category I equipment (as categorised in SANS 347) may be inspected and tested by the user instead (Pressure Equipment Regulations, regulation 11).
These duties come from regulations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which does not apply on a mine (section 1(3)(a)). On a mine, the mine’s own safety regime applies: check with its engineer.
Selling plant and machinery on auction
Most of a seller’s result is decided before the auction:
- Send us the list. What it is, how much there is and where it stands, with photographs (phone pictures are fine). We tell you what it should realise, whether to sell it as one lot or break it up, and sometimes that it is not worth auctioning.
- Gather the paperwork. Invoices or the asset register, registration papers, service records, load test and pressure vessel certificates, manuals and spare keys.
- Deal with money owed. Get a settlement letter from the finance house, and arrange for any notarial bond to be cancelled or settled from the proceeds.
- Confirm your authority. We take a signed mandate, and a resolution for company assets. If the plant is all or the greater part of a company’s assets, the Companies Act generally also requires a special resolution of shareholders (section 112): take advice if that may apply.
- Present it properly. Wash it, sort out flat batteries and tyres, leave fuel in the tank, and have someone at viewing to start the machines. Keep buckets, forks and attachments with the machine.
- Disclose known faults in writing. Voetstoots protects a seller from defects the seller did not know about, not from one the seller knew of and deliberately concealed: see voetstoots explained.
Selling carries an appraisal fee, a listing fee and commission on the sale price, all set out in writing in the conditions of sale before you sign, and the reserve is agreed with you in advance. For a valuation rather than a sale, see valuations. Otherwise read selling on auction or send us the list.