Question:

We’ve been asked by two different clients to provide a CapEx report on their catering equipment; to include depreciation costs as this will help them with their net zero sustainability projections. One area I’m struggling with is determining the life expectancy of various equipment, as I understand this might vary across different manufacturers and I can’t seem to find anything concrete online.

My question being Is, is there a recognised industry standard for the life expectancy of the following equipment.

  • Combination ovens, gas/elec
  • Fryers, gas,elec
  • Fridges/freezers
  • Solid top/ open top ranges
  • Food processing equipment
  • Servery/hotcupboards
  • Etc, etc ,etc

Any guidance or resources you can provide would be greatly appreciated, especially in relation to how this might impact sustainability planning.

Replies:

  1. There is no known industry standard because there are too many factors that affect life expectancy to generalise.  The following are the factors and some comments.
    • Type of establishment – for example, a school only uses equipment for 3 or 4 hours a day for 5 days a week and is not used for 13 weeks of the year, whereas, a hospital or hotel is using equipment for 3 meals a day and can be in use for 12 or more hours 365 days a year.
    • The brand of equipment – cheaper brands tend to need replacing in as little as 5 years whereas good quality equipment can last 10 or 12 years.
    • The staff – school meals staff are usually well trained and treat the equipment with respect, whereas many restaurant and hotel staff do not respect the equipment.
    • Maintenance – if equipment is regularly checked and maintained, it will last longer than equipment that gets no maintenance other than breakdown repairs.
  2. There is work being done to introduce catering equipment into the CICSE TM65 scheme and this will require manufacturers to declare life expectancy amongst other things, however, it is still fairly early in the process.
  3. The chairwoman of the TM65 introduction of catering equipment group is Lauren Hunter, and she is happy to have a conversation with you.  She can be contacted at lauren@impact-loop.com
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