Plant and Equipment Valuation Australia

A plant and equipment valuation is a professional assessment of the market value, fair value, or replacement cost of tangible assets other than real property. This includes manufacturing machinery, production lines, vehicles and mobile plant, IT infrastructure, medical and scientific equipment, hospitality fitouts, and any other fixed or moveable assets used in the operation of a business.

Our valuers assess each item’s age, condition, remaining useful life, maintenance history, technological obsolescence, and current market demand. Depending on the purpose of the valuation, we apply the appropriate basis of value: market value for sale or acquisition, or fair value under AASB 13 for financial reporting. For insurance placement we assess insurable value — a policy concept rather than a formal basis of value, and one that differs depending on whether the policy is written on a reinstatement or an indemnity footing. Depreciation is calculated using accepted methods including straight-line, diminishing value, and units of production where relevant.

The basis matters more here than in almost any other asset class. IVS 300 — retitled Plant, Equipment and Infrastructure in the edition effective 31 January 2025 — notes that the value of most plant is “particularly sensitive to different premises of value”, and requires the valuer to state whether assets are valued in place as part of an operating business or as individual items for removal. The same machine can carry a materially different figure under each. Our guide to how plant and equipment is valued works through the bases of value, the in-situ and ex-situ distinction, depreciated replacement cost and how obsolescence is measured.

Plant and equipment valuations are commonly required for financial reporting, insurance, asset acquisition or disposal, lease negotiations, tax depreciation schedules, and insolvency proceedings. All reports are prepared in accordance with RICS Red Book Global Standards and, where applicable, Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) requirements. Our valuers have experience across a broad range of industries, from mining and manufacturing to healthcare and hospitality, and we value plant and equipment Australia-wide — including South Australia’s manufacturing and defence-industry base, mining plant in Western Australia and Queensland, and agricultural machinery across the eastern states.