Construction Tools and Equipment Directory

Construction contractors supply their own tools and equipment, either owned outright or rented or leased per job.

Depending on the size of the company or the frequency in which a particular piece of equipment is used, heavy equipment or machinery may be leased or rented as needed for a specific job. These may include such expensive items as cranes, excavators, bulldozers and other heavy equipment, as well as concrete equipment, cement mixers, cutting machines, generators, or specialized tools that are not often used.

Larger contractors may own the majority of tools and equipment that they use on a regular basis, and very large contractors may have a huge capital investment in equipment and tools, as they may have crews working on several project in various locations.

Even relative small contractors, such as owner-operators working in a specific city or region will generally own the tools that they use most often.

Masonry contractors, for example, are likely to own their own trowels, mason's hammers, mashing hammers, blocking chisels, and masonry power saws, as well as a mason's line, chalk lines, steel squares, jointers, brushes, and mixing tools, including a powered mortar mixer.

Surveyors may own or lease a variety of surveying tools and equipment, including land surveying tripods and bipods, planimeters, levels, brush axes, land surveying markers and rods, lasers, prisms and prism poles, total stations, GPS equipment, bags and cases, roll flagging, stakes, and several other tools.

Whatever the specialty, there are tools and equipment involved. Many contractors prefer to make purchases locally whenever possible, and they develop and maintain relationships with preferred suppliers. There are also large clearinghouses that can offer price advantages on bulk orders.